Here's just a sampling of recommended gifts "for him" that won't be purchased for Sean anytime soon (though just in case one of these are your thing, this post contains affiliate links!):
- Jewelry. Some men can wear jewelry and pull it off, but that's not Sean's thing. Aside from his wedding ring, he wears no jewelry whatsoever—not even a watch. Still, every year, I see lots of man-jewelry on the gift guides, roll my eyes, and move along. This year's favorite: Men's Stainless Steel Magnetic Skull Bracelet.
- Underwear. I think marketing people decided that they should just translate popular gifts for women over to men. Jewelry for her? Great! Lingerie for her? Sure! But for him? I'd venture to say underwear and socks are about as exciting a gift as, well...underwear and socks. If he needs some, buy some, but don't call it a gift. Also, there's a ton of briefs for him on the guides this year. Are men's preferences shifting?
- Skincare. One well-known retailer featured knockoffs of ProActiv and clarisonic in their men's gift guide. Again, maybe good for her (if she asks for it guys, no need to encourage any insecurities), but Sean won't be scrubbing his face with fancy gadgets anytime soon...or probably ever.
- Heart-print anything. Nothing says "look at my manly man" like bright red heart-shaped cufflinks. Or a heart-engraved flask. Or pretty much anything with hearts. If you're a more fun couple, you can break rule #2 here with some heart-print boxers...as long as there's still a real gift somewhere.
- A manicure set. Sean is good to go with nail clippers. I think the remaining 5 pieces would overwhelm him, and when the choices for case color are lime green, pink, or baby blue....yeah, I'm not sure he'd carry that around anyway.
I don't really do Vday either. Meh. But i do remember frowning when we just started dating on what to really get him for Valentines. I resorted a lot to cookies that I would eat lol. Lol at heart shaped cuff links. I would probably get it gifted back to me..
ReplyDeleteI get Angel socks every birthday and Christmas...because we're totally the kind of people who get things you need anyway and call it a gift. At this point, the socks are an expected tradition...and he seriously gets excited about new black socks and always compliments me on finding ones that are exactly what he likes. :P For Valentine's Day I got him a new work shirt, cat stickers (he has a strange love for stickers...and cats), and cashews and kit kats--snacks he loves but are too expensive for everyday grocery shopping. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't care for Valentine's Day, thankfully my husband doesn't either (especially since my birthday is 4 days later and that's much more fun to celebrate LOL!) Sometimes we go out to eat, but that's about it, and really it's a good excuse to not cook for a night ;-)
ReplyDeleteRachel, I actually usually get Bekah some pair of socks for Christmas. Not out of tradition but usually the bath and bodyand body works shea socks (warm, soft, and moisturizing). But this year I got get some boot socks. I was actually listening to her hints, that were likely dropped inadvertently.
ReplyDeleteRachel Frend, our dating anniversary is a few days after St. Valentine's Day so we usually don't get anything, either. Except the Reece's seasonal "cups".
ReplyDeleteI think we celebrated Valentine's Day the first year we were together, but haven't really done much since. He's gotten me flowers a couple times, but that's it. Now we do stuff with and for the kids. This year we were going to take the kids bowling in my hometown since we were supposed to be up there this weekend. Since I've been sick and pretty much on the couch since Thursday, the extent of our Valentine's Day was that A made pancakes this morning.
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