Fake clothing, bags, DVDs and cigarettes are to be found all over the world, but particularly in established retail locations where students and tourists congregate, such as California. Current confiscations there suggest that the ‘underground economy’ could be costing the state around $8 billion annually. The people making the garments are poorly paid, and the lack of tax paid on them means jobs are not created and local services are not funded. Lose-lose all round.

The goods are often sold in markets or as part of festivals, and a key feature of the new black economy is the creation of ‘second-hand’ counterfeit clothing from brands such as Hilfiger (jeans) and Lacoste (polo shirts) which are less liable to such close inspection as new clothing. Just because it’s not new, doesn’t make it genuine!

And in the UK, fakers are costing the economy, and individuals, a great deal. A recently sentenced man was found to have more than 6,000 fake designer clothing labels in his possession and to be running a factory scale counterfeit operation that was producing several hundred garments a month.

So why not buy a fake? In terms of casual clothing, it can look like a good deal to buy a knockoff pair of jeans or a counterfeit hoodie but in the long term, casual clothing brands work hard to maintain their quality and the longevity of the garments they offer, so cheap versions of top of the range clothing may last no time at all and may warp or twist, fade or even tear where poor quality fabric is placed under stress to match high quality originals. Even if those things don’t happen, counterfeit garments usually collapse very quickly, becoming saggy and bobbly – giving a clear indication that they are not the real thing. While the bargain looks enticing on the market stall, if it doesn’t hold up to continued wear and laundering, it may be an expensive mistake.

We seem to be cycling through a pattern of snow, rain, snow, rain … it can be difficult to know how to dress in this weather, particularly if you’re planning a long winter journey and/or needing to take part in social events when you get there. Other people’s houses often seem too hot or too cold to us.

While it’s appropriate to dress for comfort and safety, it’s also important to ensure that your clothing works for the situations you may find yourself in.

Car journey – make sure old and young have layers of clothing that they can put on and take off. This allows them to keep warm without overheating. Gloves and a hat and scarf really help them to balance their temperature during a long journey. For yourself, wear something comfortable and rugged like jog pants, so that if you have to get out of the car you can get wet or muddy without ruining your clothes. Remember to put your good trousers or skirt somewhere handy so you can change as soon as you arrive.

Trains, planes and coaches – once again, layering is vital. Remember that you may be delayed so you should pack a spare clean T-shirt to put on for sleeping etc. Smart-casual polo-shirts are a better bet than t-shirts for mass travel, because if there are upgrades on offer, there’s a psychological trait in all of us that makes us more likely to upgrade the more smartly dressed individual.

Cycling, walking – a fleece jacket is one of the best investments you can make. It has wonderful insulation qualities, is reasonably waterproof and lightweight.

Hoodies don’t work for everyone. Your gran might not be comfortable in something that she associates with heavyweight fighters clambering into the ring for televised boxing matches. Your teenage nephew may have strong ideas about what a hoodie should look like: and given how easily kids become mocking or outright hostile if clothing doesn’t fit perfectly into the current style, he may be right to worry.

On the other hand, a sweatshirt is uncontroversial. From cute girls, to crusty elders, it’s eminently wearable. It’s warm and comfortable and the elasticated cuffs and snug hem ensure that cold winds don’t invade the garment to cause chills and discomfort. But because it’s not bulky, a sweatshirt still looks good under a jacket or fleece. And when you head indoors, the weave radiates heat away from your body so that you can cool down rapidly, unlike a wool sweater that can remain uncomfortably warm and sweatily prickly.

When choosing a sweatshirt for another, the colour is really vital. Blue works for almost everyone; black is good for teenagers and if you’re confident about colour, you can push the boat out and choose something that enriches winter skin, such as a rosy red shade for pale redheads, a rich tangerine for brunettes or even a fuchsia shade for those with greying hair.

In the past year, Indian shoppers have got into buying clothing online in a big way. The division by gender is around 70% male to 30% female, with retailers focusing on social media to reach out to women who are a growth market for all forms of retail in India. Global clothing companies are rushing to get into this market, especially to bring their retail expertise to many customers who live in small towns, villages and the hamlets or rural India.

Casual apparel has the second highest seller online in India: ahead of books and DVDs. India’s ‘internet population’ has moved into e-commerce with ease: the nation has around 10 million online shoppers, a market that is growing at 40-45%, compared to the global rate of around 8-10% growth. eBay India retails a garment every seven minutes – many of which are sports shoes and clothing with Adidas and Reebok featuring highly in the popularity stakes.

Children’s wear is also a rapidly growing market with Indian mums investing in clothes and shoes, along with feeding bottles, buggies and toys. Menswear is growing too:one company that sells work shirts at under 900 rupees each has sold 2,500 shirts since it launched in August and is expecting to sell 5,000 collared shirts a month in 2012.

Personalised workout clothing is a big seller, with monogrammed hoodies and polo-shirts being a regular purchase by individuals and as presents or to commemorate work events such as promotions or anniversaries, which are popular celebrations in Indian culture.

This is the time of year when parents start asking who is going to visit whom for Christmas. It’s a real snake pit: do you go to your own parents or instead stay with your boyfriend/girlfriend’s family? If you’re a senior, do you ask the kids to visit again, or admit that you’d rather stay with a friend/take a cruise/sit at home in your underwear and watch TV?

In any case, one feature of the holidays will be photos – the obligatory family picture that gets filed in the family album. What do you wear for the photo – and if you have little children, what should they wear?

1.    Begin by deciding on the basic theme of the photo – when it will be taken and does that mean it will be casual or dressy? If it’s over the dining table, take the photo at the beginning of the meal not the end, when gravy splashes and family bickering may have spoilt the tablecloth and the mood.
2.    Browse online to pick some colour themes: black and white look a bit like a funeral but festive red and green don’t suit everyone. If you can suggest a basic colour scheme to everybody who will be in the photo, it’s a nicer way of reminding them to dress up than just asking them to look smart! If your family are totally non-cooperative, ordering individually monogrammed Christmas polo shirts or hoodies for everyone can be one way to get them to look reasonable in the photo album!
3.    Remember that whether shopping or appearing in photos, children have short attention spans so get everything ready in advance, and rather than dragging them round the shops, put together some outfits online and then let them choose from the items you’ve already pre-selected: it’s a two minute job and nobody gets stressed.
4.    Get everybody to try on their clothes for the photo well in advance of the day, so that tears or stains, grubby collars or outgrown items can all be dealt with before they become a last-minute crisis.

It’s always worrying for parents when a child dislikes their new school, or dreads the beginning of another school year. It can seem inexplicable: the child may enjoy the subjects they are studying, and have friends they are looking forward to seeing again, but even so, they may feel ‘down’, worried and even become tearful and frightened at the thought of school.

There are several ways to help a nervous or unhappy child get over the first days of the new term:

Memory banks for both sexes – instead of forcing your child to think forward, encourage them to think backwards: creating a scrapbook about the summer which records their best memories of the school break can be a good way of getting them into the groove of school again. The best way to use a scrapbook is to fill it from the front to the back with memories and from the back to the front with plans, so that a child can prepare pages for school trips, for birthday parties in the months ahead and for half-term ideas, all of which balance out the fun of school and the fun of holidays.

Self esteem for girls – sometimes it’s low self-esteem that triggers a bout of fear so taking a daughter for a haircut, or helping her revamp her wardrobe can be enough to remove the feeling of inadequacy. Don’t suggest it as an answer though, just plan a family trip to the hairdressers or suggest that you go through her school clothing with her while you talk over the problem … that way you can suggest a couple of items that would add to her clothing choices. For older girls, try offering a budget and letting them have a friend round to shop online together – this allows them to exercise the power of choice and to work out how to get the most for their money, both attributes that boost self-esteem.

Self-esteem for boys – often boys struggle with their feelings, so getting them involved in an activity where they can express their emotions, such as drama, can be the simplest way to release fears and tensions around school. Sports, unsurprisingly, are also a great safety valve, but rather than football or after-school activities, enrol him in a mixed age sport like a martial art. A class where they will be able to see and hear older people than themselves coping with challenges, making fools of themselves and getting over it, and winning and losing in public gives them the chance to learn the skills they need to feel secure at school. A martial art also teaches boys how to care for their appearance and clothing and to be polite in public: key features of a successful school career.

In a few weeks everybody will be heading back to school: for some it will be the first school day of their lives, for others it’s a familiar routine that still causes stress and hardship, but for all there are simple tips to help prevent the September blues.

Save money

•    Look out for Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) offers on everything from school stationery through to shoes. Even if you can’t use the supplies in your own family, you can save money by buying with another parent or student and splitting the cost. Uniform clothing can be a real cost, but shopping around delivers real savings. You’d be surprised what you can find: quite a few shoe shops are even offering BOGOF deals on trainers in August so planning ahead can save you quite a bit.
•    Look at the extra-curricular activities you want to do, or your child is interested in, and work out what supplies are needed. Find out if you can buy in bulk for things like art activities, when an order for aprons, paper, paints and so on could be placed on behalf of half a dozen students, leading to free delivery and major discounts on cost.
•    Sort through your wardrobe or the child’s wardrobe and pick out what can be used again; put what is too small through the free small ads in your local paper to try and make a bit of cash, and anything worn out can be taken to a charity shop. This makes room for new clothing and might even raise a little cash to put towards it.

Save time

•    Get hold of the school calendar (often to be found on the school website) and note down all significant dates: first day of term, inset days, parent/teacher days etc. Add them to a family calendar so that you all know when you need to be together for certain events and also when you need to be around to cover days off school. Work out your back-up plan for illness (yours, the teacher’s, that of a child in your care).
•    Plan your morning and afternoon school runs. It can be good to organise a library stop one day a week so the student can use the reference section/internet/borrow books – doing it the same day every week can mean it becomes a habit that means a bit of extra homework/project work gets done without needing to nag or self-motivate.
•    Make a plan for storage: some material that comes home from school needs to be kept as coursework that will be marked at the end of the year; some needs to be kept for sentimental reasons (like those first big paintings that every parent treasures); and some probably has to be quietly jettisoned so that it doesn’t clutter up the house. Having a storage box, a scrap book and other necessary filing organised can mean you don’t have to worry about where the right stuff is months down the line.

Simple plans and money-saving ideas can make returning to school simpler, cheaper and much more fun!

In a week when a Glaswegian school has asked parents to buy baggy school clothes to ‘deter paedophiles’ the simple act of purchasing clobber for kids has become a difficult subject to discuss and shopping trips have become more of a battleground than ever.

The Scottish secondary school in question sent a letter to parents which contained the claim that ‘sex offenders might take pictures of schoolboys in tight trousers.’ Local police say there is no evidence of any incidents in the area that could be related to clothing or even to children. Short skirts have also been ruled out by the school and there’s a suggestion that if parents don’t stick to the suggested dress code, their children could be forced to miss out on school trips.

Parents have branded the letter ‘paranoid’ and a spokesman for the Parent Teacher Council said, ‘Many parents – and indeed young people themselves – are keen to have a dress code in school which requires everyone in the school community to dress in a way which is appropriate for a working environment.’

So what is a good dress code for schools? Sensible clothing such as polo-shirts, in a range of sizes, colours that can be washed and worn easily by active young people, and a sensitivity to different cultural preferences and to the needs of disabled children are all important. What nobody has suggested, until now, is that children should dress to avoid the attention of predatory individuals.

Have you ever had that experience where you see a fantastic item in a shop window and yet when you try it on, it just doesn’t look good on you? Most of us have been through that disappointment and it’s one of the things that can make shopping online quite stressful – bad enough to feel the let down when you try something on in the shop, but so much worse to feel it when you’ve ordered something and had it delivered and then have to send it back.

The answer is to put in a bit of research first. There are so many different ways of sizing clothes (even the New York Times can’t work it out) that it’s good try on some of the clothes from major brands to see how they fit you – that helps you choose the right size when you shop online.

Then look for an online retailer who’s been around for a while – there are loads of fly-by-night scamsters, often selling fake clothing, who vanish before any disgruntled customer can get to them to ask for a refund, so companies who have been selling online for several years have normally ironed out their customer service and are able to offer excellent advice: look out for numbers for advisers you can call to talk through your decisions – you may not need to use them but the fact that they exist is a positive sign. Google the company and see what others have said about them – that helps you work out which are the genuine long-term retailers who care about customers and selling really good clothing online.

Check delivery systems carefully, many small sites deliver only within their own national boundaries – and look at the delivery costs because often you can make a substantial saving if you shop with a friend and get a bulk discount or reach the ‘free delivery’ level.

For the past decade, breathable fabrics have been key to developing new forms of clothing for sport and leisure, and this process has been extended by the work of the internationally famous Hohenstein Institute in Bönnigheim. Now they have a way of measuring the way a body interacts with clothing in a process called body mapping with comfort zones which will allow manufacturers to use different textiles for different parts of a garment, so that sportswear becomes more comfortable, baby wear (for example) becomes more absorbent and casual wear becomes less likely to crease or crumple in significant areas.

This could mean a polo shirt with a self starching collar, wicking under the arms to take up any sweat, and a crease resistant midriff area so that concertina lines don’t appear when somebody stands up after several hours at their desk.

It could also mean women’s T-shirts with built in bras that are designed to support different cup sizes and underarm areas that are super-strong in T-shirts worn for sport or super stain resistant in clothing designed for clubbing: no more yellow stains showing up under nightclub lights!