the most influential pieces of NZ menswear history

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about fashion, hospo and Tāmaki Makaurau. This week: I’m lamenting the lack of a strong menswear history in Aotearoa.

aotearoana

My favourite coffee table book is the exhibition book from ‘Items: Is Fashion Modern,’ a MoMA exhibition charting the most significant pieces of fashion’s history. There are mini essays on the Levi’s 501, the Converse All Star, and the Pearl necklace, alongside many many others. It’s a fascinating read, like a book-length version of the moment in *The Devil Wears Prada* when Meryl Streep charts the journey of cerulean onto Anne Hathaway’s un-chic knit jumper.

Every time I read it, though, it gets me to reflecting on New Zealand’s fashion scene. New Zealand’s men are, by and large, terrible at dressing, and one reason is that the heritage of New Zealand menswear is decidedly lacking.

In the US or UK, if you’re a person with great taste and a smaller budget, there are scores of heritage brands from which you can purchase a classic pair of jeans, or a shirt with a classic fit and quality that comes from the long test of time. Think Brooks Brothers, Carhartt, Barbour - they aren’t flashy, but they’re classic, and they look great.

New Zealand, on the other hand, does not have such a rich menswear whakapapa. Hallenstein Brothers was born in the same gold rush environment that brought us Levi’s, but the brand now is lowest-common-denominator fast fashion, perfect for teenagers who need a ball suit but not built to last, either in aesthetic or construction.

I love Thom Morison, for example, for Thom’s dedication to heritage menswear (his grandfather made men’s clothes back in the day), but I would truly love another brand to exist which just does the classics really well, at big enough scale to have more accessible pricing, and doesn’t try to keep up with trends. I love Todd Snyder and Wythe, for example, but it feels foolish on a number of levels to ship basics halfway around the world.

I’ve been reflecting on what an Items book for New Zealand would include, here are some of my suggestions.

AS Colour bomber jacket

AS Colour has perhaps the perfect business model for the New Zealand market: middle of the line basics, in all the colours you could possibly want, and good discounts for buying multiple things at once. It’s built for men who hate shopping, mums who want to fill their sons’ wardrobes all at once with inoffensive pieces, and has had remarkable success doing so.

Somehow, although AS Colour pieces aim at being unremarkable, they have a specific vibe that mean you can pick them out in a crowd: the t shirts are thin, and a little too long in the body, the stripes are a certain width - to my eye, it’s never quite right.

The AS Colour Bomber Jacket (product code 5506) sums this up perfectly to me. It’s the exact piece that guys want to wear instead of a blazer because it’s not too fussy, it comes in a really gross shade of green, it’s too slim in the body and too long, meaning it isn’t really flattering for anyone. Despite that, though, head to Ponsonby Road on a Friday night and you’ll see approximately a hundred of them, thrown on over a button down or white t shirt, paired with too-tight jeans and RM Williams (which didn’t originate in NZ, but are a great example of a true heritage brand that have been mostly ruined by people who don’t know how to style them).

Lower Jeans

Boy, this was a time in history. Lower is a Mount Maunganui streetwear brand that still exists, and has stuck around since 2001. Their real moment of prominence, though, came in the late 2000s and early 2010s when they pioneered the drop crotch skinny jean with the trademark cloud print on the back pockets.

When I was in my early teens, it felt like I would only be truly cool once I paired my Justin Bieber hair and backwards snapback with a pair of Lower jeans, and I never managed to make it happen. Now I’m older, I’m glad of that fact.

Hallensteins Suit

The Hallensteins $200 suit combo is, much like AS Colour, a truly brilliant piece of business. Every year, there are thousands of spotty teenage boys who need a suit to wear to their high school ball, or a job interview, or a family member’s wedding. Being able to buy a suit at that price point is a no-brainer, particularly when they’ll throw in a shirt and a tie.

Hallensteins became the one-stop shop for cheap suits, a role it holds to this day. I had one in high school, which was fun when I showed up to a ball and another guy had picked the same navy suit and floral tie combo as me…

They won’t hold up to lots of wear, but honestly, most NZ professions have been working to destroy the suit as a piece of the regular wardrobe for years, so unless you’re a banker or lawyer, you probably won’t wear it enough to destroy it anyway. It’s a great win for accessibility, but also a symptom of the race to the bottom when it comes to price point, and the great Kiwi tradition of gesturing towards good dressing without really *dressing well*.

Pōtae

The only truly cool piece of New Zealand men’s fashion history is the dedication of Māori tāne to absolutely rocking a pōtae. Truly, Māori men have been getting fits off throughout history, while Pākehā men have let the team down, for the most part. Read this article from The Spinoff to learn more about the whakapapa of Rawiri Waititi’s cowboy hat. Deep history and a distinctive look: that’s true personal style.

Those are the touchpoints I’ve found of New Zealand men’s fashion history, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, so get in touch! As a side note, follow @callsheet_nz on Instagram to see some really cool old NZ fashion shoots, which go to show that, while men have been letting the side down as a whole, NZ does have a cool fashion history.

clips

• I don’t love a drawstring on pants, generally speaking, but I do know that these Checks Downtown drill cotton pants look very comfy and could, and potentially should, replace your sweatpants, especially if you’re the type of person that wears sweats out of the house.

• My partner bought me the most beautiful signet ring from Meadowlark for my birthday, and I can’t recommend the shopping process there enough - true manaakitanga, throughout, well worth it. Apologies in advance to anyone subjected to my Godfather impressions as I get used to being a pinky ring guy.

• I enjoy almost everything Charlotte Muru-Lanning at the Spinoff writes, and this piece examining why the Lawson superettes popping up around the place aren’t quite right is no different.

• The new albums from John Mayer and Clairo are both very good.

• No. 1 Pancake on Lorne Street is closing on 30 July, truly the end of an era. Get in while you can.

last call for the clipboard zine

Clipboard’s first birthday is coming up, and I’m cooking up a very cool zine with some friends to celebrate, tentatively titled the clipboard annual. It’ll feature some of the best articles of the past year, but I would also love to feature your work: yes, you!

If you have any cool work that relates to the themes of this newsletter, send it in!

If you have any nice words to share about why you read this thing every week, send it in!

If you hate non-specific briefs and want to contribute something specific, get in touch and I’ll give you a proper brief!

You can reply to this email or click here.

I’m also accepting koha to get this made, because I do not make money from this newsletter. Get in touch for my bank account details, or subscribe through substack to contribute on a more ongoing basis, I’ll be forever grateful to you.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! I’ll see you again this time next week, and in the meantime you can get in touch over email or Instagram. Ka kite!