If you’re buying workplace uniforms it can be tough to decide what’s best for your team. There’s a wide range of variables: price, colour, cut, design, printing, embroidery … the permutations seem almost endless. Here are a few tips to simplify the decision-making process:

• Price is vital, but remember that initial price may not be the whole story. Thin, cheap clothing may not launder well, or may fade or warp, giving a poor impression of your business and maybe causing your staff to feel demoralised. You may also end up replacing cheap uniforms quicker. Google your shortlisted brands and see what reviewers have to say about durability.

• Colour matters, and it’s best to pick something that resembles your business logo, often called your ‘livery’ in the trade. A complementary colour can harmonise with that livery, while a contrasting colour adds life to the item. Designers and garment printers have vast experience in what colours work well, so call on their expertise to help you get something that will look good and be easy to see. Take their advice on whether to go for embroidery or printing too, as they will have knowledge of clothing use in similar industries to yours.

• Allow for weather variations, and remember that an air conditioned office may be colder than a heated driver’s cab, so your view of what your employees need may be inaccurate. Give them the opportunity to layer clothing: a vest under a shirt or a polo-shirt that can be worn with a jacket or fleece, a cap or a knit hat.

If promotional clothing does its job, it will become an heirloom – vintage T-shirts, retro fashion boiler suits and dresses, previously loved ties and bags, all these are desirable but fragile items. Modern promotional clothing may become the much-desired heirloom of the future, and knowing how to care for it can help you and your team enjoy your custom printed or embroidered work-wear, your team T-shirts or your on-tour hoodies.

Giving this information to your clients, either as a cute promotional leaflet or as a care page on your website, can have an unexpected bonus effect – it builds customer loyalty by showing that you have an ethical approach to making the most of the clothing you sell/provide.

• Washing – if your T-shirts are printed, always turn them inside out before washing and dry them on a line, inside out, not in a tumble dryer. This means that the printed image isn’t constantly being rubbed up against other fabrics which can abrade it. Wash dark fabrics on the lowest possible temperature.
• Stains – salt is the best way to remove deodorant stains from dark clothing. Just wet the stain with cold water, pour salt onto it and gently press it into the stain. Next day, add about 2 tablespoons of salt to the wash water. To avoid these stains in the first place, apply deodorant the night before – it prevents damp and odour just the same, but it stops the aluminium in the deodorant getting onto the fabric. If you spill something oily on promotional clothing, soak the stain, as soon as possible, in pure washing up liquid – preferably an environmentally friendly one as it’s less likely to contain bright pigments like blue or green that can actually tint the garment. Leave for an hour and then dip the stain in a small bowl of white vinegar and wash. Most oily stains will have completely disappeared.
• Pressing/Ironing – not everybody irons their T-shirts but most people iron, or have their shirts laundered – if your cotton shirts are monogrammed, it’s best not to iron over the embroidery directly. Instead lay an old white pillowcase or tea-towel over the embroidered area and run the iron over that.

Closed loop manufacturing has become an increasing focus of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and McDonald’s are leading the way. It’s no surprise that uniforms that are related to the London Olympics have been under scrutiny for their environmental impacts, and that high profile companies are keen to ensure their promotional activities are in line with the latest social and environmental guidelines.

Many organisations, from Marks & Spencer to the National Grid, are looking into producing closed-loop clothing, whereby some of the polyester in the original garment is broken down into a polymer that can then be respun into a yarn that is rewoven into new clothing.

A London based consultancy, Worn Again, is helping other corporations to repurpose their corporate clothing into new items. For example, the old Eurostar headrests were repurposed into bags and utility pouches for Eurostar train managers, Royal Mail winter jackets have also been recycled into bags. It’s claimed that 33.4 million uniforms are purchased each year, of which something less than 5% are recycled.

The key messages here are:

1. Look at corporate clothing through its entire lifetime and plan an end-of-life use that can be a good story for the corporation.
2. Set up clothing collection systems in the workplace to gather corporate clothing for re-cycling or closed-loop processing.
3. Re-use, repurpose and recycle any workplace clothing that can’t be built into a closed loop process, and ensure that embroidery or printing can contribute to the repurposing by have logos printed in areas that can then be re-used to make smaller, ‘ready-branded’ items.

There are three key concerns when selecting promotional clothing

• Budget
• Appearance
• Performance

Budget is simple and is usually the tightest and most evident constraint on promotional clothing. There will usually be a limit on what can be spent, and within that limit the clothing has to be effective and attractive.

Appearance can be shaped by material – cheap T-shirts do not last long, but if you are promoting a short-term event such as a weekend sale or a festival, they may be all that is required. More substantial materials will give a longer life to the garment and a more solid appearance to the clothing which reflects on the brand the promotional clothing supports. Bear in mind the climate and population in your chosen area: if there are many older residents, you are more likely to succeed with polo-shirts than T-shirts, but if there’s a large student population, jogging pants and T-shirts will be much more popular than classic clothing items.

Performance is part of the process of applying promotional clothing to the world. If you choose embroidered baseball caps, they will get much more wear in summer than winter, while knit hats will be more popular in winter than summer. Barbecue aprons are summer clothing but gloves and scarves perform best for their brand in winter. Making a wise selection gets your message out their for the maximum period of time, but other businesses will know this too, so don’t disregard the competition when planning your promotional clothing: your garments have to be attractive to get worn as well as season-appropriate.

The cult of the celebrity chef has become established around the globe: TV chefs have huge followings and branded restaurants are found everywhere from cruise ships to capital cities.

Now kitchen uniforms get the star treatment, as increasing numbers of venues opt for stylish clothing, not just for table staff, but for kitchen employees too, to bring a sense of the theatrical to dining out. Personalising chef’s uniforms has become a standard treatment, especially in ‘view’ dining venues where tours of the kitchen, or windows opening on to it, are commonplace. This allows each chef to create a sense of identity for him or herself, and gives them a chance to personalise the experience each diner receives.

Hotelier has recently reported on this phenomenon with particular focus on the Middle East, where celebrity chefs have just started to appear, but where colourful uniforms for kitchen staff have been much more acceptable than has been the case in the USA and Europe, until very recently.

Retaining key staff is also a feature of personalising uniforms for employees as have embroidered names or other identifying emblems such as logos can help companies to keep individuals and promote their identities within their industry.

It’s not always easy to see how you can promote your business: if you’re a plumber then you have contact details on the side of your van; if you’re a baker you put Bakery above your shopfront or market stall, but many businesses these days are more difficult to showcase.

How does a horse-sitter (somebody who exercises horses while their owner is unable to) or a pilates instructor or a public speaking coach get the kind of publicity that other businesses rack up simply by having a shop or vehicle?

It may require a certain amount of ingenuity. If you’re a horse sitter or dog walker, it may be worth getting customised clothing for the animals you work with: dog jackets and dog T-shirts are big fashion business, as well as ideal promotional surfaces, and giving the owner of your dogs a free garment for their animal can help spread your message to others.

For a Pilates instructor, sponsorship may be a great way to go: offering a free session to the local bowls club or running group, followed by having your logo and contact number on their club clothing, is an effective way of enhancing a local visibility and spreading the message to likely clients. It allows you to become identified with something that is positive (sports for older people or community fitness) and can lead to opportunities such as having a stall at a race or local competition.

For a speaking coach, why not consider sponsoring a schools debate – getting children involved in public speaking can lead to a lot of free publicity, local newspapers, TV and radio always love to feature kids doing something interesting and positive and if they are wearing clothing branded with your logo, that can be a lot of free publicity!

For many companies, offering a personalised or branded gift at Christmas has several purposes:

1.    It recognises customer loyalty
2.    It creates brand recognition
3.    It offers a thank you to new customers who may not be fully engaged with the brand yet
4.    It establishes the company offering the gift as being substantial and caring.

These are great marketing opportunities that shouldn’t be neglected even when marketing budgets are tight. In fact, thinking creatively around the idea of a business to customer gift is a great way to establish some brand features that will encourage your customers to think of the company as one that supports them in tough times.

Branded clothing has practical value, unlike the traditional forms of corporate gift such bottles of wine or spirits, boxes of chocolates or the more modern and less personal approach of giving vouchers.

At the top end of the scale, monogrammed shirts, or hoodies for younger individuals offer a superb, highly-personalised approach to gift giving. It’s not a cheap way to recognise the customer’s value but for the truly valued client, it’s a brilliant approach. Think outside the box though, and see if you can select something that the customer will really value: sports clothing with a monogram that a customer can use for their favourite sport is an ideal way to say thank you.

In the middle of the market, T-shirts offer a chance to give a gift that gets worn, and is fully appreciated without breaking the bank. If your customers are young, find a young designer to style your company logo in a completely new way, that reflects current trends but if they’re more traditional, go for a classic and simple statement, maybe the company logo as a sleeve print or small embroidered detail with neat and unobtrusive contact details below it.

For the masses, if you have lots of customers and/or want to buy something that can be used for both Christmas gift and general promotional purposes, think about branded hats or lightweight bags. Don’t fall for too much novelty though: amusing images like Santa riding on your logo etc are only funny for a very short time and then fall out of favour and have no value to the recipient. It’s better to think about longevity and choose a hat or bag that will be used year round. Practicality is the key to a successful gift and you can double the promotional whammy you get from such items by running a competition that offers to reward the person who takes the best picture of their hat/bag in an unusual place or in a location appropriate to your business. Post the photos on facebook and tweet about them in your twitter account to get the maximum cross-platform marketing boost from your promotional clothing spend.

The recession means that many firms are having to forego the usual Christmas party for staff and forget about the usual bottle of tipple and box of chocs that have traditionally been given to employees at this time of year.

Instead, consider the value of investing in branded clothing for your team – it’s a workplace based gift that can benefit the individual and the company. Polo shirts or fleeces embroidered with the individual’s name or initials demonstrates that you value each person, and gives all your employee’s a chance to wear something new and exciting to work.

Personalised work clothing is also a great gift for promoting team development: it shows that you are investing in your staff and it gives them a sense of self-esteem and a long-term reminder of their value to the company.

You can even create a small brochure so that employees get to choose which item of branded clothing they would like to receive: T-shirts or hoodies appeal to the young and those who work away from the public eye but those in customer services might prefer to have a monogrammed shirt or a smart jacket. Offering a choice also shows that you respect individuality and gives your team a sense of having options and a stake in their own appearance.

Customers respond well to people in smart, well-kempt clothing too, so what benefits the team also improves customer relations.

Caps in winter are a valuable tool for business promotion and staff well-being! Not only do they help keep your staff safe and well by conserving body heat and protecting the vision from wind, rain and snow, they also serve as a great promotional item.

Winter caps are often worn by joggers and golfers, and those playing winter ball sports. This delivers a lot of public awareness of your brand if it’s emblazoned, printed or embroidered on a cap.

It’s important to decide whether to have a cap embroidered or printed – embroidered caps have a classic appeal while printed ones can carry bigger and bolder images and messages. Colour choice matters too. In winter you need to select strong colours to compensate for the low light and washed out skins of winter employees and to appeal to the jaded eyes of customers and clients who will enjoy a splash of brightness in an otherwise grey day.

It’s said that Brooks Brothers has dressed more American Presidents than any other clothing line, and this month it had a Scottish showcase in its Regent Street shop.

More than 300 fashionistas attended the event which featured knitwear, tweed, cashmere, ties, embroidered and embossed items and hand-made shirts. The occasion was the Harris Tweed centenary and Brooks Brothers used the event to highlight its own nearly two century pedigree, with photos of Abraham Lincoln (who got that black coat from the Brooks Brothers store), Andy Warhol and Clarke Gable, all dressed in Brooks Brother’s clothing.

It’s not just tweed that makes Brooks Brothers different – the brand has driven the search for new clothing fashions that it can import, such as bringing button-down shirts to the USA and inventing the wash and wear suit. Branding clothes with the classic Brooks Brothers logo has kept the company in the public mind as one that delivers a formal quality along with ease of wear and laundering and it has also been careful to supply clothes for TV shows that match its brand identity such as Mad Men and Glee.

This clever association of clothing, famous wearer and innovation has really driven the brand as one that innovates and yet contains the best of American heritage. Other companies might find a very different focus for their brands – more casual companies might like a figurehead who plays a cool sport to wear a sponsored polo shirt or to find a band or actor who typify the brand values and then to offer them promotional clothing to wear in public. Whatever way you play the famous clothing game, it benefits both brand and individual to be associated with each other.