“ A supply of goods or services … is zero-rated … if the goods or services are of a description for the time being specified in Schedule 8 … ”
“ Articles designed as clothing or footwear for young children and not suitable for older persons. ”
“ 38. In ordinary usage, it seems to us that “clothing” refers to items (generally made of fabric, but sometimes of some other largely flexible membrane) that are worn (see [40] below) with the purpose of covering (or assist in covering) some part or parts of the body, either for practical reasons (physical comfort in the face of cold, heat, rain, etc) or for other personal (including religious) reasons (such as the preservation of modesty by the Muslim hijab, the “outward sign” of the Sikh’s turban or the wish to enhance attractiveness with the fashionable designer dress). 39. It is clear that clothing may also serve some other purpose (including some purpose more important than its “clothing” purpose) without thereby ceasing to be clothing – HMRC’s Notice 714 acknowledges this, by referring to items which are primarily safety aids (such as sailors’ lifejackets) as still being clothing – see [25] above. This is an important point when considering the phrase “designed as clothing” – see [43] below. 40. To be worn , it seems to us that the item in question must be appropriately shaped to fit the contours of the body and accommodate its flexibility, though the degree to which this is necessary (and, in particular, the degree to which such shaping needs to be inherent in the design and manufacture of the item itself) will depend upon the nature of the item in question and the way in which it is intended to be used. A shawl is just as much an item of clothing as a carefully tailored suit, though the one may be simply a triangle of plain fabric wrapped around the shoulders and the other is tailored to fit the whole body closely from neck to ankle. By way of contrast, a sleeping person may be covered with a blanket to keep them warm, but they could not be said to be “wearing” the blanket and it does not thereby become an article of clothing. 41. But just because something is worn, that does not necessarily make it clothing. A brooch or a climbing harness are both worn, but clearly neither of them is clothing, as neither of them provides any significant element of coverage for the body. 42. Finally, it is fair to say that what constitutes “clothing” can depend on the context. In particular (in the present case) it is appropriate to bear in mind that what constitutes “clothing” for a baby is likely to be quite different from what constitutes “clothing” for an adult, in particular because babies have no need for their clothing to accommodate irrelevant activities such as walking, but instead have their own special requirements (for example, easy access for nappy changing). ”
“ 36. In deciding whether an item is “designed” (or planned/intended) as clothing, an assessment is clearly therefore required of the designer’s intentions or purpose when conceiving and finalising its design. This may largely (or even entirely) be inferred from an examination of the item in question, but whatever the item’s objective characteristics, the strict requirement of the legislation is to decide what the designer intended it to be, not what it objectively is. ”
“ To have a function as clothing, an article must to some extent provide cover for the body, either for decency or as protection from the elements (e.g. to keep the wearer warm). An article may be primarily decorative - but it will still have these same basic characteristics. Bear in mind that a garment could be designed primarily for another purpose, but could also fulfil a clothing function, and thus qualify for zero-rating. ”