A decision on swimsuits

We've covered swim suits before here, here, here, and even here and now a decision has finally been made by the sports' governing body in the States. Watch a video about it on the BBC site here.

Um Bro, should we stop fighting?

In a little piece of clothing history you may not be aware of Puma and Adidas, two of the biggest sports brands in the world, were formed in spite by two brothers in Germany after a feud between them meant they refused to work together. They set up factories on either side of a river and refused to make up ever since.

The reason for the feud has its origins in the World War II and the moment that triggered the split was an offhand remark that was interpreted badly by the other. It's all faintly comical actually.

Thankfully though sixty years on and the two companies have at last made peace and will be celebrating this event with a football match. Only trouble is though, what if one of the teams win and starts to claim it's because of its superior clothing and football boots, what then? Another rift could be on the cards.

Pictured: Adi Dasler (Adi Das = adidas) in his factory.

The Ashes

We won! We won! Oh isn't it good to have won the Ashes back!

Did you hear Lily Allen on the Test Match Special (TMS) lunch time show being interviewed by Johnathan Agnew? It was quite an interesting interview, underlying the sports wide appeal to people of all generations, and it was intriguing to hear the thoughts of Ms Allen on the game, and its appeal. One of these she noted was the simplicity of the kits, the colour of the "whites on the green", and her dismissal (ha!) of Twenty20 and its kits.

It's true indeed that the sight of cricket whites against lush green grass, standing in the field, and the sound of leather on willow, is an classic piece of English heritage. It's nice to see that even a live-fast rock-hard youngster like Lily Allen can appreciate this, and the simple white clothing of the game still retains its charm, even as day-glo kits are fast becoming the norm.

Drowning, not waving

We've covered swimsuit technology before, and the problems it's causing for the sport of swimming as it helps swimmers smash world records they might not otherwise have broken, and now, with the swimming world championships taking place, the debate has reared out of the water once again.

An in-depth piece on The Guardian underlines the extent of the problem, and the sports governing bodies indecision as to how best deal with it. It's hard to know which side to fall on. In many ways the evolution of technology is as much a part of sport as rule changes and nutritional improvements. If the suits are available to all then surely it's still a level playing field? But, then again, if the suits give an unnatural advantage against the very element that is supposed to make the sport what it is, then the essence of the sport, the competition and, at a basic level 'fair play' is scuppered.

It seems as if the suits will be scrapped for 2010, meaning the next Olympics will not be involved in this dispute. However, it seems unlikely, given the regularity with which this topic is covered, that 2010 will see all the problems simply washed away.

15 love?

Did you notice that when Roger Federer recieved the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday (for the sixth time...) he had a gold 15 on the side of his jacket? He must have been presented with it before the match by Nike in case he won. Which he did. Just.

As you can read in the link above, some people have seen this as a sign of arrogance, but if he was given the jacket and had it tucked away in his bag, to only be shown if he won, then it's hardly that bad, is it?

What do you think? Is a man who's won 14 grand slams allowed to preempt another possible victory, or would it be better to just be happy enough with another win, another title, another massive pay cheque, and leave it at that? Let us know below.

Water a load of madness

A school in Devon has banned pupils from wearing swimming goggles because they get slippery when wet. You think?

They are acting on advice that informs, correctly it must be said, that goggles are often unnecessary but the plastic can slip and injury due to the water making them slippery. Which is true. However, surely the best part of swimming at school was being able to dive around in the water, peering at everyone underwater and so forth. That's why we wear goggles, to see the underneath of water. Something you can't very well do in British waters can you?

Ah well, never mind. The main thing is the children get to have a nice swim. Who knows, perhaps there's a future swimming champion in there.

Wimbledon! Tennis! Ace!

Have you been enjoying the tennis? Dash awful fun we must say. This Murray chaps a bit good what what? The outfits worn by the players are certainly something too - Federer was in some lovely military style jacket and the ladies appear to be taking part in some 'who can wear the shortest dress' competition alongside the main tennis competition.

Right, sorry for updating so late today, still sleeping off yesterday's Pimms.

Cycled clothing

Cycling is going through a bit of a cultural revolution (ha!) as people seek to escape the daily commute and expand their lungs by cycling hither and thither. Unfortunately cycling does mean you can have to don some rather ridiculous clothing - yellow jerseys, lycra and the like.

However, a new clothing range from TfL (Transport for London?!) is proving to be a bit of a hit with some people. The range is called, and you'll like this, Bspoke and the range features names that reference various parts of London - Kensington, Richmond, Holborn for example.

It's great to see clothing being used as part of a promotional push(bike) and if it gets people out on their bikes, then we're all for that.

The roaring 40s

Twenty 20 cricket is upon us - with England doing their best / worst to make the start of the tournament more dramatic than it needed to be - but what we particularly like is the kits the teams wear. Ostensibly mere variations on their traditional colours - dark blues, greens, yellows etc - they're adorned with numbers like footballers (many seem to have random ones like 99 or 45 - eh?) and their names emblazoned across the back.

Of course, with such loud, bright colours the potential for kit clashes is high. If Pakistan play India you get sky blue v dark green. Urgh.

Football shirts = money

This time last week fans of Manchester United were rueing a, let's be honest, pretty terrible display from their team in the Champions League final. While their detractors were of course smiling from ear to ear.

Still, no point wasting time dwelling on such defeats, thought the board, and promptly secured a deal worth £80 million over four years for the next shirt sponorship, with financial firm Aon. Isn't that amazing? A brand can make £80 million from selling space on their shirts. Only sport could provide such power to a brand to be able to secure such huge revenue - indeed this is the largest ever football sponsorship deal, vastly eclipsing Bayern Munich's £56.5 million pound deal from a few years ago.

But, whatever the value of the space, it can't help you play any better. As Barcelona proved - they let Unicef use their shirts for free.

Water talk

More here on the BBC website about the pros, cons and debates over high-tech swim suits - and a nice bit of history on the gradually rise of swim suit technology. Nothing's ever simple is it?

Pants Man!

Ah Tuesday...lovely lovely Tuesd...what? It's Wednesday? That must mean we missed yesterday entirely and forgot to blog...oh dear, so we did, no blog. Doh.

Anyways...pants, they've been everywhere lately. Even the most ardent anti-Apprentice person surely heard about the infamous Pantsman - the world's worst idea - and now we hear that a footballer has been told by police not to run through a seaside resort in his underwear - after hearing he was planning to do so after losing a bet.

The footballer's defence is quite a good one actually. It's a seaside resort, people see that much all the time on the seafront...but the police are concerned it could lead to more trouble. We're surprised the footballer in question is so keen to go through with his bet. Surely any excuse to not have to humiliate yourself is a good thing?

Running in heels (with eggs)

One thing that women often claim about high-heels is that they are 'impossible' to walk in. Well, men in China have been proving that's not quite the case, by taking part in a series of sprinting events wearing high heels - see.

A fantastic idea - take unusual or awkward clothing and see how fast you can run in it. The sack race only takes place at school and you never see it after that - but why? It's a fantastic race, testing a multitude of skills, mainly jumping, but also balance and, er, speed.

The egg and spoon race - another great race. Why do we do it? When else in life do you need that skills? Do children have an inherent love of running with delicate food? Odd world.

Marathon effort

Those of you who have recieved the latest issue, and no doubt read it cover-to-cover, will have noticed that editorial assistant Dan Worth is running the London Marathon this Sunday. We've certainly enjoyed watching him suffer, train sorry, through the winter and seeing him hobble in to work each Monday after another weekend of training.

So if you can spare a few quid, please visit his JustGiving page, and sponsor him - he only needs another £231and it would be great if Company Clothing readers were able to help him reach this target!

Thanks!

Back of the net

We hope you don't mind us writing about sport too often - but it is a good source of interesting clothing related stories. Today's is that FIFA - the world governing body of football (lar de dah), is to launch a range of clothing that will use its trademarked logo.

Apparently this will definitely be cool - people love football right? - and will be on display at trade shows in the coming months. So keep a look out! Gooooooaaaaaaallllll.

Giddy up!

So the Grand National is upon us, with forty runners and riders ready for the off tomorrow afternoon, and across the land people will cheer on their nags, screaming at the television in the hope of winning any bets down, or the office sweepstake.

Of course clothing has little to play in this - unlike, say, swimming - but it's nice if the random gee-gee you've chosen has a rider in go-faster strips or something that looks good, it seems as if you have more of a chance.

Company Clothing wanted to pick Fleet Street (66-1) for obvious reasons, but instead has been saddled with Kilbeggan Blade (20-1), so perhaps an outside chance of victory.

Come on horse! Run!

It's just not cricket (well, technically it is)

Looking at sport for the second day in a row and The England Cricket Board (ECB) has caused much constenation and stroking of beards among the cricketing glitterati with the announcemnet that the forth coming, and inaugural, floodlight test match at Lords could see players wearing kit that, shock horror, isn't white.

In The Telegraph's report Peter Baxter, the ex-producer of Test Match Special, warned that many of the game's most passionate supporters would be upset. He said: "I don't like the idea of the Test matches not being played in white. If you don't play in white than it's the thin end of the wedge. For many people, the attraction of cricket is the aesthetic and the sense of tradition."

In some ways you can understand the problem. For hundreds of years cricket was a sensible game played in white kits that last for five days and involved a nice lunch in the middle. Now, it's loud garish kits, 20/20 games, mad crowds, and 'referrals' allowed on decisions given by that most respected of characters - the cricket umpire. The white test kit must have been the last bastion of a world that has been rapidly changing.

But time marches on and evolution happens. No doubt the ECB will have their way, pink kits or lime green, or maybe a mixture of both (yuk!) will become the norm and that will be that. I don't know, it's just not cricket is it?

More swimming suit news

Well, after a weekend of recovering from the excesses of the Company Clothing Industry Awards, it's back to the grindstone and another story about the issue of swimsuits and how they are helping swimmers break more world records than is natural, 108 last year were broken. That is a lot.

The swimming body Fima has announced that "swimsuits should not cover the neck and must not extend past the shoulders and ankles" explaining that, ""Fina wishes to recall the main and core principle is that swimming is a sport essentially based on the physical performance of the athlete," said a statement from swimming's world governing body."

A very interesting development that underlines the growing rise of technology in clothing. Thing is though, if all athletes are able to use the same kit, doesn't that make it even, everyone's faster? Are the clothes part of the race? Like a fuel strategy in F1, or subs in football, or a runner pacing themselves? What do you think?

BOA seeks tenders for formal and parade wear for Team GB

A serious story for a moment, concerning the Olympics and the chance to perhaps design and supply the uniform for the formal and parade wear of Team GB at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Right, in best Boris Johnson whiff-whaff-is-coming-home voice:

"The British Olympic Association (BOA) is now seeking tenders for the appointment of the supplier of formal and parade wear for Team GB for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The chosen partner will supply Team GB clothing including the official suit that will be worn on all formal occasions, as well as providing a distinctive parade uniform for Team GB members to wear at the opening ceremony.

The tender is for the design and supply of clothing for a team of 150 athletes and support staff, of all sizes and ages and is a chance for a UK company to showcase the best of British design on the international stage. The BOA is looking to appoint the supplier who can best handle the process of design, production and delivery.

Commenting on this tender launch Chief Commercial Officer Hugh Chambers said: ‘For many, representing your country at an Olympic Winter Games is a once in a life time achievement. Team GB athletes walking out in to the stadium during the Opening Ceremony in Vancouver will feel a huge sense of pride and we are looking for an exceptional partner to work with who can dress our athletes in a manner fitting for such an occasion.’

Suppliers of past uniforms include names such as Lee Cooper, Roots, Ben Sherman, Marks & Spencers, Aquascutum and Next.

Any interested parties should submit their proposals to Jo Kingston jo.kingston@boa.org.uk or 020 8871 2677 ext 207) at the BOA by 20 March."

Right there you go - something to think about and perhaps get working on!

What? I should have buttoned up my suit? Poppycock!

Bone Dry

Don't you hate that feeling you get when you get out of a swimming pool or the sea after a brisk swim, only to have your bathing costume cling and stick to you like an annoying clingy-sticky thing? Well worry no more!

A new swimsuit has been developed (pictured) with nanotechnology that is designed to repel water beads so on exiting the body of water in which you were happily splashing away it will only take a mere shake of your body to fling the offending water particles into the atmosphere, from whence they came.

Amy Hardin, of Sun Dry, who are distriburing the product, said: "The nanotechnology treatment, similar to that used to make fabrics splash or stain resistant, is water based and environmentally friendly. Sports wear fabrics that repel water seems like an unusual concept at first, but it really makes sense - why would you want a bathing suit that absorbs water, holds it next to your skin, and stays wet for a period of time?

Why indeed?! We love it. Roll on summer so we can try one of these out!