Adele, 25, album review: 'pop doesn't come more perfect than this'

Adele is back, in case anyone has failed to notice. After a three-year absence, the BRIT school graduate sang a tentative “Hello, it’s me” on her comeback single and clocked up a million digital sales and a billion video hits in a week. Her previous album, 21, sold over 30 million copies, the only release this century to scale such dizzy heights. The ailing music industry is desperate for her to pull off the same trick again. The rest of us are just hoping for another great album full of heartfelt songs delivered with a warm, powerful voice that makes us want to sing along, punch the air and shed a tear.

The first thing to say is I don’t think anyone will be disappointed. Covering much of the same kind of musical and emotional terrain, 25 is certainly the equal of its predecessor. What it sacrifices in youthful rawness it makes up in maturity and sheer class. Adele Adkins has taken her time over her third album and it shows.A lot is said about Adele’s fantastic singing but the key to her global success is surely that she gives herself material worth wrapping her chops around. 25 is crammed top to bottom with perfectly formed songs – elegantly flowing melodies, direct and truthful lyrics and richly textured production – all sung as if her life depends on it.There are deep, resonant piano ballads (Remedy, Love In The Dark and All I Ask), a brace of slinky, playful pop belters (Send My Love (To Your New Lover) and Sweetest Devotion) and some spooky, thunderous, big production dramas (I Miss You, Water Under The Bridge).The highlight has to be River Lea, a blast of North London gospel that improbable locates the source of Adele’s musical soul in the waters of Chingford, Walthamstow and Tottenham. “When I was a child I grew up by the River Lea / There was something in the water and now that something’s in me.”
Now 27, and a mother of one in a settled relationship, the album looks back a couple of years to a more transitional phase (hence the title). It is a collection of torch songs, filled with longing for lost love and mourning her own faded innocence, filtered through more emotional distance than the raw, hurting ballads and blues of 21.She has worked with some of contemporary pop’s leading writer-producers, including Paul Epworth, Greg Kurstin and Max Martin. These are names that turn up everywhere in the charts, so the album’s very organic, old-fashioned flavour comes from Adele herself. Musically, she stands squarely in the middle of the road, and it is only her earthy personality and soulful honesty that lends her any kind of cutting edge. For a contemporary pop star, she never ventures much further forward in musical eras than the Eighties. You can detect nods to Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Carole King, Burt Bacharach and even the chanson of Charles Aznavour, with a hint of Enya’s Orinoco Flow in the rhythm and melody of Sweetest Devotion. But it would be churlish to carp when pop doesn’t come much more perfect than this.

The beauty of Adele’s singing is how effortless it is. The depth of her notes is luxurious with the slightest of croaks in her upper range lending a twist of soul. She gives herself space, words falling neatly with music and rhythm, albeit she has the advantage of being able to stretch vowels and add syllables apparently at will. “It’s so co-oo-oo- old out here-ee-eer in your weel-de-er-ne-ess” looks ridiculous in print but sounds like the truth when Adele puts her heart into it. There’s real joy in her vocal, even when she is grappling with private pain. She loves to sing, and the world loves to hear her.

A private plane for all?

America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) created the Light Sport Aircraft category in 2004 in an effort to make private air travel more accessible, and in so doing gave a legislative green light to developers who wished to design and build easy-to-fly and (relatively) affordable two-person airplanes.

Founded in response to the ruling, the California-based manufacturer ICON Aircraft has now launched its first plane, the A5. An amphibious sport aircraft that can take off and touch down on both land and water, the vehicle is cleared to fly at lower altitudes and in less congested airspace than conventional aircraft so should offer its privileged passengers peerless panoramas of the landscapes beneath.Though the company is unlikely to achieve its mission of bringing "the freedom, fun and adventure of flying to all", at a cost of $189,000 (£124,000) per unit the A5 is farmore accessibly priced than other private jets and planes which typically cost tens of millions of pounds. And for those who can afford the aircraft, a sense of freedom and fun seems near certain.

With a take-off weight of up to 686kg (1510lbs) the A5 can be easily transported from one location to another by trailer – its wings fold up easily so it remains compact when on the road - and it requires a take-off distance of just 710 feet on land or 920 feet on water so can be used with a reasonable degree of spontaneity.

As the plane is aimed at novice pilots it is simple to use too. Its developers describe the A5 as akin to a “well-mannered sports car with wings” and in the US owners will need a Sport Pilot Licence (SPL) to operate the aircraft. The licence restricts flying for sports pilots to day time, good weather and uncongested air space, meaning it isn’t necessary to be aware of or proficient in the more demanding aspects of flying, such as flying at night or flying in inclement weather.

Since the first customer took ownership of his A5 in July, feedback has been good. Jack Pelton, former CEO of Cessna Aircraft, described it as “incredibly easy to fly, safe, forgiving, and ridiculously fun.” To date more than 1,500 additional customers (from Google chairman Eric Schmidt to NASCAR driver Carl Edwards) have paid $5,000 deposits towards A5s of their own. That’s such a significant response to the launch that, at current rates of production, new customers who order an A5 today may not receive their own aircraft until 2019. However, steps are being made to speed up the development process and ICON expects to announce new efficiency-improving initiatives soon.

The launch of the A5 coincides with the release of proposals to launch new supersonic aircraft (among them is the proposed Skreemr plane, which would fly between New York and London in 30 minutes) and comes at the same time as plans are being made to recommence Concorde flights by 2019. Whatever product delays ICON Aircraft might face the expectation is that many more people will be able to boast of flying privately in the near future, and it seems that a number of other aviation innovations are set to be revealed in the years to come.

Why supermodels, soulful jazz and sublime beaches set St Kitts apart

No really. International supermodels do not, in the usual run of things, make a beeline for me across crowded bars. So when a six-foot vision in blue does just that I’m reduced to jabbering inanity (to her credit she doesn’t miss a beat). “Hi, I’m Damaris…” she says.

“Amazing heels," I stammer.

“… and I’ll be hosting the festival on Saturday night.”

This is my first encounter with Damaris Lewis, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, dancer, actress and bestie of Prince, but I will see plenty more of her over the next three days. As she has just intimated, not only is she one of the hosts of the St Kitts Music Festival, which I’ve flown 4,000 miles to attend, but she is also a committed ambassador for the tiny Caribbean island of St Kitts, where it happens, and loves bigging the place up to foreign media.

On the 10-hour direct flight from Gatwick (there are two a week) I have already genned up on the basics. St Kitts and Nevis is a federation of two islands (though I confine myself to the former, the main island, on this trip) that would fit comfortably inside the old English

county of Rutland, with a population of around 50,000.

Shaped on a map like pieces of fried chicken – respectively, a drumstick and a nugget – in the Leeward chain of the West Indies, it is a former British colony with a rich cultural history to go with its more obvious Caribbean charms of sun, sand and affable people. This is the festival’s 19th year and while it may not have the recognition factor of, say, Glastonbury – which always takes place simultaneously, at the end of June – the cognoscenti know where they’d prefer to be.

The English jazz saxophonist, Courtney Pine, for instance, is unlikely to be found in a muddy field in Somerset for as long as St Kitts is on the calendar. “I’d rather be here than getting rained on,” he tells me on the first morning of the festival, when I run into him in the Marriott Resort where we are both staying.

Earthquake kills two on the Greek island of Lefkada

Lefkada, a popular spot for holidaymakers, was hit by an earthquake on Tuesday morning.A strong earthquake registering 6.0 on the Richter scale struck the Greek island of Lefkada on Tuesday, killing two people and damaging roads and buildings, local authorities have said.

The island is a popular spot for holidaymakers, with large bays and consistently blustery winds attracting droves of sailors and windsurfers.

The coastal towns of Vassiliki, close to where the two deaths occurred, and Nydri, are among the most visited spots.

A woman in her sixties was killed by a falling rock caused by a landslide near her home in the village of Ponti, the island's deputy mayor Christos Kaliforis told Vima radio.

Another woman was killed in the village of Athani, he said.

Greek news agency Ana said four people had been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Roads in the south-east of the Ionian island, closest to the earthquake's epicentre in the sea, and several stone houses, have been damaged, Kaliforis said. A church has also collapsed.

An aftershock registering 5.2 on the Richter scale hit the island just before 11:00 am (0900 GMT), two hours after the original earthquake struck.

“We have had almost continuous aftershocks all day," Karen Bennett, a yoga teacher living in Ponti, told Telegraph Travel. "Some feel almost as strong but much shorter than the original quake. It's quite difficult to relax this evening.

“The roads around Vassiliki Harbour have substantial damage but the harbour is still standing, as far as we could see none of the harbour has subsided into the sea. There is damage to older buildings but all the newer buildings have to meet rigorous safety requirements so they structurally seem OK - although generally there is a lot of damage to household contents. A lot of businesses around the harbour and throughout the village (including restaurants and shops popular with tourists in summer) have suffered substantial damage to stock."

The weirdest hotel guests ever - as revealed by staff

From porcupines in the lobby to pie all over the room, hotel staff reveal the odd - and disgusting - guests they have to put up with.

Spare a thought for the hotel staff whose job it is to make your stay as enjoyable as possible, because it’s not just a few nagging guests, the occasional spilt glass of red wine or a lost phone charger they have to deal with.

A recent thread on Reddit asked those who work in hospitality to spill the beans on the weirdest experiences they have had on the job – and they did not disappoint.

Topping the pile was a user who told of a guest the hotel staff nicknamed “Pie Guy” who would regularly visit the hotel, pay for his room in cash as well as a $100 deposit, then leave the next day without checking out. When staff checked his room, the bathroom was always covered in the remnants of “several expensive pies”.He never came to the desk for his deposit, as he knew he wouldn’t be getting it back. We added his name to our ‘do not rent’ list but he kept coming back and using different names,” the user wrote.

“One time we found a torn up list in his room with the words ‘pie’ and ‘pants’ scribbled over and over again.”

Some revelations were a little more sanitary, with another user explaining how a lady asked staff to open up the gym at 11pm. The member of staff obliged, assuming she was a night owl when it came to fitness. However, that wasn’t the case.

“I went back in around 3am to close it up again, and she had set up a bed for herself on the treadmill,” the user explained. “[I] ended up giving her our last room after she had a fight with her husband and was refusing to sleep with him.”

Another tale, which we will truncate for decency’s sake, involved an alleged hotel critic smearing faeces over a bathroom stall then threatening to write a bad review of the establishment when presented with the cleaning bill the next day.

One user who was working on the front desk of a hotel told how a woman had rung up to complain the water in her toilet was full of bubbles. Before the member of staff could not stop her, she proceeded to take a sample with a wine glass and bring it downstairs. By the time she reached reception, the bubbles had gone. “Well, it was bubbly a minute ago,” she said.

England 2 France 0: We need to stand tall and stand together, says Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney said that France and England had delivered a global statement of unity last night after playing at an emotionally charged Wembley Stadium just four days after the terror attacks in Paris.
The matches between Germany and Holland as well as Belgium and Spain were postponed last night amid security fears but the Football Association was able to deliver their tributes to the victims of Friday’s tragedy in Paris and also stage their fixture against France.“This will be shown around the world and will show unity,” said Rooney, the England captain. “Football is a global game. It is not about religion or race. We need to stand tall and stand together in these tough times.
"It was always going to be a difficult night. For ourselves to be involved in this occasion was tough. The young players were excited but it was a difficult game for them. I thought both teams handled it extremely well. The fans were brilliant.”
Roy Hodgson, the England manager, felt that the additional security measures and concern over traffic may have deterred some ticket holders although a crowd of more than 71,000 was still at Wembley last night to deliver a public show of solidarity with the French.
“It was a very poignant game: everything I expected it to be,” said Hodgson. “All the things we wanted to achieve were achieved. 71,000 is a great crowd. They played their part.“I've seen a few text messages from people I know and have worked with from France. They have been quick to point out that they thought the occasion was a very good one for their country. We can be rightly proud we were able to put this event on.
"The French football Federation were the ones who decided the game should go ahead. As far as we're concerned an act of defiance is more important than the other alternative. Then people had to put that aside and play a game of football between two good teams.”
In terms of the football, Hodgson was especially enthused by the performance of 19-year-old Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli.“The first half was as good as I've seen us play here for a long time,” he said. “It was close to a faultless performance. ​I didn't think at any moment that he [Alli] was anything other than top class.
​“It is amazing at t​his age and with so little experience except for a 10-minute substitute appearance to go in and do what he did was outstanding. I wasn't terribly surprised. If I didn't believe he had the capacity to play like he did I wouldn't have chosen him. I have seen him do it for Tottenham. It's a bold choice, a bold decision to bring a guy who has hardly played for the under-21s and put him in the first team.“But I've done it in the past – I've done it with Barkley, Sterling, Stones, Shaw. We've got some history that when we give these players we believe in a chance, we think they can remain important figures. But he's still 19, played a handful of international games, he's still learning the game. It would be nice if he gets the chance to learn without publicity or glare.”
Hodgson said that the FA had been aware of the problems in Germany but were always confident in what was an enhanced security information around Wembley.

Zayn Malik: 'I wanted to quit One Direction from the beginning'

Zayn Malik has revealed he thought about leaving One Direction "from the beginning".

The 22-year-old pop star also denied rumours he split up with Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards via text message.

Malik shocked fans when he quit the boy band earlier this year, saying he wanted to be a "normal 22-year-old", before vowing to show fans"who I really am" with his own music.

In an interview with the Sun, he said of his five-year stint with the band: "I just wanted to go home from the beginning. I was always thinking it. I just didn't know when I was going to do it."

• The rise and fall of One Direction

He also said 1D's songs were "not music I would listen to" and revealed he had only spoken to ex-bandmate Liam Payne since his departure, hinting the pair could collaborate in the future.Malik had previously remained quiet on the break-up of his relationship with Edwards, 22, who in a US TV interview last month called Malik a "bell---" and hinted that the break-up inspired Little Mix's single Hair.

But he hit back at reports that he ended their engagement by text.

He told the paper: "I love her a lot and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that.

"She knows that, I know that, and the public should know as well. I don't want to explain why or what I did, I just want the public to know I didn't do that."

While Malik signed a solo recording contract with RCA Records, One Direction have announced they are to take a hiatus from March next year.

The band said they would be taking a "break" in August and Payne accidentally revealed on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge last week that it could last two years.

Why does nobody want to coach England?

Michael Cheika, Graham Henry, Wayne Smith, Steve Hansen, Warren Gatland, Joe Schmidt and Jim Mallinder have ruled themselves out of succeeding Stuart Lancaster - so why is the job not wanted?

The inability to pick overseas players

This is just one of the areas that is likely to raise a red warning flag with prospective candidates. Any ‘super-coach’ would want the comfort of knowing they could do the job the way they wanted; free from interference. Michael Cheika arrived at Australia and immediately brought the likes of Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell back into the fold, despite the fact that they were playing in France. Their performances at the World Cup were used as a stick with which to beat the RFU, who resisted strong pressure to relax the policy on overseas players and pick the likes of Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon.

The relationship with Premiership Rugby

The relationship between the RFU and English clubs is solid in many respects. The England head coach gets good access to players for instance. But Premiership Rugby also has its own commercial and sporting interests and they are not always aligned with the RFU's. The fiasco over Sam Burgess’s position highlighted a lack of cohesion, with Stuart Lancaster and Andy Farrell clearly wanting Burgess to play at 12, but Bath - his main paymaster - wanting him at six. As Will Greenwood pointed out after Burgess’ decision to return to Rugby League: "If New Zealand were in this position - as we saw with Beauden Barrett - and Steve Hansen wanted him to play full-back [with the Hurricanes] because that's where he sees him playing in the World Cup, then he gets that control. As long as we have that divide, then in the grand scheme of things we're going to find it really difficult to close the gap on the southern hemisphere teams.”

Hastings profits grow as it reaches 2 million motorists

Profits at motor insurer Hastings have grown 19pc on the back of its burgeoning share of the private insurance market.

Hastings, which listed on the London Stock Exchange last month, now holds a 5.7pc share of the private car insurance sector, and has grown its customer base to nearly 2 million motorists. It is aiming to insure 2.5 million motorists by 2017.

Pre-tax profits rose to to £93.8m in the nine months to September 2015, the company said in a trading update. Group revenues also rose 19pc to £350.2m.

Hastings offers insurance for private cars, homes, motorbikes, vans and has begun moving in to the home insurance market.

The insurer has had a shaky start to life as a public company. Its shares have struggled since a flotation on October 12, falling from 170p-per-share float price to close at 162p on Tuesday night.

But shares rebounded by more than 2pc on the news of the results, climbing above the float price to 171p in early morning trading.

Gary Hoffman, chief executive, said the initial public offering had helped strengthen Hasting's solvency buffers and reduce overall debt levels. Net debt levels fell to £354.5m.Early investors in the float included the hedge funds Adelphi Capital, Marshall Wace and Hound Partners, along with insurance entrepreneurs Thomas Duggan and David Saville.

The IPO came after Hastings became one of the fastest growing motor insurance brand in the country since a management buyout in 2009. Goldman Sachs bought a 50pc stake in the insurer in 2013.

We are perfectly set up for when customers want to switch to an insurer

CEO Garry Hoffman

Hastings attributes its success to its presence on price comparison websites, a strategy that has helped it win market share over rivals, said Mr Hoffman, a former chief executive of Northern Rock.

"We are perfectly set up for when customers want to switch to an insurer whatever is happening in the market", said Mr Hoffman.

He said the company would now be investing more than £25m this year on building its digital and mobile customer platforms.

"If we continue to deliver results like this, then the track record will speak for itself and investors will take confidence in the story."

"It's been a very successful nine months and we look forward to continuing our journey of profitable growth with our investors and our 2,000 colleagues."

Blind girl, seven, banned from using white stick at school as it is 'health and safety risk'

Lily-Grace suffered a stroke days after she was born. As a result, she lost her 3D vision and became blind in her right eye. She can now only see lights and colours in her left.

Shortly before Christmas last year, she started using long wrapping paper rolls to help her get around the house.

She asked her mother for a stick and was given a long fibre-glass walking cane by Common Sense Cane, a charity for blind children earlier this year.

Lily-Grace started using the cane in school in April. Her mother, Kristy Hooper, said it had become "an extension of her daughter's arm" and that it was vital she was allowed to use it.

She added: "It is a disability, but I want to celebrate it and make sure she can become independent. When the school told me she can no longer bring her cane into school, I just thought this must be health and safety gone mad.

"She hasn't had any problems with any of the other students, and none of the parents have complained about it - in fact, they have all been very supportive.

"I don't understand where the school is coming from. Lily-Grace has taken to the cane very quickly, and she needs it as she travels to school, walks to the playground, or just being in school."Ms Hooper said: "I am absolutely livid. What about the health and safety of my girl? I like the school, they are a good school, but this really is very poor advice.

"It's just ridiculous. If you took a walking cane away from a blind adult, you would say that was discrimination. It's the same here."

Sarah Murray, founder of Common Sense Canes, said: "I'm very supportive of Kristy, and what she's facing is absolute nonsense from the school. A child needs to learn to be independent, and they need to start from a very young age.

"I've heard about this health and safety reasons, and I just cannot fathom what the school is thinking. Why are they taking a cane away from a little girl?"

She added the cane supplied to Lily-Grace was longer than usual to help her get about and also lighter than normal so it was suitable for a child.Blind Children UK, the leading charity for vision-impaired children, said it was imperative a child learned independence from a young age.

A spokesman said: "Using a cane teaches a child to keep themselves safe and can help them to become less reliant on others. Early intervention is vital to help a child with sight loss move around more confidently and grow towards greater independence as an adult.

"While a cane may not be suitable for every child or young person with sight loss, if they are taught how to use it by a trained habilitation specialist, then, in general, there shouldn't be an issue with using one safely around school."

The risk assessment said Lily-Grace should have full adult support at all times and that she should use hand rails to navigate the school.

She also has been asked to "walk carefully over all surfaces" especially paving stones and wet drain covers - but without the use of her current cane.

'I cashed in my pension but now regret it. Can I reverse my decision?'

'Should I retire at 55 because of my £1.25m NHS pension?'
Dennis Hall, of Yellowtail Financial Planning, said if you started taking pension benefits after 5 April this year, the annual allowance reduces to £10,000, but even this is only available if you have sufficient earned income to justify the contribution.
"If not, a £3,600 limit applies, which is the amount that can be contributed to a pension regardless of your earnings," he said. "If you withdrew a large pension fund it may take many years to reinvest the money back into a pension."
However, all is not lost. Isas also offer a range of tax advantages. While there is no relief available on Isa contributions, unlike pensions any withdrawals from an Isa are tax-free.
With an annual Isa allowance of £15,240, they offer the ability to move pension money back into a tax-advantaged fund quicker than reinvesting into a pension.
Another option is to look at the tax position of your spouse, and whether there may be greater scope to use their pension or Isa allowances. Assets can be transferred between spouses without any tax penalty, and if they have a greater ability to make pension contributions then it may make sense to look at this option.
If you are prepared to take more risk with your money, you could look at other investment options, such as enterprise investment schemes (EISs) and venture capital trusts (VCTs).
"The underlying investments are generally higher risk than most pension funds, investing in smaller companies and early stage companies," Mr Hall said. "But there are very generous tax breaks for investors - 30pc tax relief is available - to encourage investment into Britain's enterprise economy.'' He added: "If you already have a well-balanced portfolio, this is an area you may wish to consider, but take advice first and make sure that you understand the risks involved."

Gothic fashion

Gothic fashion is a clothing style marked by conspicuously dark, mysterious, antiquated and homogenous features. It is worn by members of the Goth subculture. A dark, sometimes morbid fashion and style of dress,^[1] typical gothic fashion includes a pale complexion with colored black hair, black lips and black clothes.^[1] Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernail polish. Styles are often borrowed from the punk fashion, Victorians and Elizabethans.^[1] Goth fashion is sometimes confused withheavy metal fashion and emo fashion.

Cintra Wilson declares that "The origins of contemporary goth style are found in the Victorian cult of mourning."^[2] Valerie Steele is an expert in the history of the style.^[2]

Goth fashion can be recognized by its stark black clothing. Ted Polhemus described goth fashion as a "profusion of black velvets, lace, fishnets and leather tinged with scarlet or purple, accessorized with tightly laced corsets, gloves, precarious stilettos and silver jewelry depicting religious or occult themes".^[3] Researcher Maxim W. Furek noted "Goth is a revolt against the slick fashions of the 1970s disco era and a protest against the colorful pastels and extravagance of the 1980s. Black hair, dark clothing and pale complexions provide the basic look of the Goth Dresser. One can paradoxically argue that the Goth look is one of deliberate overstatement as just a casual look at the heavy emphasis on dark flowing capes, ruffled cuffs, pale makeup and dyed hair demonstrate a modern-day version of late Victorian excess.^[4]

Nancy Kilpatrick's Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined defines "poseur" for the goth scene as follows:"goth wannabes, usually young kids going through a goth phase who do not hold to goth sensibilities but want to be part of the goth crowd...". Kilpatrick contributor "Daoine O'" denigrates poseur goths as "Batbabies" whose clothing is bought at [mall store] Hot Topic with their parents' money.

Street fashion

Street fashion is fashion that is considered to have emerged not from studios, but from the grassroots. Street fashion is generally associated with youth culture, and is most often seen in major urban centers.^[1]Magazines and Newspapers like the New York Times and Elle commonly feature candid photographs of individuals wearing urban, stylish clothing.^[2] Japanese street fashion sustains multiple simultaneous highly diverse fashion movements at any given time. Mainstream fashion often appropriates street fashion trends as influences. Most major youth subcultures have had an associated street fashion. Examples include:

• Hippies (denim, T-shirts, long hair, flower power and psychedelic imagery, flared trousers)
• Teddy Boys (drape jackets, drainpipe trousers, crepe shoes)
• Punk fashion (ripped clothing, safety pins, bondage, provocative T-shirt slogans, Mohican hairstyle)
• Skinheads (short-cropped hair, fitted jeans, Ben Sherman button-up shirts, Fred Perry polo shirts, Harrington jackets, Dr. Martens boots)
• Gothic fashion (black clothing, heavy coats, poet shirts, big boots, makeup)
• Preppy (argyle sweaters, chinos, madras, Nantucket Reds, button down Oxford cloth shirts, and boat shoes)
• Hip hop fashion (ultra-baggy pants, ECKO, Tribal Gear, South Pole, Avirex, FUBU, Sean Jean, NIKE)
• Hipster (glasses, jeans, beanies, sneakers, ties, suspenders)
• Rasta (African-inspired clothing, rastacap, dreadlocks)
• Greaser (subculture) (Levis 501 jeans, T-shirts, leather jackets, sunglasses, Cowboy boots or motorcycle boots, hair gel)
• Urban (colorful apparel, large accent jewelry, skinny jeans, jackets, T-shirts)
• Feminine (dresses, hats, sunglasses, hand bags, floral prints)
• Kawaii ( tutu skirts, pastel and pink colors, anime inspirated accessories ( wild hair clips, bows)
  

Fashion

Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture. Fashion is a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which a person dresses. It is the prevailing styles in behaviour and the newest creations of textile designers.^[1] Because the more technical term costume is regularly linked to the term "fashion", the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while "fashion" generally means clothing, including the study of it. Although aspects of fashion can be feminine or masculine, some trends are androgynous. The fashion industry is a product of the modern age.^[23] Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing was custom-made. It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and tailors. By the beginning of the 20th century—with the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the rise of global capitalism and the development of the factory system of production, and the proliferation of retail outlets such as department stores—clothing had increasingly come to bemass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices.

Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, as of 2015 it is an international and highly globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. For example, an American fashion company might source fabric in China and have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam, finished in Italy, and shipped to a warehouse in the United States for distribution to retail outlets internationally. The fashion industry has long been one of the largest employers in the United States,^[24] and it remains so in the 21st century. However, U.S. employment declined considerably as production increasingly moved overseas, especially to China. Because data on the fashion industry typically are reported for national economies and expressed in terms of the industry's many separate sectors, aggregate figures for world production of textiles and clothing are difficult to obtain. However, by any measure, the clothing industry accounts for a significant share of world economic output.^[25] The fashion industry consists of four levels:

1. the production of raw materials, principally fibers and textiles but also leather and fur.
2. the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others.
3. retail sales
4. various forms of advertising and promotion

These levels consist of many separate but interdependent sectors. These sectors are Textile Design and Production, Fashion Design and Manufacturing, Fashion Retailing, Marketing and Merchandising, Fashion Shows, and Media and Marketing. Each sector is devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit.^[                                                    

Sportswear (activewear)

Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons.

Typical sport-specific garments include shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts, tennis shirts and polo shirts. Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), ski suits (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Sports footwear include trainers. It also includes some underwear, such as the jockstrap and sports bra. Sportswear is also at times worn as casual fashion clothing.

For most sports the athletes wear a combination of different items of clothing, e.g. sport shoes, pants and shirts. In some sports, protective gear may need to be worn, such as helmets or American football body armour.

Sportswear is typically designed to be lightweight so as not to encumber the wearer. The best athletic wear for some forms of exercise, for example cycling, should not create drag or be too bulky.

On the other hand, sportswear should be loose enough so as not to restrict movement. Some sports have specific style requirements, for example the keikogiused in karate. Various physically dangerous sports require protective gear, e.g. for fencing, American football, or ice hockey.

Standardized sportswear may also function as a uniform. In team sports the opposing sides are usually identified by the colors of their clothing, while individual team members can be recognized by a back number on a shirt.

In some sports, specific items of clothing are worn to differentiate roles within a team. For example, in volleyball, the libero (a specialist in defensive play) wears a different colour to that of their team mates. In other sports, clothing may indicate the current status or past achievements of a participant. In cycling disciplines, the rainbow jersey indicates the current world champion, and in major road cycling races, jerseys of particular colours are worn by the race leader and leaders of auxiliary classifications.

Spandex is the preferred material for form-fitting sportswear, such as used in wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics, speed skating, andswimming.Sportswear design must consider the thermal insulation needs of the wearer. In hot situations, sportswear should allow the wearer to stay cool; while in cold situations, sportswear should help the wearer to stay warm.

Sportswear should also be able to transfer sweat away from the skin, using, for example, moisture transferring fabric. Spandex is a popular material used as base layers to soak up sweat. For example, in activities such as skiing and mountain climbing this is achieved by using layering: moisture transferring(moisture wiking) materials are worn next to the skin, followed by an insulating layer, and then wind and water resistant shell garments.