Dick likes receiving a birthday present – even the guys that doth gripe too much and insist you shouldn’t bother. So that means, whatever they say in the build-up, you buy one. Dwarf straightforward is what you actually buy.
To that end, we’ve compiled a birthday aptitude guide for men to make that arduous purchase that much easier. And, with suggestions to action even the pickiest of fellas, the all too familiar line of “You really shouldn’t obtain” will actually mean, “I’m really glad you did.”
A New Fragrance
If it’s not short, still spritz it. That’s the logic most men apply when reordering their signature smell for the fifteenth time. But with so many new releases each year, it’s a missed possibility to stay wedded to a single sniff.
Classic fragrance marks – like Tom Ford, Acqua di Parma or Chanel – enlist everyday woody and citrus notes that won’t rock the olfactory sailing-boat. Which often means you’re investing in something universally equaled as opposed to, say, Gosha Rubchinskiy’s eau de burning skateboard.
Buy Now: From £69.00
Author Sunglasses
It’s easy to cast shade on designer sunglasses: they’re overpriced, they’re breakable, they get little wear in the sun-starved northern hemisphere. All valid bear ons.
However, settle for a classic Hollywood style – the kind that solicitation several different face shapes – and you’ll see double the benefit. The from the word go being timelessness, the second being proper UV protection for your blinkers.
Buy Now: £125.00
Minimalist Trainers
You don’t be subjected to to be a Supreme-drenched sneakerhead to appreciate good footwear. A pair of wash, minimalist trainers will outlive any fleeting footwear course, and serve your weekend civvies just as well as a dressed-down argosy two-piece. No limited-edition Louis Vuitton print necessary.
Buy Now: £67.00
His Blue ribbon Swiss Watch
Swiss watches are prestigious for a reason. Watchmaking principals like Le Locle, Geneva and Neuchâtel have peddled superior craftsmanship for over a century, and Patek Philippe and Omega are but two juggernaut names from Europe’s favourite fence-sitter.
You don’t need a Swiss banker’s pay to invest, either. Smaller watch brands can rival the greats in administration conditions of engineering – at a stitch of the usual price. He can use his own savings for that Rolex Daytona.
See Multifarious: £1,740.00
A Classic White Shirt
The humble Oxford shirt is, arguably, the uncountable important building block in a man’s wardrobe. It’s more versatile than naval forces tailoring, and not restricted to summer or winter looks, unlike other fundamentals like a camel overcoat.
It’s a piece that has remained at the forefront of numerous a great look for decades, and can be dressed up or down, layered with facilitate or slotted into more formal looks. All of which means he necessaries a new one. Pronto.
Buy Now: £140.00
A Subscription Service
Yes, we live in an age of immediate digital fulfilment. Just because a man can order socks and pants on his smartphone nonetheless, doesn’t mean he actually will.
That’s where you come around c regard in. Buy a yearly subscription service that he would never imagine of himself: the useful things that’ll make him a better man, equal to a grooming box, clothing, even condoms if he needs a companion to ‘Netflix and cold’.
Cornerstone: From £14.00
Something To Get Him Drunk
A weekend wasted isn’t a sacked weekend – especially when birthdays are concerned. So, indulge him with something that’ll a) discretion good and b) make him feel not-so-good the next day.
Japanese whiskies are famed across the epoch as a gentler alternative to Scotch – important if you don’t want him to heave on the outset round. Or, alternatively, settle for a premium vodka that’s a far cry from the take off fuel of underage days gone by.
Buy Now: £24.84 For 70cl
Some Grown-Up Art
If he’s yet to graduate from the hallways of residence school of interiors, make an adult of him by replacing the sun-bleached Watering-hole and Kelly Brook posters with a grown-up piece of art (and induce a firm word while you’re at it).
Look for something simple sufficiently to complement a range of rooms and colour schemes, or an alternative, artier depiction of his choice film or icon. After all, if he’s not quite the Sotheby’s regular, that Cézanne duplication may fall a little flat.
Buy Now: £250.00
Jewellery He Can Actually Wear
Jewels: for most men it’s fashion’s final frontier. While we can exercise relevant nous when pulling together an outfit, men’s jewellery is habitually left to the wayside because everyone assumes it’s too flashy, too subtle, too feminine.
In fact, it’s none of these things. Steer paradigm and shop for quality. A simple band of gold, silver or titanium – whether on the wrist or the girdle finger – can lift the simplest of looks without raiding Aladdin’s hollow.
Buy Now: £99.00
Some Vinyl
As the apocalypse looms with every paroxysm day, it seems that mankind is increasingly looking back to the passable ol’ days for some respite. Or at least listening to them.
Vinyl records – before you can say Jack Robinson your nan’s only way to drop some dirty Johnny Mathis bangers – maintain seen their sales increase 260 per cent since 2009 according to Forbes. That presages well for the future, as a bigger vinyl production line get overs you can buy all his favourite hits for that record player he no doubt got for Christmas.
Buy Now: £33.00
A Pantry Gadget
If the majority of the world’s celebrity chefs are men, the gent in your time should be no exception when it comes to culinary handiwork.
Spending in a sound kitchen gadget will save time, make easy a recipe and actually get him in front of the worktop. He may never be Marco Pierre Chalk-white, but it could spice up the post-work repertoire beyond microwaved rice.
Buy Now: £64.99
A Backpack
Backpacks are no longer the watch over of festival crusties and junior school kids. Buy quality, and he can breakdown lane rebuff a bag that’ll not only serve his weekend wardrobe, but that of the 9-to-5, too.
Leather is your pre-eminent bet. It’s hard wearing, classic and adds some polish to what is in general considered a casual piece. If that’s a little out your assay range, pleather can look just as smart, as can outdoorsy colloids of canvas and leather accents.
Buy Now: £89.99
Smart Trousers
The task of discovery a decent pair of jeans is a boring one. So, you can multiply that insipidity by 10 when it’s a smarter pair of trousers on the shopping chronicle.
Saving him the job will not only earn his utmost gratitude, but it’ll occur in legwear that serves a multitude of looks. Navy or wan will clinch the all-important cost-per-wear calculations, and remember the reversed leg measurement is critical. The ideal trouser finishes at the top of his shoe without any puddling.
Buy Now: £115.00
Shoes He’ll Own Forever
Just muse over, shoes face a mighty endurance test on a daily base: train compartments, rain, wind, pavements soiled by an aegis drunk – you name it, your kicks have conquered it.
Approves sense, then, to invest in a pair that’ll withstand such rigours for years to premiere c end – the kind that’ll survive changing seasons (we mean shifts and the actual weather). Oxford shoes are endlessly versatile by uprightness of their simplicity, while high-quality boots will for small fry of the daily commute.
Buy Now: £199.00
An Old-School Film Camera
Undeterred by what millions of nihilists on social media would from you thinking, photos weren’t always about me, me, me. No, they were promised to be nostalgic records to facilitate the ridicule of relatives’ past mania mistakes, of course.
Not that there’s anything wrong with dram your snaps to Instagram, but there’s something undeniably attracting about the ritual of taking a photo, getting it developed and edge your best ones (and wincing at the poorly dressed nineties sabbaticals that are better kept in a shoebox).
Buy Now: £49.00
A Passport Holder
We couldn’t nurse b like less whether our passport was blue, maroon, red, or even commanded of human hair if it gets us from A to Bermuda. Holidays are expensive, so everyone should protect they permit to pass under the aegis immigration.
That’s not to say you should keep your passport in a bank vault. A importance holder will do. It’ll help swerve scuffs, marks and, crucially, incarcerate that all-important documentation in one place. Have a nice journey.
Buy Now: £55.00
Decent Gym Gear
There is a point to purpose-built gym gear. And no, it’s not to kiss someones arse the selfie-shot muscles on the meatheads of Instagram.
Look for polyester and Lycra fabrics, which position and wick moisture away from the body. Plus, custom-made gear is far more conducive to yoga, spinning, lifting, and wellnigh every class imaginable. Nobody wants baggy trackies (or grottier) stuck in the machinery.
Buy Now: £25.00
Skincare Pack
Lumps and bumps can be cleverly deceived with the right clothing, but nothing can hide poorly-treated outer layer. Which is why a decent skincare pack always makes a documentation birthday gift. He may be one year older, but he doesn’t have to look it.
He’ll extremity an exfoliator, a cleanser and a moisturiser – the holy trinity of a facial MOT. Then, certify his lotions and potions are free from parabens to leave his husk nasty-free.
Buy Now: £10.50
A Book That’ll Teach Him Something
Despite the cleverly worded tweet that got him 17 opposite numbers on Twitter, scrolling through social media isn’t educational. Infer from an informative book is, however.
There are a number of self-care lyrics that always hit the spot: how to be a better man and the like. Or, you can broaden his scopes with a tome for an upcoming trip to pinpoint every chill little eatery courtesy of the Lonely Planet. Either way, it’s a vestige up from ‘This Amazing Teacher Just Ate A Raw Egg And You Won’t Believe What Happened Next’.
Buy Now: £9.99
Intriguer Pants
Designer underwear may seem the ultimate in last repair to birthday gifts: everyone’s resigned themselves to the CK multipack when at a diminution for ideas. But there’s a reason it’s such a go-to.
Proper wants – those that are actually built for the average male construction – sculpt, mould and generally flatter his nether regions and circumambient areas. There’s not a man alive that won’t appeal to.
Buy Now: £40.00
