In a new approach to cancer prevention, the major British charity Cancer Research is working with Bauer Media and the Asos clothing retailer in its SunSmart campaign.

This is an annual campaign run by the charity, that focuses on teaching young people (between the ages of 16 and 24) the risks of sun cancer and how to protect themselves while still having a good time in the sunny weather.

The fashion input is an online ‘tool’ that Asos have developed – it provides fashion and clothing advice to the user, based on their skin type, the current weather forecast and the event for which they want to choose an outfit. To encourage fashion aware young people to use the tool regularly, they are also being included in a weekly draw – the winner of which receives £100 of vouchers to spend in Asos.

The tool is also being promoted in magazines and on the radio.

Workplaces could use a similar technique to promote safe sun use in their employees –because clothing such as a baseball cap is a great way to protect skin from too much UV exposure. One technique might be a simple chart in the reception area or cafeteria or near the water cooler that shows the weather forecast for 48 hours ahead and lists sensible work clothing to deal with the weather conditions.

The credit crunch has delivered a new way of doing fashion to those of us who don’t have much disposable income to devote to clothing. It’s called ‘slow fashion’ and it’s like the slow food movement.

What it means is clothes at disposable prices have lost their appeal and ‘made to last’ garments are taking their place as people make fewer and more carefully planned purchases.

Things to look out for are:

•    ’Trans-seasonal’ clothes such as gilets and sleeveless fleeces that can be worn over T-shirts on a cool summer day or over sweaters on a really chilly autumn or winter one
•   Organic fabrics which are considered to last longer, and damage the environment less
•    ‘New’ fabrics such as bamboo, which are long-lasting and tend to come from sustainable sources
•    Classic styling – things like Breton stripes, classic white T-shirts, enduring standards such as pale denim and navy jackets all keep their value and doesn’t suffer fashion ‘fall out’ whatever might be currently popular.

To make the right choices for a slow fashion wardrobe, ensure you pick one or two colours only and that everything you buy can be tied into those colours, focus on traditional styles rather than extreme fashion cuts and colours, and choose the best quality that you can, so that garments last longer and look good for their whole life.

Andy Murray has switched his clothing supplier to Adidas this year, which may be related to his having worn retro Fred Perry clothing: a subtle polo-shirt and relaxed shorts combo, last year, in tribute to the last male Brit to win the tournament – his failure to win it himself was partly attributed to ‘pressure’ so maybe his new Adidas kit will help him relax.

Pressure of a different kind has been seen at the World Cup – England’s players may not have survived the pressure – and whether the manager will is still open to question, but pressure clothing has been the big feature of the footballers kit this time around.  Strictly speaking it’s called compression clothing  and it helps athletes resist fatigue because it encourage oxygen circulation around the body, meaning that the blood carries away lactic acid from tired muscles. Lactic acid is a major cause of cramp and so anything that helps tired players to cope with the schedule (finalists will have played 7 games in 30 days) is going to be considered both a practical and a psychological aid.

Meawhile, Serena Williams has been piling the pressure on to her opponents at Wimbledon – playing in long acrylic fingernails and huge dangling earrings is seen by sports psychologists as the reigning champion saying ‘Do what you like, I can beat you wearing party clothing.’  She’s worn a stunning range of casual clothing, from red and white outfits through to sparkling silver nails, and it all helps keep her opponents on the back foot.

The staff of a DHL depot have received an award after adopting an army platoon that was serving in Afghanistan.

The depot staff raised funds through a range of events and workplace competitions which was then used to purchase MP4 players and iPods, magazines, sweets, biscuits and other dry foods and even wholesale casual clothing to help make the lives of the soldiers a little more comfortable.

In 2009, they raised over £20,000 for a variety of causes including the Ava platoon, demonstrating how workplace initiatives can really help, not only by raising funds but by boosting morale and creating relationships that sustain people coping with extreme hardship.

The depot has been granted the Royal British Legion’s Friends of The Forces corporate award for its “extraordinary” work with the soldiers and DHL Droitwich’s Community Liaison Officer said, ‘At the end of the day, you may think you’re having a bad day at the office but it doesn’t compare when it’s hot, you’re getting shot at, blown up and you’ve got sand in every crevice of your body … If all firms could do what we did it would do a lot of good.’

Workplace charity initiatives range from supporting local playgroups by donating leftover paint and paper for creative play through to massive fundraising campaigns by national organisations to fund hospital units or mentoring opportunities offered to individuals ranging from potential athletes to disabled young people to ex-offenders or those recovering from serious illnesses.

Earlier this week, two schoolgirls, dressed in Edwardian clothing, buttonholed David Cameron on the steps of Number Ten.  They sold him a rose, continuing a tradition that has run for nearly a hundred years – since 1912 when Queen Alexandra started the Charities’ Charity by selling a rose to the Prime Minister of the day, who put it in his buttonhole.

The two 16-year-olds attend Francis Holland School sixth form, and were chosen for their exceptional charity work – both have been both volunteers and fundraisers for charities while studying at the school. They wore the traditional white dresses, pink sashes and straw boaters that have been the hallmark of the Charities’ Charity since it was set up by the Queen to sell silk roses, made by London flower girls to raise funds for her preferred causes. Today the recipient gets a rose pin made of enamel and Alexandra Rose Charities help  more than 250 other charities, many of which are very small and local.

The Charities’ Charity may have been one of the first to use specialist clothing to raise funds, but today nearly every charity with a national profile has charity-branded clothing such as slogan printed T-shirts, hats with embroidered logos or even ‘gimmick’ clothing like Pudsey Bear’s spotty bandana.

In the past week or so, literally thousands of fake football shirts have been pouring into England, but they haven’t been reaching their purchasers.

Counterfeiting experts and representatives of the major clothing companies are working with the staff of the international mail sorting office in Coventry to intercept fake replica shirts and T-shirts that have been manufactured in China, Thailand and Malaysia and sold online. It’s a multi-billion pound illegal trade that doesn’t just leave fans out of pocket: it’s been linked to drug trafficking and child labour.

Faked national and Premier League football shirts, cost anything from £9 to £30 from online counterfeiters while the genuine article, this year, costs between £35 and £58.  In 2009, over 50,000 counterfeit replica shirts, worth over £1 million, were seized in the UK, leaving a lot of disappointed customers and with the World Cup starting this week, that figure is expected to double in 2010.

What to look out for

•    Check that logos are real – even online you can often spot that a logo has been reversed, or isn’t entirely accurate.
•    Check that the website you’re visiting is legitimate – where possible, buy from retailers and services you know already or have been personally recommended to you.
•    Make sure you know the trader’s full address – especially if the company is based outside the UK. Don’t assume an internet company is based in the UK just because its web address has ‘uk’ in it – check out the physical address and phone number.
•    If the item or service is over £100 then consider paying by credit card this gives you some protection in the case of non-delivery or seizure by customs etc.
•    Look for websites that have a secure payment system (known as an encryption facility) – usually shown as a padlock image onscreen when you reach the payment stage.

Until very recently, there were rules that everybody stuck to when it came to clothing, especially in the workplace: men wore suits and women did too, unless they were secretaries, in which case they wore cardigans.  But now the clothing rules have broken down and in many places, new rules are being set and challenged.

In Singapore there is a law that says that ‘it is an offence to intentionally cause harassment, alarm or distress to another person through the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or display of writing, signs or visual representations’ – conviction could lead to a maximum fine of $5,000. While the law is not generally enforced, a complaint about vulgar or offensive images, graphics or text on a T-shirt could be considered as grounds for prosecution. Then there’s the Sedition Act: Chapter 290 of the Statutes of Singapore which says that anyone who produces, sells, circulates or imports publications and utters speech or produces words that incite hatred, contempt and disaffection towards the Government, as well as promoting ill will and hostility between different races or classes, is liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine of up to $5,000 or a maximum of three years’ jail.

Many young Singaporean students buy cheap T-shirts in Bangkok to wear on campus when they return home. Inverted crucifixes pentagrams and imagery that could be seen as misogynistic are all common on Heavy Metal T-shirts which are worn by students and could be subject to either of these laws. Recent publicity for the laws suggests that there may soon be a clamp down on clothing that doesn’t satisfy the national rules.

In the USA the Urban Outfitters retailer has also had a brush with controversy. A vest bearing the legend Eat Less in white lettering was being shown on their website, modelled by an extremely waiflike young woman – but only a couple of days after it went on sale, it was withdrawn without any explanation. It seems that a deluge of complaints from people with eating disorders and from the parents of young women who felt the slogan could lead to anorexic behaviour caused the disappearance of the item.

During its heyday, punk clothing was seen as disposable and anti-fashion, but this week a T-shirt worn by Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols, is to be auctioned, with an expected price of £10,000. The bass player was filmed wearing the T-shirt during the ‘documentary’ about the band entitled The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. It was designed by Malcolm McLaren, who was the group’s manager at the time, and bore a swastika. It features in some of the last photographs taken of Vicious before his death the following year – he succumbed to a heroin overdose at a party thrown to celebrate his release on bail in New York in 1978. He had been charged with murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen who was discovered stabbed to death in the bathroom of their hotel room. He then attempted suicide, assaulted a fellow musician, was arrested and bailed again before dying after he was released the second time.

Punk fashion became synonymous with buying clothing in bulk and personalising garments – often creating clothing that could not be reworn because it could not be washed or was too torn or damaged for sustainable use.

The dealer who is offering the garment on behalf of an anonymous seller says that the piece of clothing ‘sums up everything that punk and the Sex Pistols stood for: rebellion, controversy and provocation’, which may be true, but it’s definitely an unexpected twist in the history of punk rock to find that one thing that sums up the Sex Pistols is ‘good investment’!

Buying clothing online is a great way to save money, particularly if you can buy in bulk, for a sports group or children’s club, but it can also be a little daunting at first. Here’s how to make the best decision and buy the best bargain:

Buying for yourself

•    Before you begin to browse, get a good friend to help you take your own measurements – you need to know your chest, waist, hips, arm length and inside leg (which is the length from your crotch to the hem of your trousers) in both inches and centimetres. If you’re a bit shy about your inside leg – find a pair of trousers that are exactly the right length and comfortable in the fit, and measure them!

•    When you’ve got your measurements, browse the various styles and sizes offered online, because different manufacturers offer different cuts and styles and working out which suits you best can ensure your clothing looks great.

•    When you’ve found an item that suits you, why not order several different colours at the same time to avoid paying extra postage? If you get free shipping when you spend a certain amount this can essentially mean getting ‘free’ clothing instead of paying for postage.

Buying in bulk

•    Ensure you purchase from sites that give loads of pictures, and detailed information about size, fit and colour. The more you know about the clothing, the better informed your choice will be.

•    It’s a good idea, when placing a bulk order, to contact the retailer by email or phone explaining what you require and what your current first choice from their offering would be. Sometimes the retailer can offer you a better deal or simply point you to a garment that you had overlooked or disregarded – because they deal with so many people, online retailers have a vast experience of wholesale clothing purchases, how they are used and what works best for the buyer.

•    Make sure you know how the return policy of the retailer works – if you’re buying for a group you’re taking responsibility for ensuring that if you need to send stuff back, you aren’t going to incur a fortune’s worth of costs.

•    Check the privacy policy and online purchasing policy – a good online shop will have a secure system to keep your credit card details and personal information safe, and will also give you the chance to opt in, or out, of marketing information sent by them or by others.

There are thousands of businesses that aren’t on the high street and can’t afford the kind of publicity that’s necessary if you’re to compete for the attention that the big name stores and services get.

However, if you think laterally, you can find ways to boost your company profile without having to invest in costly advertising. By offering services – or fun – that just aren’t available in the big stores or through stuffier service providers, your business can build itself a niche location in the hearts and pockets of consumers.

Focus on the fact that money is tight for everybody, whether it’s an individual who’s experiencing the credit crunch or a company with a squeezed budget. Offer a service to those customers that makes them feel really valued – give each person who spends over a certain amount a free foot massage. Just hire a Beauty Therapy student from the local college to give the massages and put them in a T-shirt advertising your store. For service businesses, this is a great way to reinforce your brand, as it offers a chance for your therapist to go to the workplace of your clients, wearing your branded clothing.

Alternatively, have an in-store service that allows kids to decorate a simple white T-shirt using fabric pens, while their parents shop. Charge a nominal amount for this or offer it free on a single weekend in the year. Again, hire somebody with suitable training in childcare to supervise the kiddies – this builds brand recognition too, at very little cost. Given the ‘pester power’ that children can indulge in, getting them to like your company may be one of the best investments you can make.