What Is The Fascination With Moleskine?

[senzen]

It's part of the hipster uniform, along with skinny jeans, beards, wayfarer sunglasses. I think it's a great example of branding, even if I wouldn't get it myself after seeing the light with great fountain pen friendly paper.

[bogiesan]

Very funny stuff from The New Yorker YouTube channel:

 

[Flaxmoore]

There's fascination with it? Nah. I think it's part of the hype machine that they've generated. "Did you know that Ernest Hemingway used moleskine, and you too can write superb novels if you used it too".

Out of every 10 fountain pen users that I've heard the opinions of, 1 says it's ok and the rest say it's binworthy. Personally I think it's binworthy as it feathers horribly and is a lot worse than even the cheapest of the cheap paper I can get in Poundland and Wilkos etc.

 

I think it's mostly gift material from great aunts.

 

Yeah, same here. I lived and died on Moleskine in residency- their pocket sized ones were perfect. Patient sticker on the top of the page, material about the day below, I'd smoke one a week easily. They sucked with fountain pen ink, but they were the only notebooks of the right size I could find affordably. I mean, I'm not writing the Great American Novel- I'm writing notes that will be canned after a week. I don't want to pay $10 for a disposable pad.

 

I'm still looking for a good replacement- the problem is that there aren't many options around here. I am in Metro Detroit, and Officemax and Staples are really my only options. I can't get Rhodia/Clairfontaine/Tomoe here. I'm lucky to get Black and Red.

[Shaggy]

 

Yeah, same here. I lived and died on Moleskine in residency- their pocket sized ones were perfect. Patient sticker on the top of the page, material about the day below, I'd smoke one a week easily. They sucked with fountain pen ink, but they were the only notebooks of the right size I could find affordably. I mean, I'm not writing the Great American Novel- I'm writing notes that will be canned after a week. I don't want to pay $10 for a disposable pad.

 

I'm still looking for a good replacement- the problem is that there aren't many options around here. I am in Metro Detroit, and Officemax and Staples are really my only options. I can't get Rhodia/Clairfontaine/Tomoe here. I'm lucky to get Black and Red.

This was similar to my use case as well. I was running through one every two weeks. Moleskines give you a lot of sheets in a great form factor. And they're cheap.

 

To be honest, I don't get the snobby attitude toward them. So they have good marketing and suck with FPs... That's hardly worth vitriol. You could say the same about Mead.

[PandP]

Most of the businesses on this planet aim to generate hype through one method or another. It cant be wrong for Moleskine but be ok for, lets say, Montblanc or Apple.

 

I use their A5 softcover notebooks at work with my fountain pens and have never had any issues. Never experienced any feathering or any other issues. And I write on both sides of the paper. I'm able to get the notebooks on offer at around £6 - £7 each which I think it is a good price. I refuse to pay £10 or more for a notebook. Or whatever extortionate amounts shops ask nowadays for that japanese paper.

 

If Moleskine is surviving in shops where other brands are disappearing then that should be an indication of something shouldnt it?

[Barkingpig]

Really the only important thing is that people are happy with the paper they use. As long as it meets your needs & promotes regular use, with enjoyment, or @ least without aggravation, then it is the right paper for you.

 

I do acknowledge that I feel fortunate to have a variety of papers from which to choose, just like I am grateful for the many choices of ink.

[majorworks]

I've only ever had one Moleskine. Plain black lined one. I've used it on and off over the years for note taking, some journaling, etc. It's still not full, might never be. As we all know, it doesn't like FP ink, and there's far better alternatives.

[Sasha Royale]

Yup ! Lots of hype. My brother gave me one. Moleskine makes a very nice notebook. The paper ? Not so much, with regard to liquid ink. My readings indicate widespread disappointment, among FPN members, with the Moleskine paper.

 

BTW: Papa Hemingway wrote with a pencil.

[thudthwacker]

I'm not anybody's idea of a market researcher, but I wonder if part of Moleskine's draw is that they're a luxury item that a lot of people can afford. You don't buy a Moleskine from a much-pawed-through stack, on a metal shelf, nestled between the garish fluorescent lights and industrial tile floor of an office supply store -- you get it in the Nice Journal section of your local book store, where you are surrounded by dark wood bookcases, walk on a carpet, and are accompanied by the companionable scent of artisanal (or at least expensive) coffee from the integral café. Also, at least when they were introduced, they had an air of something exotic -- most Americans (or, at least, I) had generally seen notebooks in a fixed set of sizes: there were memo pads, composition notebooks, and 8.5" x 11" binders. A Moleskine eschews these vulgar sizes, being smaller than a composition book, but a more useful size than a memo pad -- a book sized for an adventurer, ready to be tucked into a pocket with one hand as your pith helmet was donned with the other.

 

I think, buying a Moleskine, you can feel that you're purchasing something elegant for an interesting and worthy purpose. And who wouldn't want to do that?

 

(In fairness, I'm rather sleepy right now; the foregoing could be carved from a single perfect crystal of daft lunacy, and I'm really not in a position to tell.)

[dapprman]

In the UK you can buy Moleskin notebooks virtually everywhere including not just the general strationary shops (Staples, Rymans, WH Smith, etc), but also most super markets.

[majorworks]

I'm not anybody's idea of a market researcher, but I wonder if part of Moleskine's draw is that they're a luxury item that a lot of people can afford. You don't buy a Moleskine from a much-pawed-through stack, on a metal shelf, nestled between the garish fluorescent lights and industrial tile floor of an office supply store -- you get it in the Nice Journal section of your local book store, where you are surrounded by dark wood bookcases, walk on a carpet, and are accompanied by the companionable scent of artisanal (or at least expensive) coffee from the integral café. Also, at least when they were introduced, they had an air of something exotic -- most Americans (or, at least, I) had generally seen notebooks in a fixed set of sizes: there were memo pads, composition notebooks, and 8.5" x 11" binders. A Moleskine eschews these vulgar sizes, being smaller than a composition book, but a more useful size than a memo pad -- a book sized for an adventurer, ready to be tucked into a pocket with one hand as your pith helmet was donned with the other.

 

I think, buying a Moleskine, you can feel that you're purchasing something elegant for an interesting and worthy purpose. And who wouldn't want to do that?

 

(In fairness, I'm rather sleepy right now; the foregoing could be carved from a single perfect crystal of daft lunacy, and I'm really not in a position to tell.)

 

Geez, I can't imagine which bookstore you're painting such a vivid picture of.

 

Yes, as you allude to and as others have posted, Moleskine does a heck of a marketing job with its products. On the surface, the journals evoke old-world elegance and utility. Even having used one and deciding that I don't care for it, I still find myself spinning around their display racks when I come across them and rifling through the various sizes and styles. Being a pen/paper junkie, I find them appealing somehow. But I have not, and WILL NOT cave!

[Studio97]

Since I use a variety of writing instruments I CAVED a long time ago but only at steep discounted prices and then buy a stack.

[AGxM]

No idea....I find they are not Fp friendly with all inks at all....so crossed them off my list of work journals

[Studio97]

And I just did it again. Three A5 and three A6 for $35.31 total. See my post in Sad pathetic statinary junkie.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Studio97

[bluebellrose]

 

Yeah, same here. I lived and died on Moleskine in residency- their pocket sized ones were perfect. Patient sticker on the top of the page, material about the day below, I'd smoke one a week easily. They sucked with fountain pen ink, but they were the only notebooks of the right size I could find affordably. I mean, I'm not writing the Great American Novel- I'm writing notes that will be canned after a week. I don't want to pay $10 for a disposable pad.

 

I'm still looking for a good replacement- the problem is that there aren't many options around here. I am in Metro Detroit, and Officemax and Staples are really my only options. I can't get Rhodia/Clairfontaine/Tomoe here. I'm lucky to get Black and Red.

 

I recently discovered that certain made in china notebooks and pads are fp friendly. Can I suggest a Canadian option across the border? The Real canadian superstore across the border stocks made in china notebooks that are fp friendly. I can upload a picture if proof is needed. Noticed this by accident the other day testing fp ink on the various papers I had. During the bts sale you could stock up lol. Right now it's reg price @ 2.29 for cardboard cover 200 sheets and 2.99 for 200 sheets. They seem to have a coating on the sheets that make it smooth and fp friendly.

 

I noticed Staples stocks Clairfountaine.

[pgmrdan]

I liked the end of the video where the guy was giving away Moleskines. That's probably the best use for them.

 

I tried to like them but was never impressed.

[dogpoet]

The cahiers compare quite well with those Field Notes pocket sized notebooks (the FNs are a bit more sympathetic to fountain pens, but they're also thinner and pricier: you'll pay twice as much for a pack of three FNs as for the Moleskines, and the marketing nonsense in the back of those is even more irksome), even if the bound notebooks are rather overpriced for what they are.

I hope that nobody who's complaining above about Moleskine's style over substance hipster-targeted faux-elitist marketing pushing a mediocre brand at inflated prices hasn't made any excuses for Noodlers doing the same thing elsewhere on these forums, though.

Edited November 11, 2017 by dogpoet

[praxim]

I received a Moleskine inside a Galen cover I bought, about A5 size. Despite all my misgivings it proved to take a variety of pens and inks very well. I wont rush to buy another when this is finished but I can have no complaint about this single example.

 

edit: fix careless edit

Edited November 12, 2017 by praxim

[Shaggy]

 

I hope that nobody who's complaining above about Moleskine's style over substance hipster-targeted faux-elitist marketing pushing a mediocre brand at inflated prices hasn't made any excuses for Noodlers doing the same thing elsewhere on these forums, though.

Oh, snap!

[bogiesan]

If you can find molies at deep discount, buy them. Remember that us fountain pen users are not on their radar—they don’t care about us. But if you can get them for US$10 or less, they make great, practical notebooks. Especially if you only use the recto side of each spread—more comfortable writing position, lower data density, more rapid notebook replacement. All wins for me. I can find stuff easier and I can move on to a fresh notebook more often.

 

MassDrop recently sold sets of five, hard cover, pocket molies for $10 each. I got ten of the little rascals. Very happy.