This is a guest post written by Nick, boyfriend of Jean.
Hello again, readers of ExtraPetite. If you’ve come across this post on your own, chances are you’re not a guy. And if you are, might I suggest a more gender-appropriate website—ESPN, maybe?
In the interest of helping you petite gals shop for the men in your lives (and in my own interest of dropping a few blatant hints) I’ve assembled this list of last-minute gifts that most dudes may appreciate.
1. Socks and Underwear
An underrated gift. They’re useful long-term, but they also provide short-term value by delaying laundry during a holiday season full of more important activities such as watching college football games and pretending to like egg nog.
With socks, go for anything but white because we have plenty of those. Try black or gray ankle socks, and if you live somewhere cold, something from Smartwool or the J.Crew camp socks. For underwear, anything brand name to spruce up our existing collection of threadbare Fruit of the Loom.
2. That Thing We Love But You Can’t Stand
Maybe it’s our high school backpack, a pair of old Vans, or an ill-fitting thrift store plaid shirt. Whatever it is, we should’ve tossed it long ago, but part of the reason we love it is because you hate it. Well, now’s your chance to upgrade for us. As long as the new thing is equally functional, we’ll probably be cool with it. A few good conversions:
Replace: Ski jacket with cinched waist, neon accents and 10 years of accumulated lift tickets
With: Wanaka Down Jacket by Patagonia
Replace: Cracked and peeling jersey of a player who’s been traded to another team
With: Vintage NFL t-shirt from Junk Food Clothing
Replace: Shirt that used to be my dad’s and smells like moth balls
With: Sunwashed flannel shirt from J.Crew (look for these on sale in-store)
3. Video Games
This gift comes with a caveat—you must let us actually PLAY the game, without reprimand, at least four days a week for the first month, and then twice a week every week thereafter. Also, keep in mind we have more video games than you know about, so do a little snooping to see what we’ve already got. NBA 2k11, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption are solid options available for both PS3 and XBOX 360, ranging in price from $40 to $60.
4. Craft Beer Sampler
Do you know a guy who loves beer? And I don’t mean that like, “he really loves Bud Light.” If he’s ever spent over half an hour wandering the beer aisle just to pick a six-pack, he’ll appreciate a nice sampling of craft brews. Follow this easy mix-and-match guide:
Match any of these brands:
Stone, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Harpoon, Avery, Allagash, Anderson Valley, Brooklyn, Great Divide, Founders, Dogfish Head, Rogue, Victory, Troegs, Surly, AleSmith, Lagunitas…basically if you haven’t heard of it, that’s probably a good thing.
With any of these words:
India Pale Ale (IPA), Brown Ale, Ale, Porter, Stout, Belgian, Winter, Seasonal, Limited, Hops
5. Non-Douchey V-Neck T-Shirts
Until last year, I’d never worn a v-neck t-shirt for two reasons: 1) I don’t have a waxed, tattooed chest that I want to show to the world; 2) I refuse to buy a plain t-shirt if it costs more than the $5-for-10 pack of Hanes. But last Christmas my mom got me these Premium Pima Cotton V-Necks from Banana Republic. At 3 for $44 (combine-able w/ sales and coupons), I’d never buy them for myself, but if I had more I’d wear them every day. They only dip a little more than a crew neck, and they’re fitted without being tight.
6. Handmade Gifts
These are wonderful and we will tell you how much we love them and how we will cherish them forever. What we won’t tell you is that we’d love it even more if you knew how to hand-make an iPad. Which brings me to our last gift…
7. iPad
I don’t need or even really want an iPad. But let me put it this way, if I found one under the tree on Christmas morning, there would be no need for a gift receipt.
LOL! The guy that does fashionising.com called v-necks for men "douche bag" necklines. I guess it must be true since more than one person says so!! Thanks for the reminder!!!
YAY for SD gifts of Stone beer & Chargers! Since I'm single, the gifts for the men in my life are my Dad, brother and friends. These are all GREAT ideas! My brother loves BR tees, but the crew neck kind. 🙂 And yes…us girls need to learn to let the video game thing go. It's a fact of life just like clothing/shopping for females. 😉
Way to represent SD Nick! I like the vintage Charger's tee.
Might end up going w/the BR pima cotton v-neck this yr.
But that "cracked and peeled" jersey of a player traded to another team could be a collector's item. I'm not a guy, but I'm not sure too many would want that thrown out/replaced.
Thanks for all the feedback and additional suggestions. I'm sure Jean feels reassured knowing she's not alone in her dislike for video games.
@Elle Thanks for the reminder about the added discounts, forgot to put that in there.
@Abhitoabby Swiss Army knives and Leatherman tools are great. We can never have too many.
@Ping I found something wrapped under the tree that strangely resembles one of the items on this list…
@PetiteLittleGirl Tickets to sporting events definitely belong on this list too.
@Tara Haha, sounds like your husband has good taste.
@Michelle Shipping the beer is a great idea! There are also a few "Craft Beer of the Month" subscriptions that deliver a various assortment to your door every month.
@R
Whaaaat? I loveeee Call of Duty. 🙁
I already got H&M; boxers for my boyfriend. : ) If you (Nick) haven't tried them out yet, you should! Apparently, they're really comfortable. haha It's the one that comes in a pack of three.
My bf really likes J. Crew and we're waiting for the store to open here in Toronto before we blow our money on them. It's hard buying clothing for my boyfriend because one piece actually costs more than one whole outfit of mine. *sigh..* He rarely buys clothing though so I guess he knows how to "invest" in a good, quality piece.
Anyway, wonderful guest post! It has probably helped several ladies with their gifts so far! 😀
P.S. You missed out on electronics (though I guess the iPad counts). I gave him an external hard drive this year. LOL
xx The Little Dust Princess
Great list of suggestions. 🙂 But I don't know about that Call of Duty… something I'll never understand! I gave an honest effort to try and play that game on both the Xbox and PS3 and came to the conclusion that women just don't like using two joysticks. The only thing that piqued my interest is that you can somewhat customize the face paint and outfit of your guy… but then again that's what reading Extra Petite is for, lol.
i just read your post and saw this on fredflare: http://www.fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=6513&cat;=103
haha who to believe?
Hahaha…Jean looks like you know what to get him!! I ended up getting my bf Halo reach and a Ralph lauren pullover. Thanks for the funny post PAG's bf!
lol great read….i wished i came across this earlier! i am the worst at gifts. i went the easy route and got my bf a j crew gift card. heehee.
i wonder what jean is getting you.
I agree with all the clothing picks! I've gotten bf all the recs one time or another throughout the years. He isn't a typical guy (doesn't play video games, don't really drink) but he's a HUGE sports fan, so he's generally pretty easy to shop for.
Can't wait to see what you get Nick, Jean!
great ideas!! i conferred with my bf and he definitely agrees with the v-neck tee comment stated by your bf and the fact that v-necks can look douchy. i never realized that but my bf never wears v-necks for that reason either! i really like his BR link but unfortunately the smallest size is a medium, otherwise I would've bought it for my bf too!
thanks so much for the recs! nick should do more guest posts!
cuteandlittle.com
Great picks! I really enjoy reading this post. My husband had a few V-neck undershirts from BR and he loves them. The material is very soft and stretchy. IPad sounds a like a terrific idea. I might consider it next year 🙂 Another gift idea that the guys probably would like is ticket to the basketball games. I got my husband and his father 2 tickets to the game last year and they were thrilled. Thanks for the recommendations.
Lol! Very much appreciated post, since I have not gottten anything for my husband. Eek!
I definitely love suggestion #2!! Genius! :p
I also love suggestion #1…will have to go for the underwear, since he already bought himself a ton of J. Crew socks! Grr!
I love the craft beer suggestion! Adding on to that…not all beers that my husband likes are available in Vegas. What the family has done in the past is order his favorite beer from Seattle (Pike Place Pale Ale) and has it shipped here. Probably a little late for that now…but could be a good Valentine's or birthday present! 🙂
Thanks Jean and Nick!
LOL what a great posts.. BUT I'm sorry video games are a BAD idea! I'm not going to be the reason for my man not pay attention to me for months! hahah 🙂
Lol – So witty….I love it!! Great post, I'm sure our husbands/boyfriends will be eternally grateful 😉
Um, did my husband write this list? HAHA! Craft beer, t-shirts, flannel J Crew shirt, Video games….sounds like my husband and your boy friend have a lot in common! 🙂
Hahahah I really loved this post! My boyfriend also hinted towards NBA 2k11 & Call of Duty: Black Ops. Sigh. Boys and their video games. It's okay though, he puts up with my love for makeup and fashion hahah.
Nice list. I got my dad a couple of stylish flannel shirts … hahahaha, because his really do smell like moth balls.
Lol… enjoyable read as was the last post. Definitely agree with #1, hubby always gets excited when I get him boxers and shorts lol. I showed him this post and he chuckled at and wholeheartedly agreed with #4, especially the allotted play time. As for the iPad, let's just say he couldn't wait until Christmas for that 🙂
What an awesome post! Some honest and great ideas! Loving the humor too 😛
Rocking post! Love how he capitalized PLAY and included a future schedule as well! Boys….
May I add massage certificates and leatherman multi tools and/or Swiss army knives from my picks.. What do you think of those Nick?
wow nick, way to drop subtle hints there haha. i must say there is some guilty satisfaction of browsing your own site or photography on an ipad. just because. this is great 🙂 i just dropped a nice wad of cash on some wicked gaming headphones for my bf. i guess that comes with not pouting every time i come home to him playing starcraft …
nice post!!! made me LOL couple times..especially the picture of a douchey guy!
haha i love these ideas !! i like the idea of the handmade ipad. lol.. thanks Nick !!
This is a good guide! I usually get my boyfriend #2 because he has a bunch of ratty clothing items (but don't tell him that…) but this year I'm giving a game-related gift, albeit a little reluctantly hehe..
Thanks for having Nick guest post, Jean. I just picked up some BR pima cotton tees for the boyfriend (Is it obvious that I am desperate for last minute gifts?) and will check out those J. Crew socks. He has been good this year…but not iPad good.
Speaking of the BR tees, when checking out, I noticed that the buy 3 get 25% off can be stacked with the current 30% off full price items, bringing the total for each shirt down to $10.24. He's getting two extra ones so I can get free shipping. 🙂
Great ideas, I still need to buy gifts for the guys in my life, so this was helpful. Thanks.