The rule book comes before the brand Before any brand question, there is a rule. World Aquatics, the sport's international federation, keeps a "List of Approved Swimwear", and its competition regulations set out "all technical and approval-implementing rules" for swimsuits in "Part One, Rule 6: Swimwear." A racing suit …

The standard winter duvet, and the step above it A few weeks into winter, with the heating off overnight, a 13.5 tog duvet can start to feel thin, and the 15 tog on the shelf above it looks tempting. On paper the step is small: 1.5 tog, about 11% more thermal resistance. In practice the question is whether your bedroom …

What Dunelm sells, and what it costs When the nights turn cold and the summer duvet comes off the bed, Dunelm is where many UK households look first. Its duvet range is large: 181 results when we checked on 5 October 2026, starting at around £12. The question this review answers is whether the cheap end of that range …

Togs for the pool, not just the beach Choosing togs for morning laps is a different job from choosing them for a summer at the beach. The surf brands get most of the shelf space, but three Australian names are built for swimmers who train, race or move between the pool and the gym: Speedo, Funkita and Lorna Jane. This …

New Zealand made swimwear long before it bought it in An Australian shopper might call them bathers or swimmers; a New Zealander packs togs, and often buys them from a local label. The short list is Moontide for fit and support, Lonely for design, and Covertogs if you want a suit that is still made in New Zealand. …

A focused range against a full department store The White Company listed 30 duvets on its UK site; John Lewis listed 145. That difference in size explains most of this comparison. The White Company sells a focused range under its own name. John Lewis sells its own-brand duvets alongside other makers, from a £25 …

The number on the label comes from a lab test A tog is a unit of thermal resistance: how strongly a material slows the flow of heat through it. The figure on a UK duvet label is the result of a laboratory test carried out to a British Standard, BS 4745. That makes it one of the few numbers in bedding you can compare …

Not quite: the Irish Sea splits the meaning What does "togs" mean in Ireland compared with the UK? The short answer is that it means different things. In Ireland, togs are what you swim in. In the UK, "togs" is old informal slang for clothes in general, and the singular "tog" is the warmth rating printed on a duvet. An …

Two surf brands, two very different owners Rip Curl began with surfboards and wetsuits in Torquay; Billabong began with boardshorts on the Gold Coast. Both started on the Australian coast in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and both still sell boardshorts, bikinis and one-pieces across Australia and New Zealand. What …

Buying togs on sale starts with the calendar If you want new togs without paying full price, the question is when to buy them. Australia's retail year now has a sale of some kind almost every month, and the consumer group Choice has mapped them. Its guide lists ten recurring sale events, from Black Friday and Boxing …