The coolest gift for HIM that you can actually afford.

Today's lesson is fashion (for him).  We all know, the world is full of fashion icons, for her.  From Chanel bags to Louboutin boots, if he has been paying attention even slightly, any man worth his salt already knows what you want.  In film and television, iconic images abound.  Marilyn’s white halter dress in the Seven Year Itch, Ursula Andress bikini in Dr. NO, or Carrie Bradshaw's Manolos.  If that wasn't enough, every year the media patrol the red carpets, giving us even more first hand accounts of what the beautiful people are wearing, but still it is mostly all about the ladies.

What if there was a fashion statement just as cool for HIM?  And even better, what if you could afford it?  

There is.  You just didn't know it.

They say it is the thought that counts, and when birthdays or the holidays roll around, I know that many of my female friends put a lot of time and effort into choosing a gift for their man, and I also know that it’s not easy to find something with that WOW factor (that he will actually enjoy).  

After all, he is good to you.    You want to return the favour, but you're not in a position to buy him a muscle car or .  I get it.  What should you do?

Don't worry.  I've got you.  The coolest thing you are ever going to find (for less than $500), is an iconic little jacket, called the Baracuta G9 Harrington.  It has been worn by everyone from Sammy Davis to Superman.

Seriously.  How's this for a list: Elvis, James Bond, Bradley Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Steve Mcqueen, Jason Statham, Paul Newman, James Dean, Damian Lewis, and thats just for starters.    

There is a reason that so many leading men have worn, and continue to wear this must have jacket.  Designed in 1937, it hasn't changed a stitch.  Still made in England, this beautiful jacket is available in fine menswear shops for only about $400.  But don't take my word for it.  The virtues of the Baracuta have been praised in publications like GQ as the jacket for people who know.  

See (www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/05/dropping-knowledge-the-baracuta-g9-harrington-jacket.html )

  

Available in 11 colours, the Baracuta G9 is perfect for day or night.  He can wear it to work, play a game of golf in it, drive his sports car, or take you out for dinner at that new little place everyone is raving about. 

 

Maybe that is why the versatile G9 is still going strong after nearly 80 years.  The pictures say a thousand words.

Take this one, from the Hangover (part 2)…it's the coolest of the four guys (Bradley Cooper) who is the one wearing the Baracuta.  You saw the movie, but did you notice it?  Probably not.  That's how the Baracuta rolls, always understated.  The people who know, just know, but I will bet you he kept the jacket.  A guy only needs to try one on, and he understands.

A young Paul Newman got it (on his motorcycle).  So did Steve Mcqueen (with his Jag). When Canadian rocker Chris Crippin got his, I saw it, because I was there when he tried it on for the first time.  He didn't want to take it off.  

There is a reason they all chose the Baracuta, and as soon as you're man slides into his, he will know why.  After that, he will wear it every day.

Let's face it.  If there was a ladies jacket this famous, you would probably already have it in at least 3 different colours. 

He will look great in it, and YOU will get credit for it. 

When he is blown away by the beyond super cool, super thoughtful gift that you found for him, it only make sense that he should want to step up to the plate the next time he has to get something of for you?  Damn straight!

Obviously, only something iconic, like a Birkin bag would be the perfect choice on your arm (next to his iconic Baracuta).

Why not?  It could happen.  A girl has to have dreams.  Now all you have to do is choose the colour,  and you're welcome.  www.baracuta.com  

 

Selfie Contortions

Selfie contortions.  What do they mean?  You’ve seen them, and if you are a girl of the selfie generation, you’ve probably even done a few.  And yes, I said girl, because I think we can all agree right up front that, without exception, MEN SHOULD NOT TAKE SELFIES.  Period.

Selfie contortions, rattled off in rapid fire succession, are the near gravity (and anatomy) defying manipulations of the face, body and limbs, which are done in the quest of the perfect digital self portrait.  They are, to be certain, entertaining to observe, but I wonder, do they hint at an even wider problem?

Many before me have editorialized the selfie epidemic, but I want to suggest that perhaps we have only been looking at the tip of the iceberg.  If the typical selfie shared on social media is merely the end result of an extended round of selfie contortions, is the problem not exponentially worse than it seems?

How many shots are discarded in pursuit of a single post worthy selfie?  Five?  Ten?  How about a hundred?

I was sitting in Starbucks last December, when a lovely college age female came in, no doubt fresh from some last minute holiday shopping, and sat down next to me with her frothy white hot chocolate and a candy cane topped brownie.  It looked delicious, but she would never know.  After spending the next 20 minutes (not kidding) staging the perfect playful look-at-how-much-I-love-christmas photoshoot with her hot chocolate, at first frolicking joyfully with the whip cream and an impressive array of kissy pouts, she then started in on the brownie.  She did pretty much everything except eat them.  Once she had finished shooting, I thought ok now finally she is going to enjoy her selections, but oh how wrong I was.  She needed to spend another 20 minutes selecting/filtering/posting her choices (no doubt accompanied by suitable #extrahollyjolly hashtags).

Once all that was over, she actually leaned back in her seat to check her messages, and took a sip of her now stone cold chocolate.  Eww!  No wonder she pushed it away, gathered her parcels and bolted out the door (leaving the untouched drink and snack on the table as a very confusing barrier to whoever might next want to sit down).

At least she was fully clothed.  On a daily basis my social media feeds are bombarded by ever more provocative self captured imagery.  I used to get one, or two, a day, but now?  Its more like one or two a minute, is it not reaching near epidemic proportions?  And when did the word "throwback" come to mean "in my underwear"?  It must, because I don't think I have ever seen a fully clothed pic with that tag? Throwback…code for rememberwhenIlookedthisgood.  

All of this might be a new twist but its nothing new.  Even back in my day, we had a name for pictures of semi clad women in trashy lingerie, it was called “pornography”.  Today it is known by a different moniker, “profile picture”.  Hey don’t get me wrong, many of you are in fact very, very, veryyyy beautiful, I’m not complaining.  At least I don’t have to steal my father’s playboy anymore.

I get it.  Everyone is trying to “go viral”, which also makes me laugh, because when I was twenty something, believe me when I tell you that “viral” was not a good thing.  The last thing you wanted to hear was that anything you had was viral.  Trust me.

Is it really any wonder that my generation occasionally finds ourself laughing at yours?

If he liked it then he should have put an Emerald on it

If he liked it then he should have put an Emerald on it?  Maybe it's true.

They say diamonds are a girls best friend, but with high quality emeralds now worth even more than the finest diamonds, perhaps girls will start making room for a new BFF?

Men spend all our time looking at various other body parts, but boys, if you want to find your way into her heart, its not her ass, her outfit, or even her eyes that you need to compliment.  If you're serious, any girl can tell you, it is the third finger of her left hand that you should be focused on, and here, mere words just aren't going to cut it.

I know today is St. Patricks day, and that Ireland is known as the emerald isle, but that must be referring to the rich green fauna of the landscape, because when it comes to these ultra expensive gemstones you won't be finding them in Ireland.  Nearly 70 percent of the worlds emeralds come from Columbia.  You could settle for Tiffany's, but if you really want the very best, your man should head to the crowded main street market in Bogota, where dealers meet every day to trade millions of dollars worth of the very best emeralds in the world.

Why not make a trip of it?  It just so happens that Columbia is also the most bio diverse country in the world.  Tens of thousands of square kilometres of lush tropical caribbean  coastline await, where you and your gfs could relax and let yourselves be pampered by handsome latin pool boys while your future husband runs the gauntlet of the Bogota market in search the perfect (doorknob sized) Emerald.

Sounds like a plan right?  But before you pack your bikini's and hop a jet to Deep Blue or Hotel Bovedas de Santa Clara, remember that most men can't be trusted when it comes to shopping.  While you're sipping Coco Loco's poolside, make sure you send him off with a clear set of marching orders.  He needs to know that there are three things to look for.  Colour (darker is better) and Clarity (you don't want a foggy Emerald…ewww).

The third thing to worry about is size, but you already knew that one.

What if you don't like green?  No problem, because emeralds also come in red!  Red Emeralds are even more rare (and expensive) but what concern is cost when you have the chance to make sure that your ring matches your collection of Louboutins?  What?  You DONT have any Louboutins yet either?  Are you sure you want to marry this slacker?

Ok so he can stop at Barney's on the way to the airport, or better yet, get a connecting flight through St Barths and do some shopping in Gustavia for all things French before heading west to Colombia.

I'm not saying don't also have some diamonds, but if only the best will do, then perhaps Emeralds are a girls new best friend.

So, gentlemen, tonight when she is all dolled up in her cutest green outfit and sipping some green beer with you and your friends at the pub, take a moment to consider just how spectacular a beautiful Emerald would look on the third finger of her left hand.

And girls, if you haven't found him yet, don't worry.  Maybe the luck of the irish will be on your side.  I know more than one girl who met her husband on this day.

don't love and sex. my first blog.

my first blog.

its all fresh and clean.  it still has that new blog smell.  all I need to decide now is what to talk about?

it's my first, so I feel like it should be something with some teeth.  yeah.  lets do that, lets change the world.  what say we tackle something real?  a major problem facing society.  find a quick fix for something that effects almost all of us.  how about its time we all agreed not to love and sex.

yup, I said it.  why?  let me try to explain.  I see it this way:

friends don’t let friends drive drunk, everyone knows that, but many years ago it was different.  everyone drank and drove.  they hadn’t yet figured out that it was bad for you.  it wasn't regulated or enforced.  I know that the automobile was pretty much a 20^th century phenomenon, but I'm sure it was happening long before that too.  people almost certainly rode horses or drove their buggys and wagons plastered out of their minds.  maybe that was ok as long as the horse wasn't drunk too?

nowadays we all just know.  its simple.  you just shouldn’t drink and drive.

I am beginning to think that perhaps we should look at love and sex the same way?  that's right.  I am asking you to consider the possibility that we would all be better off if we didn’t sleep with the person we love?  maybe we just shouldn’t mix the two, it only seems to lead to someone getting hurt.

unlike drinking and driving though, when our relationships crash we don’t lock the person up and throw away the key.  no, no, far from it.  In fact, our closest friends seem to gather round and collectively push us back behind the wheel.  typically, some of them want to shove us back into the same tangled wreck, while others will argue that its time to go shopping for a new car, but all of them agree, we need to try again.  stopping altogether is not an option.  they are certain that if we can just keep trying, we will eventually get it right.

so that is what everyone does.  after a few test drives, most of us are right back at it, loving and sexing all over again.  it’s a god damned epidemic.  

how did it happen?  somewhere along the way these two completely unrelated things (one physical one emotional) got bundled together and the way I see it, people have been paying the price ever since.

I say enough is enough.  you say pessimism, I say practical.  lovers seem to come and go, but love should be here to stay.  I say love the people who deserve and return it. 

I'm just asking you to consider it.  thats all.  you can all start yelling at me now…….