shorts weather is here

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospitality and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week, we’re talking shorts, perhaps my favourite garment, more for the way they make me feel than for how they look, although some look very cool. Also: Mitchell Tan’s triumphant return to the newsletter, pontificating on raw denim. If you enjoy clipboard, chip in by clicking the button below.

a short piece about shorts

Something magical happened this week. I wore shorts, more than half of the time. Shorts are an excellent option for your lockdown outfits, breezy and comfortable and no one can see them on zoom. The breezy, summery alternative to sweatpants, I suppose.

I think shorts look very cool, especially ones on the shorter side of short (5 inch inseams only, please), whether you’re wearing them with a big shirt, a graphic tee or knitwear or a dirty hoodie.

The best thing about shorts, though, has almost nothing to do with how they look, and everything to do with how they feel. To me, shorts feel like lazy days at home, reading a book in between swims at the beach, dining al fresco with good friends, wandering the city in the sun. In short, my favourite things to do are better with shorts.

Shorts season is only in its infancy, so there’ll be more you can buy soon, but here are a few of my favourites that you can cop in anticipation of sunnier days:

• These navy corduroy spins on a classic Canterbury rugby short from Checks Downtown are a staple in my summer wardrobe, and you can buy a pair for only $50 at the moment.

• Patagonia baggies are a classic for a reason, you can wear them with everything and go swimming too. Throw on a pair at the start of the day in summer and don’t worry about getting changed, no matter the activity. Buy a pair in every colour, imo

• Why not buy a pair of the shorts version of my favourite Stan Ray pants? These are too long, though, so hack off the bottom and get them hemmed.

• Another excellent option, so I’ve heard, is to buy a pair of Dickies and just chop them into shorts, like a cool DIY kid. Might do this with an old pair of mine…

clips

• A call for recommendations: my partner wants a maximalist cake like this one for her birthday, does anyone in AKL make cakes like this?

• Succession is coming back, baby! Lockdown is the perfect time to catch up, or if you’re like me, do a rewatch of my favourite media elite TV show before the new season drops.

• You should get vaccinated, and if you’re not convinced, maybe Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris’s great cartoon will help. You can literally just drive to the airport and get it done in twenty minutes or so, I did last week and it was great.

• An excellent argument against “perfect” garments by the big minds at Blackbird Spyplane, a good companion piece to last week’s clipboard, I reckon.

• I like pop music, and maybe I also like the idea of having the word POP across my jumper or on my hat. Good As Gold has the solution, thank god.

• I like natural wine, but know nothing about how to choose a good one, which is why I like Star Superette’s packs, which do the choosing for you. They also do packs for cocktails, like the Paloma, Negroni, or gin martini, which are great if, like me, you’re looking to audition a house cocktail for summer.

take it or leave it: an appreciation of raw denim

Reilly’s note: Mitchell Tan is one of the smartest thinkers about clothes in the game, so you already know his take on jeans is going to be fire. I’ll let him take it away:

a few weeks ago, reilly talked about his experimentation of wearing jeans for a week. it's a great idea, something that i personally never really thought about, but jeans are the type of utilitarian garment that was designed to be long lasting and has subsequently evolved into something that inherently looks great with everything.

over the past few years, i've been through so many pairs of vintage levi's over this time now that it's honestly hard to count, but i still haven't come close to finding the perfect jean. a perfect fitting charcoal faded black pair of 501s evades me to this day, but at the same time, i've owned plenty of 501s to know that they're a bit too tight on the thigh and taper a bit too much to sit on shoes the way i want them too. there are other cuts obviously, the pair i currently wear (very seldom to be honest)is a pair of orange tab 517s with a slight flare but it still doesn't quite whet the appetite.

enter raw denim. in a new wave of sustainable and responsible shopping, raw denim almost makes too much sense. everything about it fits the bill. if we're talking proper made, old artisanal denim then it seems to fulfil everything you'd want from a more sustainable garment. they're made slow (we're not talking about high street fast fashion here) using some of the oldest known machines and techniques, and proper indigo dye is a natural one, reducing harmful chemicals used. also, since it's unwashed, there is less wastewater in its production. finally, they're built to last and designed to not require much care and washing. it all makes sense.

that being said, i haven't taken the leap yet. the last pair of raw denim i owned was this pair of acne studios skinnies, which i worse religiously with derbies and grey tees in 2016 (yeah not a great time), but that's not to say i haven't got my eyes on some. avery ginsberg's "Ground Cover" may be one of the most exciting emerging sustainable brands, with a pair of raw denim that is about as quintessential as it gets. for a more local and out there option, this pair from homie Thom Morison is great with a wider cut (i've tried them on too, they fit so well). anyways rant over. raw jeans are back, at least i think so. you can just,

take it or leave it.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! If you enjoy this newsletter, I would get warm fuzzies if you chose to share it with a friend, or chipped in financially by subscribing and help me pay for this thing! I’ll be back with another issue next Sunday, hopefully filled with half a week’s worth of delicious contactless takeaways. Until then, flick me an email or get in touch on Instagram, I’m craving contact from the outside world!