subject: Men's Fashion Gift Guides: Garments [print this page] Gifts for men are tricky, and giving clothes as gifts is perhaps one of the trickiest tricks in the book. Aside from that issue of personal taste and sense of style to overcome, you also have to put propriety into the gift equation. Is it acceptable under social mores that you give this certain person a particular article of clothing, or will it be seen as inappropriate? There's more to giving the gift of fashion than meets the eye.
The Secret Language of Gifts
As counter-intuitive as it might seem, the very best clothing gifts to give are the most generic ones you can find. The fewer size considerations there are for you to think about when buying the gift, the better its chances come unwrapping time.
The worst gifts are thus those items that are best when custom-made. Silk shirts? Pleated office slacks? Two-piece suit? Even when you say that it's the thought that counts at the end of the day, and that any of those things would make great gifts if bought high enough quality. Thread count and brand, however, can't go far enough when it comes to the kind of faux pas you could - and will - encounter when giving such items.
Unless you're giving those fashion items to your son, brother or dad, it's highly unlikely that you know every single measurement to get the garment made right. It'll be worse in a workplace environment, because such gifts assume a level of intimacy with your boss or co-worker that you don't have - and don't want to suggest.
You're probably already aware that some style pieces are more 'major' than others; shirts are more important than neckties, suits more important than shirts and so on. Almost all the items that a man is likely to have made custom will also fall into this 'major' category. The biggest problem with giving these as gifts is that you impose your sense of fashion on whoever is receiving the gift, and that's a minefield you don't really want to attempt.
Giving the Gift of Style
On the other end of the spectrum are those garments that barely need any custom fitting or sizing at all. Scarves, throws, hats (bonnets and beanies, in particular) all fall into this classification, making them perfect - and often inexpensive - gifts to give for any event.
The only problem with those items is that they tend to look cheap. After all, they're very 'small' pieces style-wise, and they can be often found in the bargain bins of discount chain stores. It's with them that you pull out the quality card and begin investing in a brand, a high thread count or both. Not only will this compensate for your gift's lack of visual real estate, but it's also cheaper to invest in quality on these 'smaller' items.
Compare a shirt to a scarf, for discussions sake. A shirt from a premium brand - take any one from the racks of Saks Fifth Avenue, say - will cost you upwards of $400, and up to $700 for a really well-made garment. A scarf or necktie with a similarly prestigious name and equally high quality material will set you back $200 at the very most - all without putting you in the same fashion quandary.
It's also easy to scale these generic gifts up. Whether you want to give a gift to just your brother or your entire office floor, it's not much trouble to just pick out more of the same scarf or tie or pocket square. Compare that to how much extra effort it would take to fuss about the sizing of every additional shirt or jacket you'd have to purchase, and it comes out to one sweet deal for you.
As high as you might regard your taste and sense of men's fashion, gift-giving is a whole other realm of interpersonal dealings. While you might want to impress the recipient, it's not very difficult to offend at the same time when you're giving a garment. Think about your choice carefully, and always err on the side of caution.
