GIFTS FOR GUYS: Forget socks – according to these stylish fellas, all men want for Christmas is peace, love and understanding. Or, failing that, a bottle of tequila. With a worm in it.
Paul Costello, designer
It is very difficult to buy for men so don’t go to too much trouble. I don’t think men are that concerned about Christmas. All they want is peace and goodwill and something to do with sports. Some gift givers think a big Christmas present will compensate for being miserable all year. It doesn’t. Try being considerate throughout the 365 days instead.
I would love a new bicycle as mine has turned out to be very disappointing. In London, cycling to and from work gets me there in jig time, although I do sometimes go up one-way streets and cycle on the pavement.
Scarves are always great but men’s scarves often err on the small side. If you’re giving a scarf, it needs to be generous in size. Try a woman’s scarf – they’re always larger – just don’t tell the man in question.
I travel a lot so I think hard-wearing leather luggage is a good idea. It looks the business and is durable.
I don’t want socks, belts or wallets. The first two are too boring and the latter is simply too personal.
Marco Pierre White, chef
For me, Christmas is about children and family. I want to take the children to Jamaica. It’s a very special place, with a lot of heart and soul. This will be their first time. I’m not the type of person who sits in a resort for two weeks. We’ll go to Fisherman’s Beach to fish, visit the markets, hang out listening to the Marley music bands and eating reef fish simply cooked and served up with head and fins still on.
Every parent is guilty of trying to give their children something they never had. One of the greatest things you can give a child is a good education and that includes travel. We have so much compared to others. I’m just back from Afghanistan and when you see how little they have compared to us – comparatively, we have Christmas Day every day of the year.
I don’t want anything for Christmas. I have all the toys I need to go deer stalking, fishing and shooting. I’m quite fortunate in that sense.
Donncha O’Callaghan, rugby player
As I stayed on in South Africa after the Lions tournament ended this summer I got to see, first hand, the way some people are living in the 21st century. We were staying in the best hotels, yet a few miles up the road there were kids still dying of measles and pneumonia. I’d like to help by asking for Unicef gifts (unicef.ie).
If Santa is still listening, I’d also like 16 points in the games before and after Christmas and that the wedding goes well. I’m getting married to Jenny on December 23rd and am nervous about writing the speech. I think I’ll crash and burn if I try to be funny, so I’ll keep it short.
I hang around with a group of lads who are like seven-year-olds. After December 25th, they’ll have all the latest handsets for playing on the bus. I’m more of a diary man – I make notes during the tours. The lads call me Johnny Notebook. I’d like some new Moleskine notebooks.
Without wanting to sound like an old hippie, rather than opening up another computer game this festive season I would like people to spend a bit more time doing good deeds for each other.
Trevor Vaugh of design duo Vaugh Shannon
Guys want and will always want gadgets – something you can spend hours on Christmas Day, figuring it out. It’s that work-it-out-yourself aspect that appeals. It is something you can take charge of, understand and conquer.
I like proper, practical presents, so a new lens for my Canon SLR camera would be nice.
I’d also like a Void watch as they’re nice and architectural, and a five-axis CNC Router, which takes drawings in a CAD programme and cuts them in 3D in wood or any other material. It’s about 200sq m in size – I don’t know how Santa is going to get it down the chimney.
I already know what I’m getting for Christmas. I’m getting driving lessons from my girlfriend, Mary. It’ll be my first time behind the wheel. Learning to drive is something I’ve been putting off, but I have to now that she has resigned as my chauffeur.
I don’t want any clothing for Christmas. I have been given truckloads of chunky socks, sweaters and terrible T-shirts that all end up in the charity shop.
Ian Dempsey, radio presenter
A dream Christmas present for me would be a letter from my bank saying they’ve found all my money behind a radiator in the back office and we can go back to our old ways again.
Failing that, I have an unhealthy interest in stationery so unusual pens, paper, folders and the like are always welcome.
Men also like alcohol, but we buy all the regular stuff ourselves, so worm-filled tequila, 80-year-old whiskey and exotic beers are on my list. Men also like to feel useful, so those charity gifts, where, on your behalf, a family in Africa gets a goat or a pump or a life-saving injection for a child are a very good idea. Presents like these give us men something to brag about.
And it’s not just Greta Garbo who pangs for a bit of space – sometimes we men just want to be alone. The truth is that men really don’t want anything for Christmas. Having said that, if we don’t get anything we start sulking.
John Farrell, Dillinger’s Restaurant
My mother was a Jehovah’s Witness so we didn’t do Christmas when I was young. As a result I probably enjoy it more now – I think I’m trying to make up for lost time. I’d love a Moulton bicycle, but I don’t think any of my present buyers can afford that. I just rediscovered my record player, which has been lying forgotten in a cupboard for the past six or seven years, and going through my LP collection I don’t seem to have half the albums I thought I had, so records would be a big plus.
A bottle of wine is one of my favourite gifts to give and receive. I’m partial to Tuscan reds, Chianti Classico in particular. I often give a magnum bottle of wine as a present. The fact that it comes in a box is an added novelty – and makes it easy to wrap.
I really don’t want clothes for Christmas. I’m a grown man. I prefer to dress myself.
