With the big day just around the corner, Simon Hills tells us his favourite last minute gifts to order online for Christmas.
Indeed there are many of us, mainly, I concede from the male of the species, for whom the right and proper day for Christmas shopping is Christmas Eve. It’s not too complicated. Get out of the office at lunchtime, knock back a few liveners with your colleagues, and so to a couple of reputable department stores, preferably with a wrapping service, out by five o’clock. Simple. Not only that, the seasoned Christmas shopper will have made his life easier (okay, okay, yes it is a he) by seeking advice from his colleagues over lunch and thereby avoiding the choosing a dartboard for the daughter trap.
The modern world has, slightly, mitigated against this tradition what with Black Friday this and whatever-it-is-Monday that, and internet shopping requiring us to at least allow the courier time to get to you before Father Christmas doest. But apply the Christmas Eve principle to your shop and you’re done and dusted in an afternoon, tops – and as it stands you’ve still got 13 Christmas Eves in front of you.
What stores have over internet shopping is, above and beyond the convivial bonhomie of happy shoppers barging into each other to a soundtrack of Slade and Wizzard, a limited choice. Thinking of buying a watch, and you’re restricted to the three cases of watches in front of you; online there are three thousand, maybe more, who knows, three thousand million? And internet ‘likes’ are a poor substitute for real Christmas Eve advice: ‘I reelly liked this top but colour was diffrent to what I expected from the pictur’.
What stores have over internet shopping is, above and beyond the convivial bonhomie of happy shoppers barging into each other to a soundtrack of Slade and Wizzard, a limited choice.
So the only difference here if you’re going online is you really need some sort of a list ready or you’ll be here till next Christmas trying to focus on what it is you want to buy. And as discussed in the previous column, men are really much simpler to buy for than one would imagine. To recap: socks, booze and jim-jams are just fine.
If we have a hobby, for example, we are delighted to have any bit of sporting kit. That lovely pair of Royston Tracksters, £110 − tracksuit bottoms from the retro running company Iffley Road, complete with old-fashioned foot stirrups and secure zip pockets − will be welcome even if we already have six pairs of leggings (unlikely, you can be pretty sure that most men have a couple of smelly old faithfuls that work just fine). A Starman Wind Jacket, £115, from cycling oufitters Huez* would be just the ticket for your cycling enthusiast (even better if it comes with a pass for a pre-Christmas lunch outing on the bicycle to test it). Or, if your intended recipient is more about talking a good game than playing one, check out Savile Rogue for its retro football and rugby supporters’ scarves in cashmere, from £62, which bring a Fifties spirit to modern fandom, tempting any man onto the terraces on Boxing Day and shouting ‘Play up, chaps!’.
The one thing that helps this exercise, it has to be said, is cash. So when I’ve been browsing the Dinny Hall concession at Liberty on said Christmas Eve, I’ve learnt that at four o’clock having an extra £100 you really weren’t going to spend suddenly seems a small price to pay for that lovely pendant. So it’s useful, if not crucial, to have a financial cushion.
Lock’s Hatters |
Karen Henriksen |
If you’re browsing online, £100 would buy you a Muirfield cap from Lock’s Hatters, £99, or for something a bit less traditional a Clive flat cap in dark olive corduroy from Karen Henriksen is £105 and would make a dandy of the most anti-fashion stick-in-the-mud.
Talking of which, Paul Smith has an extraordinary knack of adding subtle twists of colour and detail that will zhoosh up anything from suits to socks. His ‘Dino’ scarves – yes that’s dino as in baby dinosaurs – are really very silly and available in colours from burnt orange to navy, and coincidentally are also around the £100 mark. That’s a step too far from the great man for me, but his Men’s Fading ‘Artist Stripe’ scarf in 100 per cent cashmere you could wear to work, on a country stroll, to the Baftas with a dinner suit. It will set you back £175, though.
Paul Smith
Artist Stripe scarf
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Oliver Sweeney is another British designer who can bring the dandy out in a chap, without scaring the horses (check out his Pennell Burgundy Casual Derby Brogue, £229) although his jackets and shirts are rather more conservative – the Stanway Blue/White cotton shirt, £125, for example, has a subtle ‘puppy tooth’ pattern that’s really very gentle. For something rather more original, his Colbuccaro brown travel slippers are cool as you like, perfect for that weekend away, and yours for £75.
This, of course, is just me, and I do realise that men aren’t just walking clichés and we do have different tastes. My jewellery extends only as far a dozen pairs of cufflinks for example, so it’s fair to assume that there’s a good reason for that, and it’s that I don’t want any other accoutrements. But that doesn’t mean that the next man wouldn’t just love a Linear Friendship bracelet, £125, from Monica Vinader, say, or the understated Knot Mesh Silver Bracelet, £195 from Tateossian. Check out Ettinger, too, for some terrific men’s gifts, although they don’t come cheap. Its Bridle Hide Billfold wallet in green for example is lovely and original, but it will cost you £170.
Monica Vinader
Linear friendship bracelet
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If your giftee is like me not particularly one for gewgaws, then be grateful that you are here in Blighty where you are blessed by the revival of so many classic brands, from Wolsey to Sunspel, Barbour to Hackett, Smedley to Belstaff. So long as you have a size and colour in mind, pretty much anything you buy will be appreciated.
For something a little different, Belstaff’s quilted waistcoat, £195, works as an extra layer, which has been fashionable for a year or so now, or as a practical piece of overwear, ideal for anyone who spends much of their time hopping from outside to inside. Hackett does a nice panelled quilted shell and wool down gilet, too, for £225, and while you’re at it, you can’t go wrong with its London Button-Down Collar Gingham Cotton shirt, £95, both available at Mr Porter – not a bad one-stop shop for many of our top brands.
Don’t forget watches, as per last column. Most men are happy to have a pilot watch to hand, and you could do a lot worse than the Hawker Hunter (inspired by that classic British jet) from AV-8 (geddit?), costing £195. If you have money and want to buy for someone really special, Bremont will never fail you. Its Alti-C in polished white is a gorgeous thing but it will set you back £4,695.
Bremont
Alt1-C Classic watch
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Pair that with a bottle of whisky, and that’s a pretty damn fine Christmas. A Chivas Regal 12 is around £20, or, since you ask, I’d be more than happy with a Laphroaig Islay single malt, £26.
But obviously you have a several days to mull over these things yet. And remember Christmas Eve is a Saturday this year, so how about making a day of it in town? My recommendation: lunch with a couple of friends at The Wolseley, followed by a quick circuit of Fortnum & Mason and Liberty. Paul Smith isn’t very far away, nor is Oliver Sweeney. You’re also in the vicinity of wine merchants Berry Brothers and Rudd, and a good bottle of claret never comes amiss, the shirt-makers of Jermyn Street, and if you want to kick political correctness into touch, Davidoff’s cigars. Your only worry is having all that free time until December 24th to fret over your shopping list.
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