Fashionable Gifts for the Man in Your Life

A little while back, we put up a post titled ‘8 Gifts to Order for Yourself Today’, on the grounds that at the end of 2020 a bit of self-gifting was in order. Last year was a hellish one for us all, and while many of us are most focused just on getting back on our feet, the impulse to indulge a little bit is more than understandable.

A few months further along, and we’re beginning to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, so to speak. A partial end is in sight, and that means we’ll soon be able to get back out into the world. It’s going to be an exciting and emotional time, and maybe above all else it’s going to remind us of the power of connection. Whether you’re gearing up to see friends and family you haven’t visited all pandemic long, or you’re simply venturing out again with a significant other you’ve been quarantining with, relationships are going to feel different — and hopefully all the more special — in a few months’ time.

For that reason, we’re also looking at the next few months as a great time to do a bit of gifting for others. And we thought we’d start with those significant others.

Whether you and the special man in your life have been cooped up and driving each other crazy, or you don’t live together and you’re looking forward to being able to be together, now’s a pretty good time to give a little gift that says hey, thanks for sticking this out with me. Oh, and it’s not a bad time to give something fashionable too, which is our department! You want to show that special someone you’re happy to be getting back into the world with him, but you also want him to look his best when that happens. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

The following would be some of our picks for perfect end-of-pandemic gifts.


Cariuma Shoes

There’s something about eco-friendly, tree-planting fashion brands these days. They’re all over the place, and they tend to jockey for position in the same specific spaces. For instance, if you listen to a few popular podcasts you’ve probably been inundated with ads for clothing or accessory brands that use recycled materials, plant trees when purchases are made, use one-for-one donation formats, and so on. Mind you, this is a good thing! We need sustainable, eco-friendly fashion brands, and we say the more the merrier. But the popularity of these brands collectively can make it difficult to differentiate between them.

Well, where casual men’s shoes are concerned, Cariuma seems to be rising to the top of the heap. They became significantly more popular throughout the past year (even during the pandemic), to the point that a write-up at People.com implied the company is having trouble keeping new styles in stock. You’d be hard-pressed to find a review at this point that doesn’t rave about the comfort of these shoes, and frankly they’re quite nice to look at! They’re vaguely old-school in an entirely stylish way, they’re versatile, and guys just seem to love them. A new pair meant literally for stepping back into the world again would be a lovely gift.

Lululemon Pants

For a long while, Lululemon was viewed primarily as a women’s yoga brand. It may still be that primarily, but lulus are very much appropriate for any and all customers at this point. More guys are opening their eyes to the wonders of high-end athleisure, and at this point the company even counts several male athletes among its official global ambassadors. Professional basketball player Kyle O’Quinn, snowboarder Craig McMorris, and hockey star John Tavares all model Lululemon alongside star women athletes like Olympic volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings. In short, lulus are great for men too, and if you get him virtually anything from this perfect brand, he’ll be loathe not to wear it for a day.

CR7 Tops

There’s a decent chance the special man in your life is a fan of the soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo — or at least keenly aware of him. Ronaldo has become one of the most decorated soccer players in history playing for numerous European clubs and the Portuguese national team. But he’s also one of these athletes who’s become a giant beyond his sport. Ronaldo models, stars in video games (not just the FIFA game your boyfriend won’t stop playing, but even a battle royale game called Free Fire), and has even become a regular presence on the pro poker circuit. Poker.org states that Ronaldo has attained official ambassador status for PokerStars, which more or less makes him a professional in a second competitive arena entirely!

The point of all that is that Ronaldo is all over the place, and the man in your life probably has an opinion on him. Ronaldo’s presence also extends to the fashion world, incidentally, and his own personal brand — CR7 — isn’t half bad. It revolves around denim, and frankly you have to be about as fit as Ronaldo (in other words, insanely fit) to look good in his jeans. But the CR7 tops (tees, button-down shirts, and sweaters) are quite nice, in a sort of sporty-meets-stylish way. If your boyfriend is familiar with Ronaldo — from soccer, games, the poker circuit, or even advertisements — one or two of these tops could make for a very fun gift.


AnOrdain Watch

If you and your significant other have slightly more extravagant taste, or you really want to go all-out with an end-of-pandemic gesture, a new watch from AnOrdain is another idea worth considering. Men and women can probably agree that annual (or let’s be honest, monthly) reshuffling of “most popular watches” or “best watch brand” lists tend to get both tiresome and dizzy. But this trendy brand for men is actually both different and stylish. AnOrdain is a Scotland-based company practicing the difficult process of making watches with enamel dials, and this underlying quality combined with a minimalist approach results in some truly outstanding pieces. Any stylish man would be proud to wear one of these, and it’s an incredible gift to give.


Graf Lantz Masks

Finally, for something a little more low-key, you can always gift him a stylish new mask for going out and about in as well! Getting back into the world doesn’t mean dropping all precautions, and there are still likely to be places where masks are recommended, if not required. So gifting a new, stylish mask or two can be both a nice gesture and a practical one. Naturally there are just about unlimited options at this point; RollingStone.com did a recent piece listing everything from an UnderArmour product to a homemade mask kit as suitable options. For a gift for him though, take a look at Graf Lantz. This company offers stylish masks that fit well, come in a variety of styles, and have space for filters, making them excellent picks for re-entry in the world. (Grab one for yourself while you're at it!)

Hopefully some of these ideas strike a chord! There’s certainly nothing necessitating post-pandemic gifts. But if you’re like us and simply can’t wait to get out and reconnect in a normal, natural way, you might find something sweet in the idea. If so, the options above are just a few that might get you thinking.