What to buy an awkward Dad...

Love London

Every year is a struggle for what to buy my 60-something Pa. My parents are at an age where they’ve reached peak ‘stuff’, so I’m loathed to spend money on yet more clutter. He has a million books and all the jumpers he needs, so what to spend my hard-earned Christmas pennies on?

Slippers might be a classic Dad-friendly Christmas gift, but have you ever treated him to monogrammed velvet pair? Oliver Brown’s slippers (from £169 at www.oliverbrown.org.uk) are made from the finest Yorkshire-milled velvet, featuring luxurious satin quilt lining and leather soles and can embroidered or monogrammed with any motif. The ultimate gift for the man who has it all.

An experience will always tick the right box and booking a shooting or fishing lesson should earn some major brownie points with the old man. West London Shooting School (one hour lesson £129, course of three £338 www.shootingschool.co.uk) caters for everyone from complete novices to seasoned professionals, teaching the basics or honing one’s skills with expert tuition. Reading’s Sportfish Game Fishing Centre offers fly casting lessons, flying tying courses, chalk stream fishing and courses for salmon, trout, pike and sea trout. Just half an hour’s drive outside London, lessons starts from £50 per hour and courses from around £149. www.sportfish.co.uk

For the green-fingered man in your life you can’t beat Crabtree & Evelyn’s Gardener’s Therapy range will be their new best friend. The deliciously herbal scents are hard to resist, and the trio of the Hand Scrub with Pumice (£14.00), Exfoliating Soap (£10.00) and the Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy (£23.00) will put paid to garden-weary hands in no time. www.crabtree-evelyn.com

If your Daddykins is as grizzly-faced as mine, you may want to invest in some Brisk. After once shaving soon after marriage, my Dad was told he looked like his mother and if he ever shaved again he would be getting divorced. He’s had a beard for 38 years and yet only recently has properly grooming it become a thing in his life. The Beard Oil (£6.99), Tea Tree and Cedar Wood Shampoo (£4.99) and Hemp Beard Balm (£5.45) will leave every kind of facial fuzz nourished, conditioned and looking the very best. With the possible exception of Mr Twit. Available from www.boots.com

Posted Date
Dec 18, 2018 in Love London by Laurel