Holiday Gifts for Men + Family Photos

The Details

Paul’s Shirt {wearing size L, c/o} | Paul’s Flannel {c/o} | My Dress | My vest | Maxi’s Outfit | Photography by: Angie Garcia | In collaboration with Mizzen + Main, All opinions are my own

First off, I CAN’T handle Maxi in this outfit. I’m obsessed. I’m not sure what happened but the past two weeks she has just seemed to grow up so quickly and even though she’s going through the 2-year sleep regression, I told my mom I think this is my favorite age. I know, it’s such a mom cliché to say every age is your favorite stage. But her ability to communicate with me so much more makes me really happy. Plus, she has such a tender and sweet, then sassy spirit. It keeps me on my toes. ha!

I lovingly joke and tell everyone how when I met Paul he had two types of clothing in his closet: work clothes and golf clothes. He truly had NO casual clothes. If we’d go to a casual spot for a date, he’d pair a golf shirt with work slacks or my personal favorite, a business shirt with golf shorts. It was a little funny, but also really endearing. When I asked him why, he said, “Well before I met you I didn’t do anything besides work or golf. What else would I need other clothes for?

And honestly, that answer describes him to a tee. He works in accounting all day. He’s practical. He never really wants gadgets or “extra” things. Hence, why he might be the hardest person to shop for. I’ll spend hours on Pinterest browsing gift guides and while every option looks great, he just wouldn’t touch it. This coming from the man that while dating, I asked if he had a hobby, and he said, “I mean work and golf?” You can see his practicality here, no? Probably why we work well together considering I have a blog with frivolity in the title…I can’t just get him an item I know he *might* use once or twice throughout the month, because that will turn into once or twice throughout the year.

For our first holiday together, I bought him shirts at DST apparel. No more going to dive spots in collared shirts and golf shorts. 😉 I graduated that first holiday season, moved to Dallas by Paul, and slowly started filling his closet. I love being a woman on a mission.

If you’ve been reading COF since before we were engaged, this brand won’t be new to you. I’ve hosted fun events at their shop and done some giveaways. But I wanted to talk about this brand as I included them in my blogger brunch holiday gift guide I hosted a few weeks ago!

I got to shop for my top holiday gift picks, review them, and then do a giveaway for them all. Such a fun day!

The Mizzen + Main shirt I selected is folded at the right end of the table if you can see! 

So for my new COF friends, what is Mizzen + Main? Let me change your life.

Mizzen + Main makes dress shirts out of performance fabric. They breathe, are moisture-wicking, stretch, require no ironing, no dry cleaning, are machine washable, and already look tailored.

Men’s clothing meets practicality.

Paul is tall and slim and always needs tailoring, but he doesn’t have these. When I started buying him these outdoor apparel shirts for Christmas and his birthday before we got married, it became this little tradition where he became a shirt snob and only wanted these. So I took the hint and also started to buy them for my dad for the holidays.

Last Christmas, I didn’t get my dad one. I assumed me giving him the gift of being a grandfather was suitable {kidding! I can’t remember what we got him, something wine-related?!}. I kid you not, after we all opened our gifts he looked at me like a sad 8-year-old that didn’t get a bike and said, “But where is my Mizzen + Main shirt?

I have unwillingly turned 2 extremely practical and relaxed men into shirt snobs. I’m not proud of it.

I always include Mizzen + Main in my gift guides for men each year and wanted to share these family photos with you all so you could get an idea for the look, in case you need a gift for a hard-to-shop-for guy in your life! Paul wears a size L in the shirts. They have trim, trim tall, and standard which is how they already look tailored. Paul has had both standard and trim. He is wearing standard in these photos and then for his suits he goes with trim. In the family pics, he is wearing the Bonham part of the Leeward collection.

They also have really cool new flannel shirts, that don’t necessarily feel like flannel but are more relaxed. The dark blue shirt featured in the photos is that. That would be perfect for your brother if he is still in college!

For my Fort Worth readers, they have a store at the Shops at Clearfork so you can go try with your guy if he wanted to browse or try on.

If you haven’t tried this brand, definitely look to it for holiday gifts as this is what I do for my husband and dad each Christmas/birthday/Father’s Day. Then I’ll add something else based on what they are interested in. So for this year with my dad, I did an Artifact Uprising book with photos of Maxi and then for Paul….well, still debatable on if he will read this post or not. He is subscribed to the newsletter so I’ll just keep it hush hush and share after as to not ruin the surprise. 😉 I’ll do an extra post on other gifts to add with you Mizzen + Main shirt for a guy!

I hope y’all are having a good start back to real life after a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Today I’m going to be shooting how to style your guest room for guests over the holiday and I’m really looking forward to that! Can’t wait to share!

 

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11 Comments

  1. Rebecca wrote:

    My fiancé loves his Mizzen + Main shirts! He wore one for our engagement photos, and our photographer even complimented it and asked about the fabric haha. THANK YOU for suggesting them, because he has always hated the feel of dress shirts but now actually enjoys wearing them!

    Published 27 Nov 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Omg this makes me SO happy!!! Thrilled to know y’all love the brand! xo, Katey

      Published 27 Nov 18Reply
  2. I’ll check out Mizzen + Main for sure! Never heard of the brand, but it sounds like a great one. I’m always having trouble buying gifts for my Dad and my boyfriend. Hopefully I’ll find something on the site! 🙂

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

    Published 27 Nov 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Yay! Thanks so much! xo, Katey

      Published 27 Nov 18Reply
  3. Janie wrote:

    I started reading your blog this year and it has become my favorite because you are such a great writer- no one else infuses their posts with little anecdotes like you do! There are plenty of beautiful bloggers with beautiful homes and beautiful children, but they are not strong writers. It truly is like you’re talking to girlfriends and not your “followers.” I’m a girl mom, too (shes almost a year old) so I love reading about your family!
    As far as the shirts, my husband desperately needs dressy casual shirts for things like family photos, but hes athletic with a trim waste but really muscular shoulders and arms, so struggles with fitted styles feeling too tight up top. I think these might be too fitted. I’m thinking I may take him to Nordstrom since I’m a cardholder and they reimburse alterations…

    Published 27 Nov 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Janie, oh my gosh- you just made my day {week rather!}. Thank you so much for such kind words and what a huge compliment. I’m so grateful for your loyal readership. I genuinely feel like I’m talking to you all each day over coffee and so to hear you say that means a lot. 🙂 Thank you again! And girl YES to reimbursed alterations!! Why can they get so pricy?! xo, Katey

      Published 27 Nov 18Reply
  4. scarlett randolph wrote:

    This soooo describes my husband and I purchased his first mizzen +main shirt through that post and now he’s as hooked as paul.

    Published 27 Nov 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Ugh girl the struggle! Isn’t it funny because I see typical guy gifts and I’m like, “My husband would think what on earth do I do with this?!” haha. So glad your husband loves the shirts, too! xo, Katey

      Published 27 Nov 18Reply
  5. Madison wrote:

    Definitely will be checking these shirts out! My boyfriend has recently expressed he wants to change up his wardrobe from only his old college basketball shorts and tees to something a little nicer. This will be a perfect gift!

    Published 27 Nov 18Reply
  6. Destiny wrote:

    Hey Katey! Love this post and definitely wanna purchase for my hard to shop for husband. Question on sizing, you said Paul wears the large. Is that his normal size? My hubby is a tall 6’3″ and kinda in between a L and XL. What size would you recommend?

    Published 28 Nov 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Paul is usually between a M or Large, I would go XL for your husband! 🙂 xx, Katey

      Published 28 Nov 18Reply