The Harris tweed jacket worn by Matt Smith as the current Doctor Who has caused a local storm in the Hebrides – the original tweed design was ‘swapped’ for a similar jacket that is made partly from an acrylic fibre.

The handwoven tweed was apparently not ‘warm enough’ for outdoor filming and the new jacket, which is an exact copy of the 1960s original, is both warmer and lighter.  But the weavers who make Harris tweed are deeply unhappy about this slur to their product and also somewhat confused that the copy is more expensive than the hand-made original! A replica of the replica will be available for fans to buy from October 2011, and to the complete confusion of the Harris tweed industry, it will cost £360. A genuine Harris tweed will cost … £250.

But there’s a wider question about what can be worn in the workplace. Inappropriate clothing causes accidents, which can sometimes be serious, and suitably designed and made clothing doesn’t just prevent problems, it can make the working day easier and more enjoyable.

Acrylic mixes may not be popular with the tweed industry but in school uniforms, for example, they provide a crease-resistant, stain-rejecting fabric that allows parents to spend less time washing and ironing and more time supervising homework and having fun with the kids!

Maurice Harary, a 23 year-old New Yorker spent last Sunday night building a website on which he was ready to sell T-shirts commemorating the death of Osama bin Laden by 4am, New York time, on the Monday morning. In 48 hours he made more than £60,000 in sales. That was more than 10,000 teeshirts selling for around £6 each and featuring slogans such as ‘Obama killed Osama’ and ‘Osama’s back – not!’ Zazzle too has had thousands of orders for merchandise related to Osama Bin Laden’s death. A spokesman for Zazzle said that American feelings had been ‘… boiling up for 10 years and this is the moment where people can finally express this sentiment.’

But while Osama bin Laden T-shirts are popular, they are not universally so. Many religious and cultural leaders across the USA have suggested that the T-shirts may inflame racial hatred and cause reprisal attacks.

In the UK, campaigning Labour leader Ed Miliband walked into a controversy when he was photographed with a Nottingham Labour candidate sporting a T-shirt claiming ‘A generation of trade unionists will dance on Thatcher’s grave’.

The matter was raised in the House of Commons where it was described as being extraordinary and ‘in appallingly bad taste’. However Mr Milliband has said he didn’t read the T-shirt and deplored the message it contained and his apology for any offense has been accepted.

In a recent study published by researchers at Tilburg University in Holland, it emerged that a highly recognisable designer brand like Lacoste or Yves St Laurent has a positive effect on employers, co-workers and friends, while logos for cheap brands don’t have the same positive effect. So far, research hasn’t shown whether cheap brands actually harm one’s prospects.

Behavioural scientists used photographs to examine peoples’ responses to logos. It was discovered that a high end brand logo, prominently displayed, could convince the viewer that the wearer in the photograph was richer or more influential.

And in real life, the same result held true. Two teams were sent out to raise money for charity – one team wore ordinary polo shirts, the other bore the Lacoste brand. By the end of the evening, the Lacoste team had collected slightly more money than the other one. Over a year, the researchers say, they would have raised enough money to pay for 25 heart transplants just by wearing the branded tops. Of course, that doesn’t take into account the cost of providing charity volunteers with top-end clothing!

The research didn’t explore any of the fake logos that mimic the famous brands, but they plan a follow up study which may include that question.

Oh yes, when Amy Winehouse was spotted dropping off a couple of binbags full of old clobber, she started a frenzy in her local charity shop. Apparently her designer cast-offs were worth more than £20,000 and caused a run on the shop that left harassed staff reeling.

So who leaves their vintage clothing where?  It’s said that Kate Middleton drops her tops at the Red Cross Shop in Chelsea, while the Bernardo’s shop in Alderley Edge is the beneficiary of Coleen Rooney’s casual wear discards and several charity shops in Westbourne Grove are the beneficiary of clothing given away by Sienna Miller and other A-list celebs.

What to look out for – tailored clothing items are the best bargains – T-shirts and other casual clothing can look old and saggy very quickly, while anything lined is likely to hold its shape (and value) for decades.

As Red Nose day approaches, lots of companies are working out how to support the fundraising event with workplace based activities and fun. But for one or two people, charity fundraising is more of a challenge than a bit of fun.

Take Alastair Humphreys, who at 24, started cycling for charity – he didn’t stop for four years! He travelled England to South Africa, then crossed the Atlantic by yacht and continued cycling from Argentina all the way to Alaska. He then crossed the Pacific by freighter (with his bike in the hold) and cycled back from Siberia to England. In total it was a 46,000 trip.

He wore no underwear (to save weight!) and made do with one long-sleeved cycling top and just two 2 T-shirts, plus loads of clothes in Siberia that he gave away when he left.

Clothing Thieves Charged

Two Lithuanian nationals have been charged in South Wales with the theft of 50,000 charity clothing bags that had been left out for doorstep connection. The bags were found on an industrial estate in Cardiff after an anonymous tip-off and police say that the thefts were clearly the work of an organised gang.

There were enough bags to completely fill six shipping containers and they appear to have been within days of being shipped to an eastern European country and sold. A spokesman for the police said that the public may have been targeted with fake collecting bags to obtain such a huge haul of popular clothing and that people should, ‘keep giving vital help to charities, but give with care and check your donation is going to those in need.’

Bieber and Osbourne donate clothing for charity

British fans of the teen idol Justin Bieber have been bidding on the space suit he wore in a Super Bowl advert that s being auctioned in the USA. The suit, alongside one worn by rock legend Ozzy Osbourne in the same ad, is expected to raise more than £2,500 while the Osbourne garment is currently being bid for at just £1,500.  The garments are being auctioned on eBay.com to raise funds for the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, USA.

Bidding ends at midnight today, USA time, and when Sharon Osbourne revealed them on her American show The Talk in February she claimed that they ‘…cost $30,000 each. Justin was sweating all day, so [his is] covered in his sweat.’