next step fashion pieces

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about fashion, hospo and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week: the pieces I’m looking to buy now that I’ve nailed the basics, and Mitchell Tan on the corny nostalgia porn of Instagram mood boards.

freaking the wardrobe

A lot of the fashion content in this newsletter thus far has been about nailing the basics. I’ve talked through Good Pants, a basic shoe wardrobe, and my journey towards a solid work wardrobe. Those newsletters have happened alongside the process of me building a real wardrobe now that I have a “real” job.

I think that I’m pretty much there, in terms of covering my bases. I have a wardrobe that can fit most occasions, whether that’s my corporate office or the wine bar on the weekend. However, it’s mostly great basics, and less so things that say something about me.

I’m thinking about next steps now, and some things that will help me express myself better, through clothes. Here are some of the statement pieces I’ll be looking at in the coming months; and I’ll definitely be looking to buy secondhand or local where possible on these, because they may not have the staying power of a pair of black Dickies.

the sweater vest

After only associating sweater vests with the weird teacher from Glee, they blew up over the past summer, and I’m starting to think about getting involved. Checks Downtown has a great one in sage cotton (see above), which I am thinking about, especially after I posted that fit to Instagram and got excellent feedback. There are also plenty of cool ones that are vintage, or handmade locally.

pleats, baby

I’ve written too many words to count on the value of the work pant: Dickies and Stan Ray make up the entirety of my pants rotation, and I love the straight leg vibe. Next steps, though, are to experiment with a bit more volume and silhouette, and that means pleats. I’m on the lookout, so hit my line if you find any that are cool and not stupid expensive.

sexy boots

My boot rotation at the moment is just a pair of Blundstones: extremely comfortable and hard wearing, but perhaps the most utilitarian design you’ll find; everything is in service of, like, working in the outback or whatever. I love them, but I’d also like a pair that are more refined. clipboard contributor Mitchell Tan just bought a pair of Our Legacy Camion boots, and honestly, if my bonus hit today, I might think about doing the same. Side zip, black leather, sleek and fashion-y, that’s what I’m looking for.

That’s where I’ll be going next to establish a more personal style, but I’m interested to hear about where you’ll be testing the waters, as well, so flick me an email! I almost always reply.

clips

• ALERT: clipboard is turning one soon, and I’m planning to do something cool to celebrate the anniversary. I would love for you to email me (reply to this email or click here) a contribution: pictures, writing, ideas, just some compliments about me, whatever!

• Bernard Hickey is absolutely bang on about the housing crisis in this piece.

• The Logan Campbell centre appears to be going forever, and my Auckland-based newsletter competition Chris Schulz has a great piece about why that’s a good thing, actually.

• The best luxury leather goods brand in New Zealand, Yu Mei, teamed up with the best luxury knitwear brand in New Zealand, Standard Issue, on a collection of very cool, very expensive cashmere knits.

• Today is the last day you can shop at Waves Vintage for the foreseeable future, so be sure to get there and grab a deal on some cool, pre-loved goods, as well as free coffee and soda.

• Cool interview with Dan Johnson of Kiosk Store on Checks Downtown’s blog. You can see some pieces from Kiosk in the Checks store at the moment, when you head in to purchase a big boy Oxford shirt or double knee cords.

• Thom Morison has done it again, folks! This time: a next level trench coat, instant classic

mood boards suck

Reilly’s note: The reason I was so excited about getting Mitchell Tan of Rubbish Bin involved in this media operation is because he, like me, is immersed in the world of menswear online, and takes a healthy dose of skepticism to it. This piece is a great example of that, and shuts down one of the things I was going to do with the clipboard Instagram. I’ll let Mitchell explain.

mood boards suck. i hate to be so negative but it’s the truth. the moodboard instagram account has skyrocketed in popularity over the last 3 or so years. as tumblr fell off to the wayside and instagram became the defacto photo-sharing social media avenue, photo blogs or picture based "mood boards" transitioned over there as well. many of the old guard made the shift, most notably justin saunder's fashion and lifestyle zood "JJJJound", which seemed to lead the charge not only for others to jump ship, but many to hop aboard the HMS Mood Board too. essentially, these accounts are reductionist like generating machines that focus on nostalgia bait to draw in people looking to “improve their taste”, when in reality it seems to perpetuate the plague of stealing intellectual property and using “curation” as a thin veil for social media validation. don’t get me wrong, utilising the mood board to workshop for creative endeavours, largely behind closed doors is a vital part of any creative process. however, this new guard of content theft has been capitalising on their undeserved following to sling shit tier unconsidered merch. the perpetrators that come to mind are mainly hidden and undercoverosh, who seem to perpetuate the stolen design trend by screening them onto tshirts to shill to blind consumers. the fashion industry at large is rife with stolen designs and prints (more to come about that in a future edition) and these pages aren’t helping. 

it’s clear that tons of people enjoy these pages, but you wonder how many times people can repost the same photo of robin williams (RIP) in the iconic issey miyake parachute bomber before people realise that there is nothing about stealing content that is appealing. 

as always with my opinions,

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

but im pushing to leave moodboards behind in the past

addendum: before people clap at me and say THEY TAG THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS IN COMMENTS, this does little to shed light on smaller creators as most consumers don’t strive to seek out the source!

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! As always, you can get in touch with me over email or Instagram DM, and I’ll be back next week for a Reilly’s birthday edition. If you actually read these paragraphs at the bottom, you’re the exact type of person I want to send me something to include in the extra special clipboard anniversary issue, so get in touch!