DRESSING ROOM : Nothing against ties — but if Dad has enough, how about ...
Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The time to make Father’s Day gift suggestions has arrived. And this year, I will not discourage you from giving Dad a tie.
After all, the special dad in your life may wear ties all the time — if he’s a banker, lawyer or a senior officer of a big corporation, he can’t avoid them. He might actually want a tie or two to add to his wardrobe or replace a worn favorite. And if you give him a suit along with that tie, so much the better.
So no tie-dissing. I will only offer a few additional ideas:
A hip diaper bag for the new papa. One company ready to oblige is Diaper Dude (diaperdude. com ). “With the Diaper Dude, dads can easily access the essentials — diapers, clothes, toys, even his cell phone — without taking off the bag,” trumpets an e-release. Retailing for $ 55-$ 112, Diaper Dudes come in a variety of designs, from camouflage print to the “Guitar” bag. Then there’s Daddy’s Tool Bag (daddys toolbag. com ). This bag is given its masculinity via a handyman theme, and comes in backpack and messenger-bag styles, both $ 48. 50 and both of which include a Lullaby Baby music CD. The Daddy’s Tool Bag Kit, $ 39. 95, includes a 45-minute baby-care DVD in a format borrowed from the “how-to” home
improvement shows.
Some legshowing swimmin’ trunks. International Male urges the fellas to “say goodbye to the boardshort” and hello to “classically cut, upper-thigh bathing suits of ’ 50 s inspiration.” The retail online store / catalog, which peddles alternative menswear, credits last year’s metrosexual revolution for its contention that “men are becoming more comfortable with showing some leg.” International Male offers several styles
of the surf runner short, which hits just above midthigh. Prices are $ 15– $ 48. Log on to internationalmale. com.
A line of skincare products... or, new additions to the brand he already uses. Moxie for Men’s Restor line includes Double-Shot (Caffeinated Eye Cream, $ 45 ); Erazer (Men’s Microdermabrasion, $ 65 ); and Reloaded (Age Fighting Serum, $ 85 ). Find these products at moxie formen. com. Lab Series Skincare for Men also has introduced three new products: Instant Moisture Gel ($ 26 ), Instant Moisture Eye Gel ($ 27 ), and Instant Moisture Lip Balm ($ 10 ). Get Lab Series at select fine department stores or labseries. com.
A not-quite-runof-the-mill shirt. Get him a guayabera (pronounced gwa-ya-beara ), the button-down, usually four-pocket Cuban shirt that “has been called a symbol of masculine elegance in the Latin culture.” Cotton or linen, the versatile shirts are worn untucked. If you can’t find a guayabera locally, check out the online inventory at www. guayaberashirt. com. Or, if Dad’s a golfer, he might go for a Chiliwear Performance Camp shirt. Worn and modeled by PGA Tour golfer Jim Furyk, Chiliwear shirts resemble traditional Hawaiian camp shirts, but are specially designed so that golfers won’t get tangled up in the things. They also are made from a lightweight moisture-wicking fabric. Chiliwear Camps come in various colors and prints and have a suggested retail price of $ 57. 50. Look in better golf and specialty stores, or at such Web sites as pepper gifts. com, arthursredhotstore. com and spicytimes. com. You can’t win if you don’t enter
And for the ladies, a couple of contest notices.
One is the J. Jill “Nature of Compassion” national T-shirt design contest. The contest, which began May 1 and bears the name of the clothing chain that caters to women 45 and older, allows consumers to design a nature-inspired tee. Designs should contain elements of nature and can be created with any medium except photography.
J. Jill will select the top 10 designs and consumers will vote for the winning tee, a limited-edition series of which will be sold in J. Jill stores, catalogs and jjill. com. The company will donate all profits from the winning tee sales to its Compassion Fund, which supports community-based organizations that help poor and homeless women become self-sufficient. Designs can be submitted at a J. Jill store (Jonesboro-area residents have a store in the Mall at Turtle Creek ) or online. The 10 finalists will receive store shopping sprees. The winner will receive an artistic getaway for herself and a friend to Artista Creative Safaris for Women in Carmel-By-The-Sea, Calif., along with a shopping spree. But get a move on. The contest ends June 6. Winners will be announced in November.
If you can’t draw, pucker. Softlips, the lip Protectant / sunscreen line of lip conditioning products, is conducting a national search for America’s Most Picture Perfect Lips. The woman who fills the bill will be the new face of a 2007 Softlips print-ad campaign. Prizes include the trip to the photo shoot, cash and possible professional representation by the Parts Models modeling agency in New York.
The contest is open to women 18 or older. For more information and official rules, visit softlips. com. And look for the new Softlips Raspberry with Green Tea Extract. Retailing for $ 2. 09, it will be available in August at major food, drug and mass-market chains along with the cherry, vanilla and strawberry flavors. There is plenty of time: Entries will be accepted up until midnight Dec. 31 (mailin entries must be postmarked by then; electronic entries must be sent by then ).
Next column: Father’s Day Fashion Picks, available locally. Dressing Room is published biweekly. Send news releases and Fashion Picks candidates to Helaine R. Williams, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P. O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or e-mail: hwilliams@arkansasonline. com
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