sale season!

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospitality and Tāmaki Makaurau, by me, Reilly Hodson. This weekend, it’s sale season so we’re breaking down some places you can grab a deal, and the complicated feelings that come with constant sales.

I’d also like to briefly acknowledge yesterday’s anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, a fraudulent document used to steal land and sovereignty off the indigenous people of Aotearoa, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a similar-but-not-identical document in te reo Māori, the principles and commitments of which the government has never fully lived up to. If you want a better explanation of Te Tiriti, this essay from Ranginui Walker is a good start.

a quick note

clipboard has now been around for 6 or so months, and in that time it’s become a constant part of my life, finding new stuff to write about, growing the community and trying to bring something new, exciting or informative to your inbox every Sunday morning. Recently I’ve had a couple of offers of monetary contributions to making this thing every week, so I’ve added a “paid” option to the Substack sign up process. From this week, you can chip in a few bucks a month or year that help me continue making this every week. It’s not mandatory and you won’t be punished for not paying (the core part of this newsletter will always be free), but if you would like to help out an underemployed newsletter writer, the option is there now.

Down the line, there may be a few bits of bonus content for paying subs, like access to playlists or extra clips, depending on how many people are interested, but it’s primarily a voluntary contribution, and all the money I earn from it will go towards trying new hospo joints or buying stuff to talk about on the newsletter, making every issue better for every reader. No pressure, but if you’d like to see clipboard continue to grow and improve, and you’ve gained some value from this little newsletter, click the button below, chip in and know that I’ll be eternally grateful. As always, I’m available to chat on Instagram or email if you have any questions, suggestions or anything else.

sales!

I feel pretty ambivalent about shopping in sales. On the most surface of levels, of course, I love a bargain. I don’t earn a living wage in my current job, I pay Grey Lynn rent and I like to eat out, so any way I can spend a little less on a high quality item is a win. For customers, paying less money is always a positive.

On a deeper level, though, as someone who cares about the long term viability of the local fashion industry, it’s not as clear cut. I worry about the continuing effects of regular sales on customers’ perception of the value of a product, for example. If you know that you’ll be able to buy an item for 20-30% off the full price in a couple of months, why would you ever pay full price, or see the full price as a reflection of the true value of that item? Potentially, that then means that customers start seeing a certain brand as of discount-price quality, rather than full-price quality, something that’s difficult to come back from. This kind of thing, for example, along with the fact that drop crotch pants went out of style and that they have a tendency to steal designs, ruined I Love Ugly as a brand for me. In an ideal world, brands could set the original price lower and keep that price without discounts, and everyone would come out a little happier.

There’s also the issue of over-production. If companies know that they can shift product late in the season by heavily discounting it, there’s less of an incentive to produce only what will sell, which could lead to more waste from an industry already responsible for huge levels of waste and other issues for the planet.

A cool example of an alternative model can be seen in Ingrid Starnes, who, after they suffered massive financial issues at the outset of the pandemic, closed their in person retail presence, opting for a pre order model whereby only products with enough demand are produced, and the savings that the business makes by not producing products which may not sell and not paying central city rents for shops are passed onto customers, leading to less waste and a lower cost to consumers without sacrificing on quality. Obviously this isn’t a model which is feasible for most brands, and I’d hate to live in a world where physical retail doesn’t exist.

All of this is to say, there are some great sales on at the moment, but I kind of wish there weren’t. As a consumer, though, all you can do is buy the things at the price they’re being sold for, and shop in a considered way. Here are some clipboard-approved places you can snag an end-of-season bargain right now.

Penny Sage

Penny Sage is one of my favourite local women’s brands, and they’re currently doing about 30% off on most of their stock. One of the things I love about Penny Sage is that, even though they’re primarily marketed at women, their clothes can be comfortably worn by people of any gender expression, like this blazer and shorts set which Chris Parker and his fiancé Micheal McCabe modelled brilliantly for them last year. My other picks include this dress, and this hat.

Checks Downtown

My affection for local streetwear brand Checks Downtown is well documented. They’re doing 30% off most of their current range in preparation for the drop of their autumn and winter collections, with a couple of exceptions. My picks are these pants, this Bunnings-coloured cap, and these shorts which I own and have worn to death already. Be quick though, today is the last day for these deals.

Kowtow

I saw a couple of cool fashion people posting Kowtow’s upcoming autumn winter range on Instagram a while back, and it looked excellent. This sale, which ends Monday, hopefully heralds the imminent arrival of that collection, which I will potentially spend all of my money at. Kowtow is another brand that markets to women but can be worn by anyone. My picks are this lovely baby blue jumper, this pair of jeans that were an early clipboard community favourite, and this very nice burnt orange top.

Good As Gold

Wellington’s (and probably New Zealand’s) best clothing store, Good As Gold, has an excellent sale section that includes some great finds, particularly some of their wavier pieces that might not have sold at retail. I’ve been eyeing these awesome New Balances, this patchwork striped shirt and these brilliant Kowtow pants which they have stocked in a masc-body-friendly Large.

clips

• As a nice companion piece to Toi o Tāmaki’s Toi Tū Toi Ora contemporary Māori art exhibition, Tim Melville is kicking off its year with a show called, fittingly, Nine Māori Painters. See (and buy, if you have more money than I do) excellent works from Nigel Borrell, Shane Cotton, Star Gossage and more cool indigenous artists, and say hi to my partner Liv, who’s the new gallery assistant there. It opens on Tuesday night.

• This is a great piece about the Brooklyn Nets bad Basquiat jerseys, and the troublesome collision of late-stage capitalism and art which sought to critique it.

• The Spinoff ranked all of the hard seltzers on the market in New Zealand, because of course they did.

• I just signed up to the very good newsletter Perfectly Imperfect, which finds cool people and gets them to recommend stuff, and that’s it. It’s cool, and there’s a fairly wholesome Discord room, if you’re looking for a cool internet community to join, too.

• I don’t love Valentine’s Day, but if you are looking to do something special with your Life Partner, Viva has a few good suggestions. It would be just as romantic to go to your local bar for a drink, or do a nice brunch, though.

• The coolest new brand in New Zealand, Layplan, has a pop up across the road from Williams Eatery in Wynyard Quarter. They’re closed this weekend but will be back open from Wednesday. You can go in and try on some of their great clothes, and if they don’t have the perfect size for you, they’ll measure you and make one to measure! How good is that?

• Reply All is one of my favourite podcasts and they’ve just started a series about the ten-year lead up to the disaster that happened at Bon Appetit last year. It’s a must listen if you’re interested in food media, workplace racism or just a good story.

coming soon

As my search for a “real” job continues, I’m coming to the gradual realisation that my wardrobe needs considerable work to be office appropriate. A forthcoming newsletter will document my journey building a #corporate wardrobe, and I am flying nearly blind. If you consider yourself a well dressed person in the office, I’d love some recommendations or tips for how to become a grown up dresser. Where do I shop (I refuse to go to Barkers or Hallensteins)? What should I buy? Why are the dress shoes that most New Zealand men wear so ugly? Get in touch!

That’s all for this week’s clipboard, thanks for reading! If you enjoy clipboard, consider pitching in a few dollars a month, or tell your coolest friends to sign up, too. I’ll be back here in your inbox next Sunday morning, and in the meantime you can follow me and clipboard on Instagram. See you next week!