#2239 Good Question

Do you think that girls can be friendzoned as well as guys? Also, do you think that friendzoning even exists?

I once knew this guy who was clearly infatuated with this girl. He’d text her sweet little messages all the time, bring her gifts, tell her she was beautiful and pay every time they went out for dinner. She obviously enjoyed the attention because she spent so much time with him, but whenever he tried to bring up the conversation about taking the relationship to the next level, she’d tell him he was like a brother to her. It got worse: About four times per week, they’d go to Pink Berry together. Every single fricken time, he’d take cute little photos of them with their Pink Berry cups and put them on Facebook. It was literally emasculation-by-frozen-yoghurt.

#2238 Behind the scenes at Barkers S/S 2012/13 with Tom Bull and Greg Lewis

Last season we shot the Barkers campaign on the streets of New York City (these were the results), this time we're up in the Hamptons for the label's S/S 2012/13 shoot. This is my first visit and it's pretty nice – yesterday we were treated to lunch by a Michelin starred chef who works for a guy who's high up in the video game and music worlds, today, after a three hour session extremely early on the beach, we're heading up to Montauk to shoot around the lighthouse. A couple of fun facts about the Hamptons: You can't park on the street unless you have a permit, and you can't get a permit unless you're a resident. If that's not the very definition of classist-exclusivity then I don't know what is. A couple of fun facts about our shoot so far: We stole a Ferrari, Tom got out-cuted by a two year old but managed to out-Abercrombie Bruce Weber himself, and we've still got a day to go. Video to come. Look out.

#2237 My Week in LA, in Instagrams

Me and Ashika, Runyon Canyon conquerors.

The first time I left the South Pacific, I was 21 years old. I flew to Los Angeles and caught a shuttle bus to The Standard in West Hollywood – passing Crenshaw Boulevard, Inglewood and a cop running into a pawn shop with a shotgun cocked and ready to go. It was the real deal. When I arrived at the hotel, I walked into the lobby and ran straight into a woman I recognised. "This is so crazy!" I told her. "I've just flown halfway around the world and the first person I see is someone I know from back home!" She frowned and shook her head. "Sorry honey, I think you must be mistaking me for someone else." It took me a couple of seconds to realise that I was talking to Judy Reyes, best known as Carla from Scrubs. A day later, Julia Stiles walked past me as I was coming out of my room – she was staying in the suite next to mine. Paris and Nicky Hilton sat at a table next to me at the hotel bar one night, and Justin Timberlake drove past me near the Beverly Center. My favourite though, was when I caught Ned Schneebly walking his dog on Sunset Strip.

#2236 Lacoste Fragrance's Perfect Summer Party – What To Wear?

I’ve been working with Lacoste Fragrances a bunch over the past couple of months, and now that the heat is well and truly here, the Croc is looking to throw The Perfect Summer Party. The fine folks in the fragrance department asked me to put together a couple of outfits that I might wear to their soiree – inspired by the energetic blast that is Lacoste Rouge – and we shot it with Jonas Bresnan in Madison Square Park last week.

#2235 LA Times

So here we are in sunny Los Angeles, a city that I've spent many a week in, but never at my own leisure. This time's different because I did the only sensible thing any self-respecting human should do when they come here, and rented a car. My first experience driving on the wrong side of the road found me on the 405 from Orange County to Santa Monica, and my apprehensions were put to rest immediately when I realised that driving is driving, no matter where your steering wheel's located. Who'd've thought? Only one thing is certain: It feels amazing to get out of New York City.

#2234 Good Question

Photo: Haw-lin

Hey Isaac! I'm living in the US for a year and was wondering if you knew any places I absolutely MUST see, without getting too touristy and going to all the spots that everyone else has already seen?

If you're into freaky off-the-beaten-track experiences, my house is the pits of hell – over 40 degrees inside with no air conditioning, chicken gizzards in the fridge, and a Croatian/Australian roommate who swears violently whenever you knock on his bedroom door... It's not exactly touristy but it is a must see. Come over? Or you could try flying to LA, renting a car and driving to Santa Monica beach at sunset. I did it last night and I'm fairly confident that it was one of the top 10 most beautiful things I've ever seen.

#2233 My Week in Instagrams

The big dog Tom Bull finally arrived home after a two month European hiatus, and I'm not too proud to say that it was the most exciting thing that's happened in ages. It meant a degree of normalcy was reestablished at my apartment (if normalcy includes nobody ever wearing a shirt, permatanning and trash-talk over games of FIFA). It was a week of money poorly spent – $12 on the worst haircut of my life, $28 on two tickets to Total Recall and $22 on a garlic-heavy Brazilian lunch that left three overgrown men-children burping and farting like 14 year old boys on school camp. But the main event was a Casio G-Shock party on Thursday night featuring an hour-long performance by Eminem (shout out to Harley at G-Shock New Zealand for hooking it up). Tom charmed us into the VIP box, and we spent the evening partying with the Japanese owners of G-Shock, watching everyone's second favourite white boy rap like a champ. He played a full set of classics and delighted everyone in the audience – including our middle-aged Japanese friends, who knew all the words, despite their advanced years: "Won't the lear Srim Shady prease stand up!? Prease stand up!? Prease stand up!" And this afternoon, Ashika and I are flying to Los Angeles for a week of meetings, castings and hopefully a day or two of Disneyland. Pro tip: We discovered on Friday that if you book a flight at notice from New York to LA, you can save yourselves up to $400 per ticket if you land at Orange County Airport. Who knew!? Happy Sunday, everybody!

#2232 The facts of life

Photo: Haw-lin

1. I spent the day yesterday eating pizza, throwing an Aussie Rules ball around at the park, watching Top Gun and doing about two hours' worth of work. My sister Rebeccah did something slightly more significant – gave birth to a little baby girl. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome my beautiful niece Mila into the world; we can only hope that you're as charming, talkative and strong-willed as your older sister Sofia Grace. Congratulations Rebeccah and Andrew! Can't wait to meet her in real life!

#2231 Revisiting the Little Brother archives

Diehard Little Brother fans might remember a certain asymmetrical bomber jacket that'll go down in history as one of the greatest pieces to have ever been conceived by Murray Crane. I had lunch with an awesome Kiwi named Ryan Mulcock this afternoon and we began reminiscing about our favourite LB garments from back in the day. That bomber managed to hold our attention for a full seven minutes of conversation, prompting me to email Murray and ask him if we could include it in the Fall/Winter collection we've just started working on. I reckon it's about time we revisited the archives. That was all very good and well, but then I clicked over to Murray's blog and read the following post: "Next week I am disposing of 15 years of Card Patterns created over god knows how many hours, stressful nights and deadlines." Sweet mother of all things merciful I hope I'm not too late.

I LIKE YOU!

#2230 A month in Tokyo with Greg Lewis, Rose Smith and a disposable camera

Minnie mouse, Disneyland Tokyo. Photos: Greg Lewis

Remember Greg Lewis? He's the Australian photographer I started working with at the end of last year – first on outfit posts, then during New York Fashion Week, and most recently on the Fall/Winter Barkers campaign plastered all over New Zealand, starring Mister Thomas Bull. (We're shooting round two later this month.) Greg's girlfriend Rose Smith is one of Australia's top models of the moment, and the two spent a month working in Tokyo recently; I asked them to take a disposable camera along for the ride. This from Greg: "A few months back via Skype video, Isaac – with his shirt off, pre-Brooklyn gym days and pre-summer tan – asked if we’d be keen to shoot some pictures of bits and bobs we got up to along the road well travelled. Here's what happened in Tokyo." Check out all the photos, below.

#2229 My Week in Instagrams

I've spent the past two months waiting to shoot the pilot for a new webseries that my fellow Kiwi/blogger/New York resident Gala Darling and I auditioned for almost four months ago, and this Friday, here in Williamsburg, we finally got it done. Without giving too much away, it's a bit like a cross between Oprah and MTV Cribs, with a little Backstage Confidential thrown in for good measure. The photo above shows us going crazy 11 hours into filming, after I spotted the most extreme Richard Gere lookalike of all time (see below). Besides that, the week's highlight came in the form of Zara Mirkin's debut photo exhibition at punk boutique Bess on Tuesday night – amazing photos, amazing turn out of plenty of the city's famed Downtown crew and an amazing time had by all. Many congratulations to her. Also to Andy Murray for his gold medal-winning match against Roger Federer this morning. Huge! Check out all my Instagrams of the week, below.

#2228 Workwear Take Two

With Little Brother Spring/Summer 12/13 in production, I've been trying to get my head in the Fall/Winter zone, despite the fact that the coldest day we've had in the last month saw temperatures drop to a not-so-cool 22 degrees Celsius. A garment that's kept playing on my mind is the button-up workwear jacket, which is ideal as a layering piece from the beginning till the end of the chilly seasons – throw it on over a tee in Autumn, and wear it between your shirt and overcoat a la Sean Hotchkiss in the depths of Winter. One of the best versions I've seen is this guy by Spanish label TwoThirds, stocked by brand new Brooklyn-based online store Three Leaves. It's an updated, slimline version of the Bill Cunningham I wore yesterday, and that neutral colour means it'll work with anything you throw at it.

#2227 Dressed to Bill

I don't know if it was Bill Cunningham New York or the bartenders' uniforms at Cafe Gitane that tipped me over the edge, but I have an obsession with French blue workwear jackets. According to L'Ecole Des Beaux Arts who sell them by the truckload here in Williamsburg, blue was a common colour worn by the peasant class back in feudal days because indigo was cheaper than other dyes. I bet they'd laugh if they could see the denim craze today. The only problem with these jackets is their awkward fit – they're short and wide through the body with baggy sleeves. Besides that, they're perfect in every way – awesome cloth, amazing colour and oh so functional. And since they're only 85 bucks a pop, you can always throw a couple of extra dollars at them to get some tailoring work done if you so desire. Coming up later this week, I'll have an update on the classic, by Spanish label TwoThirds. You can pick up a French workwear jacket online here.

#2226 The facts of life

1. Are you in New York? Are you looking for something to do tomorrow that will be better than ANYTHING else that is going on? Yeah you are. Yeahhhh you are. Happily for you (and for me), my fellow New Zealander, Zara Mirkin, is hosting her very first photography exhibition alongside Moni from Johnnysbird and Andres Altamirano at famed punk boutique Bess from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. I know what you're thinking... Zara Mirkin takes photographs? Since when? Since ages ago, that's when. I've seen them, they're bloody good, and they're filled with beautiful girls, strange boys, crazy freaks and dirty punks. You'll love it. See you tomorrow night! (The photograph above is a sample of her work. Be there.)