- clipboard
- Posts
- new year special: resolutions and predictions
new year special: resolutions and predictions
my hopes and dreams for the coming year
Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospitality and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week: it’s a new year, and I’m talking about my personal resolutions and also some predictions about what might happen in 2021.
Welcome to 2021! We made it. 2020 was obviously a difficult year for everyone for all sorts of different reasons, and although so many of the issues that we faced last year are still very much around (prayers up for the Waikeria prisoners, to take one recent example), I still like the ritual of a new year as a time to reflect on what the coming 12 months will hold. It’s a particularly interesting year for me as the first year that I won’t be doing some form of organised education since 2003, and I’m graduating into a strange world. In the vein of great change and the renewal of the Pakeha calendar, I thought I would use this first newsletter of the year to talk about my resolutions and predictions for the year, at least as far as the main themes of this newsletter are concerned. I invite replies to this email talking about your thoughts on the new year, too.
new year resolutions
New Year resolutions are famously dumb: you start the year with great ambition to make some big change to your life and end the year having not achieved that thing, and feeling bad about your ability to stick to anything. That doesn’t stop me trying, year after year, however. This year I’m focused on resolutions that are achievable but require concerted effort, and that will help me lead a more balanced life that can have a more positive outlook.
Shop (and Spend) Consciously: Of course, this was a massive theme over the past year, but I want to make a real effort next year to continue to spend my money in a way that reflects my values and supports businesses and organisations that do good things. There’s no truly moral consumption under capitalism, and there are very few companies (particularly in hospitality and fashion) that have a small impact on the planet, pay and support their staff properly, are run by good people and make a product that creates lasting value. That means that there will always be inherent compromise in any spending decision. However, I want to spend this year understanding those compromises and knowing that, as much as possible, the spending of my money goes some way to supporting local, sustainable and positive businesses. Part of that will be continuing to limit my online shopping, buying second hand, or making a point of going to hospitality outlets that take care of their team, but it’s an ongoing discipline that will inevitably end with an imperfect result.
Stop dressing so uniformly: Due to a combination of a limited budget and a classic New Zealand desire not to stick out too much in a crowd, my wardrobe is, for the most part, comprised of classic pieces in neutral colours. While that means that all of my outfits fit well and my pieces work together, it also means that I’ll go long periods wearing more or less the same look every day, which can lead to a general feeling of stuck-ness. This year, I want to build on my very versatile wardrobe with some cooler, more fun pieces that express my personality a little more. No more creative director cosplay every day.
Do some exercise: I haven’t participated in regular exercise by choice since high school, and because I’ve worked in hospitality, a job which involves being on your feet all day and doing a lot of walking back and forward, I’ve convinced myself that it’s ok. I don’t even own a pair of running shoes. This year is hopefully (see below) the year I put front of house hospitality work in the rearview, so I won’t have that excuse for not exercising anymore. This year I want to start going for runs, or something, so that I get into good habits for when my famously good metabolism finally stops covering for me. If anyone has good recommendations for running shoes, let me know!
Get a job: In February I hand in my Honours dissertation, and will finally be finished with the five year marathon that was university. That means that I am now actively looking for new work! I’ll have a fancy new personal website by the time the next clipboard comes out which will list all my skills and qualifications and stuff, but if you or someone you know is looking for a fresh graduate with law school pedigree, bylines at fancy publications, and a hospitality work ethic, get in touch!
clips
Local brand Checks Downtown has been on an insane run of product releases to end the year. I bought these green drill shorts just before Christmas and I’ve worn them every day since (Jordan, if you’re reading this, please turn this fabric into some pants, too), I already own these corduroy shorts from a previous season and can vouch for them being true compliment magnets, and I desperately want this drink bottle. That’s not to mention these cool guy white pants or this stripy tee. It’s all good stuff, folks.
Jogai Bhatt wrote a brilliant breakdown of the emergence of true online social justice activism into the New Zealand mainstream this year, and its unintended consequences, for the Spinoff.
You’ve already heard this, but Bridgerton on Netflix is very good.
Jean Teng has the lowdown on hospo joints that are open in this weird out-of-office period of the year for her Metro Eats newsletter (I recommend hitting Ozone if you haven’t before, I went on New Year’s Day and really enjoyed their tap cold brew).
Also for Metro, Tayi Tibble has the horoscope you need for the new year.
If you buy coffee for home, there’s a new company doing a lot of advertising for brand-free, cut-the-middle-man beans delivered to your door. I can’t speak to it personally, but if the beans are good, this is a good deal.
predictions/hopes
2020 was the year of the natural wine bar, of supporting local, of soft clothes. Here are my predictions for what 2021 will have in store.
A cafe shake up: The Auckland cafe is in an interesting place at the moment. There are heaps of places that you can get a pretty good cup of coffee and some eggs, but there are only a few that provide a truly top tier experience. Part of this, as you can read about in the latest issue of Metro, is down to the business model of cafes being broken: there’s not a lot of money for new ideas or pushing for top quality. There’s also a part of the equation which is that, although 2020 had a lot of flashy new openings of dinner and drinks spots, there wasn’t a lot of action in the cafe space. The best cafes in Auckland have been around just long enough to become regular fixtures, though not quite long enough to be called institutions. Something in that equation will probably have to give next year, whether that’s existing places closing or shaking up their business model, or whether it’s a new opening that presents a properly novel idea. As a coffee nerd, I’m hoping for a new way of doing cafe business that works for everyone, particularly staff.
Local menswear comes into its own: Until late last year, the New-Zealand-designed menswear scene was mostly non existent. There were a few big chains in Barkers, Hallensteins and AS Colour, which produce a ton of fine-to-bad clothing, a few high end tailors like Doran and Doran and Crane Brothers, and streetwear brands like Checks, Def and Arcade. There’s a lot of room in the market that isn’t covered well by those existing options, and towards the end of the year a couple of new entrants came into the market presenting really interesting new models. Thom Morrison makes clothes for grown ups, manufactured and designed in New Zealand, at a premium quality level and price, and Inward Goods makes their made-to-order workwear-inspired jawnz locally, too. Both are great new entries in the market which I think will both be successful and help make New Zealand men dress less badly. I’m predicting, and hoping, that it will spark much more interesting activity in the space. Stay tuned to this newsletter as I start to rebuild my wardrobe using as many local pieces as I can.
Cooked food comes back: On the Spinoff’s excellent Dietary Requirements podcast, Food Editor Alice Neville lamented the way in which it’s become the default for great restaurants to more or less present their amazing produce without, you know, cooking it. This year, after 3 or so years of heirloom tomatoes and burrata being on every single menu in every flashy new opening, I think that cooking is going to come back in a big way. You can see that a little bit in the smash burger Renaissance heralded by Baby G Burger’s sold out pop ups, and the whole roasted cauliflower at East St. Hall, and I expect that the raw or untouched dish options on short menus are probably going to go down a little.