1. Default/New screen
2. Delete figure (Andy)
3. Load Poser 8 library figure > Alyson
4. Load Poser 8 library prop > Trousers (Alyson's)
5. Conform to Figure > Alyson
6. Load Poser 8 library prop > Top (Alyson's)
7. Conform to Figure > Alyson
8. Load Poser 8 library prop > Jacket (Alyson's)
9. Conform to Figure > Alyson

The result is pokethroughs.

If I didn't do anything wrong, how do I fix this?

In the Jacket's Body Channel under Full Body I set Pearfigure at 0.400 and in the Lower Torso section I set both TorsoThickness and WaistWidth at 1.000.  
Usually when clothes have morphs you can tweak them for pokethrough.  In the event that they don't you'll have to use Magnets or I sometimes use the Morph Tool and just push in the offending polygons or pull, generally whatever works is the rule :)

You didn't go far enough, the jacket is parts to it.  click on the hip part and you have several morph adjustments including bend etc.  Work those and that should do it. When you set the pose you want, you will need to click on the jacket arm and bend it etc.  That jacket is set up like the Alyson figure with body, hip, etc children.  Jan

Kalypso, your suggestions worked. Thanks.

Why did the trousers and the top lay correctly after "Conform to Alyson," but the jacket didn't?

I can't figure out how to attach a magnet to the Jacket; it seems I can only attach a magnet to Alyson's body parts.

As far as explaining how to use a magnet on the jacket, you're going to have to spoon-feed me; I've had the program less than a week.

By the way, how can I slow the orbital speed of the flyaround camera?

Great, I'm glad you got it to work :)

The trousers and shirt lay on top because you only had the figure underneath.  The jacket has the shirt to account for but was modelled to fit Alyson not Alyson and a shirt, hence the need to expand it a bit.   Many clothing creators include 'fit' morphs when they sell sets like these but sometimes the bodyshaping morphs do the trick as well.  

Conforming clothes don't have collision detection, that's only for dynamic clothes that would take into account any other mesh they come in contact with.

You might find these tutorials on Poser magnets useful, I'm sure there are many others out there but for now here are some basics:
http://www.daz3d.com/i/tutorial/tutorial?id=2283&_m=d
http://www.daz3d.com/i/tutorial/tutorial?id=2308&_m=d
http://my.smithmicro.com/tutorials/1113.html
http://joannastar.deviantart.com/art/Poser-Magnets-Tutorial-93711554  (you might need to register here - it's free to do so)
http://www.sharecg.com/v/18967/Text-Entry-Tutorial/Poser-Magnet-Tutorial (needs an account as well but worth it for all the great freebies)

And since you've only had Poser for a week you might find Acadia's links to various tutorials helpful.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=2934827

I've found that with some outer clothing( coats, jackets, vests or sweaters) you can get better results by conforming them to the top, t-shirt, shirt or blouse.

Not sure about this particular item, but a fair few clothing items have a pretty decent readme that explains how to get clothing to play nicely with each other. In particular, LadyLittleFox's clothing has very detailed instruction since some items really aren't meant to be worn with others.

Wow, Kalypso, you've given some great links, there - I hadn't seen some of them before. Thank you!

 Tom HR
Keep asking the questions .
You can never get enough information from the Rederosity guys and girls .
There is also DR Geep who has great tutorials in PDF form which I find very useful.

What's the link? I found what I thought was Dr. Geep's website, but his info only goes up through Poser 6.

Quote - What's the link? I found what I thought was Dr. Geep's website, but his info only goes up through Poser 6.

Please!

http://www.drgeep.com/NPU/Directories/dir08.htm

Enjoy

 hi TomHR,

when you loose the top you'll find that the jacket conforms well to Alyson, as you requested.
But as Kalypso mentioned, you want the jacket to follow the top, not Alysson. So that's step one indeed.

Second, the jacket was made for Alysson and not the top, so differences may occur. As a result, you might need additional work, like setting dials or using magnets. This is like fitting Alyssons clothes to Vicky or the WackyWorld Rhino or whatever. Same story. So, first conform to the top, then use dials / magnets.

Third, when you get the feeling things grow out of hand, Poser has PhilC's great Wardrobe Wizard build in. 

All the best.