by Marty Coleman | Nov 24, 2013 | Products |
This Manly Gift Buying Guide to Fall Fashion is a sponsored post for Collective Bias and the Social Fabric community.
Part 1 – Shopping For my Daughter and Granddaughter
My oldest daughter, Rebekah, is transitioning this winter from an academic setting, where she is getting her Ph.D. in Neuroscience, to an employment position at a major Neuroscience Institute. Because of that I thought it was time to get her some clothes that will help her feel more at home in her new professional setting. Rebekah is not particularly one style over another but I felt like a look on the preppy side would be on the mark. She likes a simple, classic style and knows how to wear it.
I had liked the searStyle Facebook page a few months ago so I knew Sears would have that preppy look for less so I went there to see what I could find. My wife, Linda and I weren’t in the store more than 5 minutes when we came across a perfect pink turtleneck.
Turtle Neck from Sears – Closeup of Stitching
We then quickly found a classic cream colored cable knit cardigan That we felt fit perfectly with the turtleneck. I was not worried about whether they fit a particular 2013 fashion trend since both of these are evergreen styles and will not go out of fashion soon. If you are over 25, #ThisisStyle.
Cable Knit Cardigan from Sears – Closeup
I was pretty sure I got the right sizes for her but wanted to be sure before I sent them to her in time for the holidays. I have a friend who lives in my same neighborhood who I know to be almost the exact same size as Rebekah. I asked Kristen, who is a fellow runner and a fitness role model extraordinaire if she would mind trying them on to see how they fit. She came over and graciously allowed me to take some photos of her in the ensemble.
Pink Turtleneck from Sears
She started with just the turtleneck and said she loved the color and feel of the piece. She had chosen her lipstick really well as it matched perfectly.
Pink Turtleneck from Sears – Closeup
She then tried on the cable knit cardigan to complete the look.
Cable Knit Cardigan from Sears
It looked to us both as a classic, timeless look with shades of east coast preppy, without being overwhelming.
Cable Knit Cardigan and Pink Turtleneck from Sears
Let’s go back to our shopping trip for a moment. Besides Rebekah getting her Ph.D. another momentous event recently occurred. She had her first child (our first Grandchild). She had a baby girl they named Vivian. Linda and I thought it would be perfect to see if we couldn’t find some complementary outfits for the baby that would fit well with the preppy style. I had recently joined the Sears ‘Shop Your Way‘ program and knew that we would be getting a few discounts and the prices were already so affordable we had no excuse not to.
Once again, it didn’t take us long at all to find exactly what we wanted.
Preppy sweater and dress for 9 months – from Sears
Preppy hoodie and pants for 9 months from Sears
Hoodie closeup from Sears
We are pretty excited with our finds and are looking forward to giving these gifts to Rebekah and Vivian for Christmas.
You can see the SearsStyle Shop Your Way Catalog here.
Follow SoFabConnect’s board ThisisStyle on Pinterest.
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Part 2 – Tips for shopping for women
I pride myself on being more fashion aware than the average guy. I am an artist, photographer and designer and as such see fashion as another extension of creativity and art out in the world. While I am not a shopper who could compete with many women I know, I do know how to shop and can do it effectively when I want to.
Part of the reason I can shop is I have 4 daughters. They are all grown now, ages 23-31. That means I shopped for them during all ages, from baby through teen years into adulthood. I didn’t always get the gifts right, but I felt I had a good batting average overall. Sometimes I would even hit it out of the park.
If you say, as a guy, ‘Well, that’s what women do. Guys don’t do that.’ I say you are missing out. You can do it, and it can be great for your relationship. It’s also not as alien as you think. You buy a specialty wrench for a specific need and you buy a run of the mill wrench for whatever might come up, right? The same is true in fashion. You might buy a special piece of jewelry for your daughter’s graduation, but you might by a pair of earrings for whenever your daughter might like to wear them. You might buy a glittery blouse for your wife’s New Year’s Eve party, but you might buy her a sweater for any occasion. Shopping is like one or the other in most cases.
The key to being a guy and shopping for someone else is paying attention. I don’t mean paying attention while you are shopping, obviously you have to do that. I mean paying attention to what your wives, girlfriends, daughters, etc. are wearing day in, day out. It means asking questions about other outfits you see when you are out with them. Getting them to talk about what they like and don’t like. It means noticing things.
For example, do you see the same colors on your wife again and again? Ask her why. She might tell you that gold color looks great against her skin or that deep blues contrast nice with her brown hair. If you ask, you will find there is a reason. It’s not by accident. Do you see your daughter’s wearing jewelry that a big and bold, bangly and colorful? Ask her why. She will probably say she loves the glittery shine, or maybe they make her feel happy. There is a reason, it’s not by accident.
JUST as important is paying attention to what they don’t wear. You can do this by paying attention to what you see people their age wearing but the object of your gift buying does not. For example, my wife, Linda, is a pretty high powered business woman. Many business women wear suits. My wife however, never wears suits. I need to be paying attention to that so that when I am gift buying I can skip right over all these blazers and suits, knowing they aren’t going to be for her, no matter how interesting they may be to my eye. For my daughters, each one is different. They could and do overlap in what they might wear at times, but they aren’t clones of each other. One might be a bit of a hippie, the other more outdoorsy, a third a bit on the preppie side.
An important note: If you are buying for teens and early 20 somethings? There may be no reason that you can really figure out very easily. It won’t be about color or sparkles. It’s more likely going to be about who wore that pattern at the VMAs or something she saw the other, very cool girl at work, wear. You may not be able to discern this very easily. The only advice here is to pay attention to who your daughters listen to in music, which actresses and singers they like. What do those celebrities wear? Now, it may not be a celebrity in the typical hollywood/MTV sense. It might be a professor she likes, maybe a favorite author. But chances are she doesn’t get her fashion sense in a vacuum. She is finding it out in the world and adapting it to herself. The more you pay attention to what she pays attention to, the better chance you have of getting the gift buying right.
So, in a nutshell it’s about paying attention and asking questions. Because remember, it isn’t about what you like, it’s about what your loved one likes.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 24, 2013 | Products |
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If people ask me what I do and I am being cheeky (and want to make them say ‘WTF’ to themselves) I simply tell them I draw on napkins. If they get to know me they will find out I also write, photograph, consult, travel, speak, and coach. But they may not know I also am the Energizer Bunny using Energizer headlights,
Doing things like this:
This is the scene of me fixing the washing machine for the second time in 2 months. It was not fun. That motor there? It weighs 250 lbs. Really. I dropped it on my finger at one point. That hurt. I had to balance that motor, the flashlight and and a screwdriver at the same time. And I had to figure out how to clip it on while doing that.
I also do things like this:
This is me fixing the garbage disposal for the 6th or 10th time. I forget which. Luckily it’s not a terribly hard fix, just a hex wrench in the middle, a little stiff tug and it’s done. But that isn’t as easy to do as one might think in the dark. Enter in the Energizer headlight. I love my bright headlights. I have used specialty ones for running but I didn’t have a general one for use around the house. After doing the washing machine without a headlight I went to Wal-Mart and got one right away just in case I had to take it all apart a third time! Luckily I had it for under the sink.
And for this:
This is me behind my desktop computer switching out some USB cables. I have 987 cables back there (at least) and it is not easy to follow them. But it would be impossible without a good headlight. It’s makes life easier, no doubt. I bet George Washington would like Energizer headlights. They had a 3 LED beam headlights and a 6 LED beam headlights. I chose the 3 LED because I thought the 6 version would blind my wife if I looked her way while trying to light my way.
And seeing as it’s Oklahoma, you know where we need one of these, right?
In here:
This is our storm shelter we had installed last year. We supplied it with storm survival stuff this spring, including work flashlight, lamps and night headlight, all from Energizer.
We are prepared in that storm shelter with TV, radio, electricity (if it doesn’t go out) food, water, a fan and more. We even have a dog food and a bowl for dog water just in case we have to live in there for a while. Lights though lead the way in important stuff to have to light my way!
And of course, since I am a runner, I knew no matter what else I was going to use the night headlight for, I was going to use it for some late night or early morning running.
Like this:
Nothing worse than running in a neighborhood with potholes in the street in the dark. Bright Headlights make a huge difference. Energizer has a huge array of headlights so I can use the sports version for running, with it’s red tail light on the back. Very cool.
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I also posted an entire Google + story about this as well with even more photos.
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Photos and commentary by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 13, 2012 | Gift Giving Notes - 2012, Products |
I am saying this with a Poker Face…It’s the perfect time for day #4 of Gift Giving Notes!
The Gift of the Game
One of my best memories is of playing board games at the family cabin. Whether it was Christmas, Thanksgiving or just a visit without a holiday, we always found time to play board games. It tells you something about the people you might not ever discover otherwise. I discovered some people just could not pay attention for very long at all. Others were highly competitive in certain games, and not in others. The quiet ones were usually the most dangerous players. Some were sticklers for the rules. I mean REAL sticklers, others couldn’t have cared less. As a matter of fact often times they wanted to reorganize the game with new rules. “let’s play with just 3 cards each.” “Let’s use 4 die instead of 2.” or my favorite, “Let’s play the game backwards!”
Poker
If I ever came across a person like that again I would definitely recommend them playing something like Poker instead of a board game. Poker has so many variations. When they were young I taught my daughters how to play poker using penny stakes. It was great fun and they had a blast learning the game. It was very simple 5 or 7 card draw. I remember once watching poker on TV and I didn’t have a clue what they were playing. It certainly wasn’t Texas Hold ‘Em, I knew that much. Since the variations are endless the type of person who likes to change the rules up can just play a different version and voila, the rules have changed!
Mixing It Up
Even if you play the same game, you can always mix things up and try different strategies or approaches. I do that online with the various types of games I play; backgammon, Scrabble, Mancala. You can do it even more in Poker or other card games. If you do like playing cards, check out this lesson on how to mix up your card game in Poker. The site is Poker Junkie and while you can’t play there, you can learn a lot! If I hit Las Vegas soon, which I might to attend a conference, you can be sure I will take a look at Poker Junkie to see what I can learn (which is a lot!)
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman,
In collaboration with Elizabeth Bridges of Pokerjunkie.
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 4, 2010 | Products, Reviews & Sponsored Posts |
I got some publicity for The Napkin Dad Daily last year. A marketing company found out and asked me if I would review some ‘MAN’ products, which I did.
The marketing company thought highly enough of that to ask if I would review another product, this one not as manly, Vaseline. I said yes because I could get a free mini-vat of the stuff and my wife uses it. I would score points.
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| Jewel encrusted. This is not the one they sent me. |
We got the mini-vat and it’s cool. It has a flip top lid. That is the big innovation since the mini-vat is the same otherwise and Vaseline the actual product hasn’t changed since about 1346.
Ok, make that 1872. Some guy had been visiting oil fields and found the workers were using some gunk that came from the working of the well to heal burns and cuts. They called it Rod Wax. Imagine if that stuff was discovered today. It wouldn’t end up being called Vaseline, I can tell you that! But it was 1872. The guy took the gunk and made Vaseline out of it.
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| Also not the one they sent me. |
Now, out of the gutter and back to Vaseline. First thing to know is that it is not spelled VasOline. That would make it like GasOline, and it isn’t so don’t be confused. It’s VasEline.
Next, since I don’t use the stuff, ever. I really couldn’t review it very well. I think my mom used it on me for something, but it involved a thermometer and a place the sun don’t shine so I have buried that in the catacombs of my memories. Before the modern, civilized era (meaning the advent of electronic temperature getters), it was really the only way to find out that certain number so it had to be done. oh, the trauma.
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| The thermometer style jar I try to forget. Not the one the sent me. |
But my wife does use it. She has a jar in the shower actually. Here is what she likes about it.
- Moisturizer – She swears by using Vaseline after her shower to keep her dry skin moist. Her Dermatologist actually recommended it.
- Pure – She also tends to be allergic to stuff so she loves that it is pure and without all sorts of fillers, scents, chemicals, etc.
- Scentless – She also likes that it doesn’t smell. It’s odd to see a product like that that doesn’t smell, isn’t it.
I know for a fact she never feels greasy, smelly or broken out in hives after she uses it or like she has been on an oil rig so I think it does it’s job really well.
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| oh yea, works on lips too. Not the one they sent me. |
I started asking around, telling my friends about my mini-vat score and got some good responses.
Here is what my running buddies said about it.
- Chafing – More than one person told me they use Vaseline on the various body parts to avoid chafing when they run. Chafing is a big problem if aren’t a stick figure and you run more than say, 100 yards). They use it instead of the expensive stuff sold in running stores. I might try that some day.
- Cold protection – I also found that many of my running friends use it on cold days on their face as a barrier between them and the cold, dry wind. Another thing I might try some day.
I also have heard of long distance
swimmers using it to cover their bods, so if you happen to be one of those folks about the swim the English Channel (or any Channel) you should use it.
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| Also not what they sent me, but cute. |
So, there you have it. My official review of Vaseline, the best stuff to come out of oil rigs since Rod Wax! You should use it.
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| The one they sent me. |
p.s. There are a gazillion more uses, just google it and you will find more than you ever wanted to know! Here’s one.
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Oh, and for you photographers out there to get that soft-focus look, if you don’t mind getting your lens covered in Vaseline. Personally, I would do it in Photoshop.
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