23 November 2012

Bex's 2012 Christmas Gift Guide: Guys

After kicking off this year's Christmas gift guide season with my picks for girls, today it's the guys' turn. A lot of these presents--particularly the foodie ones--could also work well for women. And, of course, if you're money-rich and time-poor, you could just head down to the Apple Store and go crazy.

Food and drink
1. 'Good grief' glasses from Jack Spade. $38 (not available online in the UK, but I think you can get them in store. Because if you're going to drown your sorrows, what better way to do it than with a pair of glasses quantifying the five stages of grief?

2. Jensen's Bermondsey Gin from the Whiskey Exchange. £25.75. A friend bought me a bottle of this for my birthday in honour of my new hood and my love of all things gin. It tastes really good and I appreciate the simple, stylish design and typography.

Jensen's Bermondsey Gin

3. Laguiole cheese knife set from John Lewis. £27. These aren't available online and in store, there is a slightly more expensive version. Laguiole knives look great and last forever, and there's a certain elegance to whipping out your cheese knife set when you serve your cheese course.

4. Hario coffee mill ceramic slim from Amazon. £27. I haven't yet graduated to this level of coffee geekery, but I'm thinking about it. These burr grinders are supposed to be better than electric models, because they grind the coffee more evenly. It takes 1-2 minutes of turning to grind enough for one coffee. For the novice coffee geek, I would recommend starting with an Aeropress (£19.99), a really great piece of kit--cheap, convenient and brews a great mug of coffee (my full Aeropress review is here).

5. Butchery class from The Ginger Pig. £135. This one is a little pricey, but you definitely don't need to worry about emasculating your man with this gift. The class involves a 3 1/2 hands-on tutorial in the art of butchery--you can choose between pork, lamb, beef and sausage making (anyone who saw series six of The Apprentice will know how hard, and comical, the latter can be).

Don't make a pig's ear out of the roast

Accessories and tech
6. Pocket square from Peckham Rye. £27.50. This item was also chosen in honour of my new south of the river hood. They sell a range of silk scarves and pocket squares, as well as socks, ties and other manly apparel. Each item comes with sage sartorial advice; one of the three ways to wear the pocket square, for example, is: "Folded into a three pointed coronate, the three points representing the past, the present and the future." Or something. Less metrosexual colours than the one I picked are available...

Peckham style


7. Urbanears Plattan Dark Grey from the Conran Shop. £50. Stylish, comfortable and with great sound quality, this is a cool pair of headphones. Better still, "it folds down to the size of fist." Because that's how guys measure things. Or something...

8. Marc by Marc Jacobs brown leather iPhone holder from Liberty. £50. There are a lot of trendy iPhone cases out there, but this classic, brown leather design will never go out of style.

9. Paul Smith 'stripy on the inside wallet. £130. Another pricier item, but I love the way the classic black leather exterior opens up to reveal the quirky colours of Paul Smith's signature stripe design on the inside.

Etc.
10. Build your own architectural model from the Design Museum Shop. £15. Assembling this model of Tower Bridge (another of my new local landmarks) from tiny steel pieces should keep him entertained for a while, at least. And when it's finished, it will look nice on your mantelpiece.

Mini Tower Bridge!