'I've sat in a changing room in my underwear for ages'

Dressing angst. We've all had it. Does this outfit make me look fat? Is it inappropriate for work? Is it something someone half may age would wear? Should I just give up and stay in bed forever?
It's then we need help and advice from people we trust.
"I've sat in a changing room in my underwear for ages waiting for my friends to get back to me," says Sophia Matveeva, founder of fashion advice app, Style Counsel.
"I wanted their advice on the outfit I was thinking of buying. And my friends on WhatsApp were always asking me what they should wear, but we'd often be in different time zones and the answers would come too late."
Fashion dilemmas like this gave her the idea for an app to help women crowdsource advice from stylists and sister fashionistas in a safe, troll-free environment.
"Young women have always cared about what others think about their look, but social media has amplified this", says Ms Matveeva.
"Your image can reach far more people than ever before - it's like being a celebrity, and this has made us a lot more worried."
Style Counsel users wanting advice on an outfit can post a photo and receive "yes" or "no" answers from other users, or more detailed advice from vetted fashion stylists and bloggers "within minutes", she says.
So far around 7,000 people have downloaded the app, and more than 90 stylists are on hand to dispense advice. Photos are being uploaded from North America and Australia, as well as the UK, she says.
Fashion advice is a growing business, with dozens of apps, such as AskAnna, Mallzee and StyleDotMe, springing up, primarily targeting young women.
Image-focused social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest have been a key place for fashion enthusiasts to share ideas and opinions for some years.
And all this data about people's like and dislikes is gold dust for retailers.
"The most expensive piece of research retailers pay for is to find out why something didn't sell. Our platform tells them why - that's valuable feedback," says Ms Matveeva.
This endless appetite for customer data undoubtedly prompted retail giant Amazon to launch its Echo Look camera. The $200 (£150) voice-controlled device - powered by Alexa - can take full-length photos and videos of your outfit and send them to the accompanying smartphone app.
A "style check" function then compares photos and gives its algorithmically-derived opinion of which outfit is better, based on fit, colour, style and current fashion trends. Amazon says its own panel of fashion experts has helped develop this function.
But will this rather impersonal form of advice really appeal to social, sharing-obsessed twentysomethings?
"Women, more than men, are social creatures - AI will never stop us talking to each other," says Ms Matveeva.
"We need human-first technology. Girls will always want the approval of the cool girl at school, and on Instagram there are millions of cool girls."
Most young people like to search for and buy clothes online via their mobiles these days - no queues, less stress.
But getting the right fit is difficult and leads to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of items being returned each year, at great cost to retailers.
"Every brand has its own sizing parameters - there are no international standards," explains Isabelle Ohnemus, chief executive of EyeFitU, a fashion website that finds clothes to fit your figure. "This is why returns are so high.
"We can set up your size profile in a few seconds with 80% accuracy just knowing your gender, height, weight and age," she says.
EyeFitU has about 60 retailers on its site - "mostly big international brands", says Ms Ohnemus - and using all the data it has collected, translates these differing national and brand sizings to suit your actual shape.
Tech company Metail is also trying to solve the size issue by enabling shoppers to create digital 3D versions of themselves that they can they dress up virtually on retailers' websites.
"You can create your own body model giving your main measurements - height, weight, bust size, inside leg, neck size, hips and waist," explains Metail chief executive Tom Adeyoola.
"We can reach 92-96% accuracy just on those measurements."
You can then go on to a Metail-friendly fashion website and see what your digital avatar looks like wearing any of the clothes you select. The images are altered by computer to fit your figure.
To get to this stage Metail has to have photographed the retailer's range of clothes as worn by a manikin standing on a revolving turntable. The special photo rig, based in Bangalore, can "shoot 200 garments a day", says Mr Adeyoola.
When you think that an online fashion retailer like Japan's ZozoTown can have 500,000 items in its range, that's a lot of photos to take.
Mr Adeyoola hopes that his firm's technology will help make buying clothes online "a much more interactive and engaging experience" - as it used to be in-store. It will also provide retailers will valuable insights into our personal preferences.
So far 7.5 million people have created "e-models" of themselves, he says.
Of course, the biggest drawback of online shopping is that you can't touch and feel the clothes before your buy - another reason why returns are such a big issue.
This is why Amazon has launched its Prime Wardrobe "try before you buy" service. Prime subscribers can order online but have seven days before deciding which clothes to keep and which to return in the prepaid box. All without paying a penny up front.
Global fashion retailer Asos, which has 15.4 million active customers worldwide, recently followed suit in the UK with its own "try before you buy" option.
"The challenge of not being able to try on items before buying them is an an e-commerce perennial," says Dan Winter, Asos director of corporate communications.
"So it made sense to explore a try before you buy service here in the UK. With this option, customers don't have to worry about waiting for refunds because they will only be paying for what they choose to keep."
But when it comes to making those choices, we get by with a little help from our friends.

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Egypt drugs case: Briton in court over banned pills

A British woman detained in Egypt on drug smuggling charges is due to appear in court in the Hurghada beach resort.
Laura Plummer, 33, was arrested last month accused of entering the country with 300 Tramadol tablets, a painkiller legal in the UK but not in Egypt.
At the hearing - which is expected to be brief - the judge could extend her detention or free her on bail.
The shop assistant from Hull said she had "no idea" the painkillers she was carrying were banned in the country.
But local police said that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Back problems

Ms Plummer's family hope the judge at her custody hearing will believe she made an innocent mistake, since drug smuggling can be punishable by death in Egypt.
Tramadol is legal in the UK with a prescription but banned in Egypt, where many are addicted to the opiate.
In a phone call from her cell, Ms Plummer told the BBC she was given the tablets by a colleague for her Egyptian partner, Omar Caboo, who has "back problems".
She said the colleague put them in a chemist's bag, which she put in her suitcase.
"I didn't even look in bag," she said. "I can't tell you how stupid I feel."


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Sepp Blatter: Hope Solo accuses ex-Fifa president of sexual harassment

US goalkeeper Hope Solo has accused former Fifa president Sepp Blatter of sexual harassment.
The World Cup winner, 36, says the incident happened at the 2013 Ballon d'Or awards, before she went on stage to present an award.
In an interview with Portugal newspaper Expresso, Solo - who has 202 caps - said: "I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass."
Blatter, 81, denied the incident took place, with his spokesman telling BBC Sport: "This allegation is ridiculous."
Solo, when asked why she has not spoken out on the incident before, added: "I was nervous for the presentation. It was the Ballon d'Or I was presenting.
"After that I didn't see him and that was kind of bad. I didn't get to tell him directly "don't ever touch me". That's the way I've always handled things. Directly."
A growing number of public figures have been accused of sexual harassment in recent weeks, sparked by multiple women speaking out against the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Solo, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, says the issue is "rampant" in women's football.
"I've seen it throughout my entire career," she said. "It's not just in Hollywood.
"For years, in the past, female players date and end up marrying their college coaches, which obviously a coach should not be doing, especially with a young player.
"I've seen it not just with coaches, I've seen it with trainers, doctors, and our press officers. I've seen it among players in the locker room. I don't know why more players don't speak out against it."
Blatter was head of the world football's governing body for 17 years, until a corruption scandal in 2015.
Fifa subsequently banned the Swiss from the sport for eight years, a term later reduced to six years after appeal.

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Saudis 'declared war on Lebanon' - Hezbollah leader

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah has accused Saudi Arabia of declaring war on his country, days after Lebanese PM Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation in the Saudi capital.
Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was holding Mr Hariri against his will.
He also accused the Saudis of inciting Israel against Lebanon.
The powerful Hezbollah Shia movement is an ally of Iran, which has been trading accusations with the Saudis of fuelling tension in Lebanon and the region.
Mr Hariri said in a TV broadcast from Riyadh on Saturday he was stepping down because of an unspecified threat to his life. He also attacked Hezbollah and Iran.
However, Lebanese President Michel Aoun and other senior politicians have demanded his return, amid suspicions that he is being held by the Saudis under house arrest and forced to do their bidding.
Mr Aoun has not accepted Mr Hariri's resignation.
Mr Hariri has still not spoken publicly since his announcement.

What did the Hezbollah leader say?

In a televised speech on Friday, Mr Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was trying to provoke fighting amongst the Lebanese.
"In short, it is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon, but I have to say this is a war on Lebanon," he said.
Mr Nasrallah also accused Saudi Arabia of being prepared to pay "billions" to Israel for a military strike against Lebanon, describing this as the "most dangerous thing".
At the weekend the Hezbollah leader had said that Mr Hariri had been forced to resign by the Saudis, but he repeated the allegations on Friday, saying that this was now "beyond any doubt".
Saudi Arabia was attempting to remove Mr Hariri as prime minister and impose a new leadership on his political movement, he said.
BBC Middle East editor Sebastian Usher says Mr Nasrallah's words were delivered as calmly as ever - but they will inevitably raise the temperature further as a growing number of countries outside the region try to calm the crisis.

How has the international community reacted?

There are fears Lebanon could become embroiled in a wider regional confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Tensions between the three countries have soared since Mr Hariri announced his resignation.
But US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned against Lebanon being used for a proxy conflict, adding that the US strongly backed Lebanon's independence.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that a new conflict in the region would have "devastating consequences".
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron paid an unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia, to emphasise to Saudi leaders the importance of stability in Lebanon.
France has historical ties with Lebanon, as its former colonial power before it gained independence during World War Two.
Earlier on Thursday, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies told their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately.
The move came after Riyadh accused Iran of "direct military aggression", saying it supplied a missile which it says was fired by Hezbollah at Riyadh from Yemen on Saturday.
Iran has dismissed the Saudi allegations as "false and dangerous".

Tillerson's nuance v Trump's tweets

By Barbara Plett, BBC State Department Correspondent
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Saudi foreign minister assured him that Riyadh did not force Saad al-Hariri to resign, and that he had no indication Mr Hariri was being held against his will.
But he encouraged the prime minister to return to Lebanon and clarify the situation so the government could function, expressing concern about how the crisis might affect the stability of the fragile coalition.
His warning against using Lebanon as a proxy battlefield appeared to be aimed primarily at Iran but also Saudi Arabia.
On Riyadh's corruption purge the Secretary of State said he was inclined to believe the crackdown was well intended, but it was still unclear how disruptive it would be.
It took him six days to respond to the extraordinarily volatile situation in the Middle East, renewing criticism that the US lacks a strategy for the crucial region.
It is also a sign that the State Department is not driving foreign policy: President Trump tweets out positions, in this case a very pro-Saudi stance, and Mr Tillerson follows later with a more nuanced approach.

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Woman fired for showing Trump motorcade the middle finger

A woman pictured raising her middle finger toward US President Donald Trump's motorcade has reportedly been fired from her job over the photograph.
The image went viral after it was taken on 28 October in Virginia, close to a Trump golf resort.
Juli Briskman, who was identified as the cyclist in the image, alleges she was fired by employers Akima LLC after she posted it to her online profiles.
The company did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Ms Briskman told US media the firm had called her into a meeting a day after she informed their HR department she was the subject of the widely circulated image.
She told the Huffington Post news website that executives had told her they classified the image as "lewd" or "obscene", and therefore deemed that it violated their social media policies after she had posted it to her Twitter and Facebook accounts.
However Ms Briskman said she had emphasised to management that she had not been in working hours when the photograph was taken and had not mentioned her employers on the social media pages.
Ms Briskman also alleges that a male colleague was allowed to keep his job after deleting a post deemed as offensive in a separate incident.
She therefore questions why she was immediately dismissed from her role.
The 50-year-old mother-of-two had reportedly been at the government contractor firm for six months working in communications


Despite losing her job, Ms Briskman said she did not regret making the gesture.
"In some ways, I'm doing better than ever," she told The Huffington Post
"I'm angry about where our country is right now. I am appalled. This was an opportunity for me to say something."
He said that he had been struck by the "tenacity" of Ms Briskman after she made the gesture several times and made attempts to catch up with the motorcade.


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Trump: Japan could shoot down North Korean missiles

US President Donald Trump has said Japan could shoot North Korean missiles "out of the sky" with military equipment bought from the US.
Japan's PM Shinzo Abe followed up by saying his country could intercept missiles "if necessary", and added that he was looking into the deal.
The two leaders were speaking to reporters at the close of Mr Trump's first state visit to Japan.
North Korea has fired missiles over Japan twice in recent months.
On Monday, while answering questions at a press conference, Mr Trump said Mr Abe was "going to purchase massive amounts of military equipment" from the US.
Referencing North Korea's missiles, he said Mr Abe could "shoot them out of the sky" when he completed the purchase, which Mr Trump said would provide jobs to Americans as well as "safety for Japan".
Mr Abe said he was considering such a deal, adding that Japan had to "qualitatively and quantitatively" enhance its defence capability, given the "very tough" North Korea situation.
He stressed that missile defence was based on "legal co-operation" between Japan and the US, and as for shooting down missiles, "if necessary of course we can do that".
It is not clear whether a military deal has been signed during Mr Trump's trip, but the two countries are close military allies with the US maintaining several military bases in Japan.
In September Mr Trump had tweeted that he would allow the sale of high-end military equipment to Japan and South Korea.

Japan does not have a standing army, but instead maintains what it calls self-defence forces, under its post-war pacifist constitution which the hawkish Mr Abe has been seeking to revise.
The two leaders also reaffirmed their ties and pledged to "stand against the North Korean menace", said Mr Trump. Mr Abe said Japan was imposing sanctions on several North Korean entities and individuals.
Earlier on Monday, North Korean state media accused Mr Trump of driving tensions "to the extremes" and said that "no-one can predict when the lunatic old man of the White House, lost to senses, will start a nuclear war" against North Korea.

Mr Trump on Monday met families of Japanese people abducted by North Korea - a topic which he later addressed in the press conference, calling it a "very, very sad thing".
He said it would be "a tremendous signal" and "the start of something very special" if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned the abductees, something which Mr Abe has constantly pushed for.
The two leaders also said they discussed economic co-operation in the region.
Mr Trump is visiting Japan as part of his first tour of Asia as US president.
He has also visited a US air base near Tokyo, and met American business leaders where he publicly criticised Japan over a trade deficit.
Mr Trump will be going to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in the coming week.

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Texas shooting: Gunman Devin Kelley 'had row with mother-in-law'

Texas church gunman Devin Patrick Kelley had three guns and had been involved in a row with his mother-in-law, officials have said.
The attack on the small church outside of San Antonio during Sunday services left 26 people dead and 20 injured.
The gunman called his father after he was shot by an armed bystander, and said he did not think he would survive.
Kelley was not legally permitted to own the weapons, which included a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.
Freeman Martin, the regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters it appeared that Kelley died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after first being shot by a "Good Samaritan".
"This was not racially motivated, it wasn't over religious beliefs," Mr Martin said. 

"There was a domestic situation going on with the family and in-laws," he said, adding that the mother-in-law had received threatening text messages from Kelley in recent days.
Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt said that family members had not been present at the time of attack.
Officials have not yet identified the victims in the small town of Sutherland Springs.
Ten of the injured victims are in hospital in critical condition, with officials warning that the death toll could rise.
 Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 after he was accused of assault against his wife and child. He was sentenced to 12 months confinement.
He received a "bad conduct" discharge two years later, according to Ann Stefanek, a US Air Force spokeswoman.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Monday: "It's clear this is a person who had violent tendencies, who had some challenges, and someone who was a powder keg, seeming waiting to go off."
Mr Abbott added that the attacker should not legally have been allowed to own a firearm, after having been denied a gun owner's permit by the state. 

The suspect had a licence to work as an unarmed security guard, a job that police described as "similar to a security guard at a concert-type situation".
"There were no disqualifiers entered into the national crime information database to preclude him from receiving a private security licence," Mr Martin said.
The shooting comes just a month after a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history. 




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Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...