Passionate about style, Sunday dandies, worshipers of materials, eternally dissatisfied, advocates of comfort, allergic to T-shirts, sensitive skin, reincarnations of James Stewart, Sunday zazous, family muses, tie-wearers by default, models of sobriety with assumed fanciful tendencies - today's men are no longer afraid to assume their preferences in the field of style.
Giving a shirt as a gift to a man in 2020 is therefore as likely to please - because we like to dress well - as to displease - because we are more knowledgeable than ever.
But it is precisely because contemporary masculinity is as diverse as it is demanding that we at Hast have chosen to specialize in one of its most universal attributes. Our expertise, put at the service of men with a neat appearance since 2012, is revealed through the thousand and one ways to wear a shirt.
And if there's one thing we've learned over time, it's that giving a man a shirt for Christmas is about projecting onto him the image he reflects back to us.
So here are some tips for accurately targeting the tastes and needs of the person you're giving your gift to — and finding the most appropriate shirt.
The Different Types of Shirt Wearers
While there are as many shirts as there are men - or men as there are shirts - we can nevertheless try to group them into a few non-exhaustive categories. Once you have determined the affiliation of your target audience, you will know how to offer them the most appropriate men's shirt as a gift.
Heavy consumers
There are people who change their minds like they change shirts, and there are people who change their shirts even more often than they change their minds. The first to be affected are those who work under a relatively restrictive dress code, requiring them, even in Zoom conferences, to show their credentials by wearing, at least up to the waist, the famous suit and tie.
To find the right men's Christmas shirt for this type of recipient, go and inspect their wardrobe. If the ensemble is sober—blue and white shirts without frills—it's better to stay subtle. Make your gift stand out with measured originality, by looking for an original weave, such as twill , pinpoint, flannel or end-on-end. It's a little trickier to give a men's shirt with an original collar like a club collar or an officer collar as a gift, but if the person has already expressed their desire to diversify their wardrobe, then why not try it with different collars ?
Finally, if your budget allows, treat him to our premium shirt; a beautiful, wrinkle-free white shirt , made in Europe and decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn zampa di galina, it's the ideal shirt — and the promise of a flawless finish.
Casual chic aficionados
For them, the shirt is not an obligation. It is a hobby, a fad, a mania, a passion or even a calling. We wear it because we like it and it suits us well. We can be temporarily unfaithful to it and play it casual with an occasional T-shirt, but deep down, we are only really comfortable once our silhouette is delicately flattered by a well-cut shirt.
For those, the opposite approach is recommended. We scan the locker room not to identify what dominates, but what is missing. And we will choose as a gift the men's shirt that will complete an already well-stocked arsenal. The beige flannel shirt, the one mixing club collar and chambray , the classic, but often forgotten gray oxford shirt, the checked twill shirt or the zephyr shirt; it's up to you to find the new hobby of your shirt-obsessed monomaniac.
The shirt-wearing resisters
Yes, it does exist, and we can't say that we really understand it. But the question is: can we offer a men's shirt for Christmas to someone who never wears one? We may lack objectivity, but our deep conviction of course tends towards the affirmative.
You just have to choose the right one! For a novice, go for a casual shirt instead. With its pleat in the back, its soft materials and its fairly short back, it can be worn almost like a T-shirt — or even with one, in layers.
Think about it: giving a shirt as a gift to a man who never wears one makes this often hostile world at least a little more elegant. And no one will blame you for this well-felt proselytism.