A Brief Note on Gift Giving.

As a store for men's accessories, we obviously get a lot of people in searching for gifts.  Often times, the accompanying statement will be along the lines of "He's really tough to buy for" or "He already has everything."  This is fine, but one thing to keep in mind is that all the employees of this establishment are really good at helping people choose gifts.  It comes with the territory.  As such, one of the first things I recommend when I hear one of the aforementioned statements is cashmere socks.  Most people think I'm kidding, but this is absolutely not the case.  I'm happy to say that I've gotten a report back from one of these situations.  It turns out the recipient was thrilled (THRILLED!) to receive cashmere socks and may be in for more.

Marcoliani Cashmere Socks - $65

Kind of like a fall preview...

...but not really.  It's as close as you're going to get from me.

Truth be told its really just the list of orders we placed at the Vegas shows last week.  Its neither exclusive to fall nor complete. I will call attention to the lower right corner.  Yep. Thats right.

Yes, Minor Affiliation

Recently at our One Year Birthday party, a person with a minor affiliation to the store told a patron about the Best Deal In The Store. At that time it was a leather two-bottle wine bag that was marked at an incredibly low price. The patron got excited and purchased it. That got me thinking, now that we're in full on 20% off mode, which items could take the mantle of BDITS? Which items should gents be clamouring for? There are many, but I think the following are the winners.Concord Executive Clipper

To be honest, I hadn't really ever thought that much about fingernail clippers before. However, I was visiting my parents house recently, and was getting rather annoyed with the state of my cuticles. Fortunately, my youngest sibling had purchased this clipper the last time he was in the store and I took the liberty of testing it to further my knowledge of the product. I bought one the next day. Totally worth it.

Concord Badger Shave Brush with Polished Nickel Handle

Given the nickel handle, this brush feels heavy and professional, but its clean lines will certainly not look out of place in any medicine cabinet. We've got even nicer brushes, ones with Silver Tipped hair instead of standard badger, but for the current price one could do much worse.

Android Force Automatic Watch

People like black watches. People tend to choose black things in general. Usually it has to do with the ease of integrating an item with other possessions but with watches, there is just something about a brown band with a white face that just looks like it belongs on everybody's wrist. This one, with it's straightforward functions and clean lines, is not a bad choice. It also happens to feature a 21 jewel Miyota movement, so reliability is not an issue. Whether or not people think the size of your watch will be compensating for something, however, might be.

$12, $52 and $180 respectively, through August 23rd

Born on the 14th of July

Ah Bastille Day... everybody's favorite non-American independence day that isn't Cinco de Mayo. To think that revolutions could be started by storming a fort with seven prisoners using guns that aren't loaded -- only the French. I think that's why we love them.


Of course in the Tour de France its the day where all the French riders go on silly long attacks that never succeed. This morning when I left the house, there were three French rouleurs and the Russian Ignatiev off the front with a tenuous lead. Clearly that means that Ignatiev will ruin the break by not working and then going solo too early.

Enough about bicycle racing though. The main problem with le quatorze juillet, at least from a martinpatrick3 mindset, is deciding what to drink. You could just drink wine, but that seems a little pedestrian. There is always champagne, but flutes are just so formal feeling (not that has really ever stopped me, but I tend to get too dressed up for things). Besides, champagne alone seems a bit generic and year round. I mean, the only day of the year where everybody drinks champagne is New Year's Eve and it is usually quite cold in December. What we need here is something quite festive yet decidedly summery. My proposal: The French 75!

Now, I could really only find one that was in a flute, but rest assured, they are much less fussy on the rocks. In particular, the name is what draws me to this (okay, I do happen to love both gin and champagne, so I might be biased). Revolutionary holidays call for drinks named after guns and this, like its namesake, works quickly and doesn't require much precision. The best part, if you trust my feeble knowledge of French history, is that the aforementioned revolutionaries invaded the Bastille in order to obtain gunpowder and ammunition. The prospect of a French 75 or three leads me to believe that even 220 years later, their efforts should still be considered a success.

Oh My, Your Magazine is so Hot!

The newest issue of Minnesota Bride is just about to land on your local newsstand and there is one little page dedicated to gentlemanly groom things. Be sure to check it out if there is a betrothing in your near future.

The cool thing about a lot of wedding magazines, Minnesota Bride included, is that they have photos of actual weddings that have happened around town. The ceremonies look great and all, but I have something that very desperately needs to be said: Gentleman, the boutonniere goes through the buttonhole.

A Brief Word About the Greatest Annual Sporting Event

You see, the main problem in the Tour de France so far is that the 'other' main contenders failed to force Astana into yellow jersey. Now they'll take easy ride to the Alps, which really don't look that tough.