sometimes you need a new haircut

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about Tāmaki Makaurau and culture, by Reilly Hodson. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and remember to share this newsletter with your coolest friends. This week: the life-changing power of a good haircut, and Good Links to pair with your post-election-hangover morning brew.

the excellent feeling of a new haircut

I’ve had complicated feelings about my hair about as long as I can remember. I grew it out when I was young to look like Jesse McCartney, didn’t work, shaved it off when I was 10, cried, had a Justin Bieber period at the start of high school, the works. I always cared a lot about the way my hair looked, but could never quite figure it out.

Last year I more or less cracked it. I found a new hairdresser, Chris at Common People, who convinced me that it wasn’t a terrible idea to grow it out and helped me along the way. Over a period of about 6 months, I grew my hair out with regular pruning and had my hair just about dialled in.

Then lockdown happened and I sort of gave up. My hair got long and flat, and boring, and when my girlfriend told me I looked like Severus Snape it was the final straw. Frustrated and ready for summer, I showed up at Chris’ doorstep this week with no idea of what I wanted, just that it needed to be different.

Chris went to work, and although I walked out of the salon looking like an 80s-inspired birds nest, a shower or two later my hair was looking better than it potentially ever has. A bit shaggy, a bit long, kind of in the zone of the en vogue fashion-y mullet while still feeling put together. I feel like a new person, right in time for a new government and summer months.

I highly recommend a new cut as a way to shake off the meh-ness of this whole year. It’s a relatively affordable way to shake things off in a time where everything feels extremely same-y. Find a good hairdresser, throw them the keys and get your new summer look.

clips

• Local Media Update: The reborn North & South magazine has added former Metro digital editor, commissioner of my magnum opus (aka the tote bag piece), and clipboard subscriber Tess Nichol as deputy editor, to a roster that already includes Mad Chapman (of election memes and Steven Adams’ biography fame) and Rachel Morris of the Huffington Post Highline. Subscribe here, and you should.

• Wesley Morris is as good at writing as anyone is at what they do. This essay about his lockdown moustache is a must read.

• My partner bought a pair of these pants for work and they might be the best black pants money can buy at the moment? I’m still a Dickies stan, but these are excellent.

• Sohla El-Waylly’s post Bon Appetit video career, as described brilliantly in this profile, has been excellent (this chicken rice is going right into my rotation).

• The ‘You’re Wrong About’ Podcast series on Princess Diana is a brilliant listen, especially if, like me, you don’t know a tonne about her story apart from broad strokes. If you’re a Diana-head already, you should buy this jumper.

• The Oreo ice cream sandwich, available at supermarkets near you, is yum!

• Coco’s Cantina have changed their tablecloths recently (shocking hundreds of Instagram feeds), but you can buy this excellent shirt from Maggie Marilyn and reminisce about $30 meatballs and prosecco while looking good at whatever streetfront seating is your new favourite (freak it with a larger size, too, gents!)

• Timothee Chalamet is the actor of a generation, and this is a fascinating profile of a young person grappling with that, as well as *waves hands* all of this.

• It’s entirely the wrong season at the moment, but I’m lusting after this quilted, reversible jacket.

notices

• The election might be done, but that doesn’t mean that “political” issues stop mattering. Do good things whenever you can, and change your bit of the world to be slightly better!

• My final university year is nearly over, which means I’m officially on the job market! If you or someone you know needs someone who writes good copy, learns quickly, works hard, and also will have an Honours degree in Law, get in touch and free me from the world of hospitality!

• If you want me to feature or mention something in a future clipboard, send me an Instagram DM or email and we can sort it out!

Thanks for reading clipboard. If you enjoyed, it would be great if you could share this newsletter with a cool, interesting friend. See you next week.