Men are notoriously difficult to shop for, especially if you’re trying to break with tradition and gift something other than a tie. As a tailor I’ve learnt a lot about men and their tendencies, so if you’re stumped for what to get your father-in-law this Christmas, here are a few fail-safe ideas I’d recommend.
What Men Want
Men are extremely practical beings, and have a deep love for all things functional. They’re also great plan makers (note I didn’t say plan executors), so much of what they want or need they either already have, or already have a plan for how to obtain it.
Christmas is then an excellent opportunity to gift the men in your life with things they’d ordinarily not buy for themselves for whatever reason. Below I’ve listed 5 great gift ideas, which are intended more as categories than specific recommendations. Comment below if there’s a great gift idea you think I should include, and I’d definitely recommend you head over to Mantality if you want to check out a range of amazing options for the men in your life.
Gift Idea #1: Man Crafts
Men love working with their hands, and all men (even if secretly) have an artisanal hobby.
Although I’m not personally the biggest fan of craft beer (it tastes too much of communism!) it’s a hobby many men enjoy…or would love to enjoy if only someone would buy them a craft brew starter pack.
If your guy is a pro-brewer and you’re more of a pro-drinker, rather opt for something like beer glasses or kegs, or you’ll invariably buy the wrong culture (do you use that for beer?) and he’ll be too polite to say so.
Gift Idea #2: Gadgets
Guys are all, to a man, suckers for gadgets no matter how useless.
Try to avoid taking advantage of this information (I’ll deny it if you ever say I told you) and get them something useful like the above solar charged power bank. Really great idea for outdoors guys!
Gift Idea #3: Cologne
Grooming is a rather personal thing with gents, and it’s generally not a great idea to load him with unwanted hygiene products. However Cologne (NOT deodorant) is an exception. If the guy enjoys cologne he’ll love the chance to try a new fragrance, and if he’s never even heard of such things before it’s a great opportunity to give it a try.
Either way (and don’t take this personally) cologne is a great re-gift, so rest assured your present won’t go to waste. I’m a long-time fan of Davidoff Cool Water pictured above, but this is one gift idea where you really can ‘sort by price‘ and choose randomly. You may just be helping your guy (or his younger brother next year) up his sophistication level a notch.
Gift Idea #4: Fashion
Obviously the most important consideration in any man’s life…right? Buying fashion for guys is very tricky, and I’d avoid anything (including t-shirts) that comes in sizes. These items are best left to gents to buy for themselves.
If you insist on getting your dad another pair of socks at least make them slightly trendy (come on peeps it’s Christmas) but maybe not so trendy that he’ll flinch at the thought of wearing them with shorts:
I was really impressed with these sustainably produced socks from PACT, and you can check out my full review of them here.
Accessories like cuff links, tie bars and lapel pins are great ideas, even if he only wears a tie to funerals. If your guy is into accessories, you’re in luck because he’ll be ecstatic to add just about anything new to his collection.
If he isn’t really a ‘cuff links guy’ he probably won’t love the fact that his only pair is Storm Troopers, so opt for something more conservative. If he already has a good set though, novelty accessories are an addiction that he’ll love you for feeding ;)
A great menswear accessory for absolutely any gent is a collar extender:
No more chocking to death with that shirt collar that’s too tight, plus you get ones for pants too!! Read the full review here.
Gift Idea #5: DIY
If you’re completely stumped about what men really want, just leave them to their own devices with a gift card.
Chances are they’ll be buying something for you anyway, because gents are cool like that.
For more ideas you can always pop over to our shop, where we review menswear products in case they are kak.
And I’d definitely suggest hitting up mantality.co.za for a great range of stuff for men of all tendencies
ps. they have a ‘Gifts for under R150’ page, just between us ;)
The Studio is at 625 Levinia Street, Garsfontein, and open every Thursday from 10am to 10pm. You can also subscribe to this blog by hitting the follow button, and join the monthly newsletter here for fashion scandal and awesome designs.
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