From Normal to Nautical for Not Much

Disclosure

With fewer than 2 weeks left in the Christmas season, have you finished all of your shopping? I have to embarrassingly admit I still have a couple that I’m having a hard time buying for. You know the type – the ones that really don’t need anything, and when they do they usually buy it for themselves throughout the year. When I purchase gifts, I’m one of those guys that still try to put a lot of thought into what I give. Sometimes it’s a board game because I enjoy playing them and want to share that experience with a close friend or family member. If I know they’re a fan of a particular TV show, I’ll look for something from a specialty site that they can’t find in local stores. As a fallback, tickets to a concert or play are an excellent solution as well.

I admit, I’m also one of those people that are difficult to buy for. I don’t have any grand wants or needs, so when people ask me what I want, I struggle to come up with something that I’d like to open on Christmas morning. I wish everyone tried to put real thought into their gift purchases like I do. Just knowing that they thought about my interests and desires and tried to fulfill it is reward enough.

One area that I sorely lack is fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I like dressing to the nines as much as anyone else. But when it comes to shopping for the right outfit and accessories, you can usually find me on the sale rack and eventually ending up with a complete pile of mis-matched items. They were probably all great bargains, but if I never have anything to wear them with, was it really money well spent? And my idea of dressing up is usually nothing more than a collared shirt with a jacket. I recently found a company that solves that problem for me, and as it turns out, has a gifting option that is perfect for those hard-to-buy-for men in your life.

You may or may not already be familiar with Harrison Blake Apparel. Established in 2014, they are quickly becoming known as the go-to site for the ‘dapper’ dresser. From bow ties to lapel pins to pocket squares, they have an extensive line of accessories for almost any man’s taste.

They have a new service in the form of a monthly subscription at a price level almost too good to be true. Commit to $25 per month and you receive a necktie from their catalog and four accessories, all curated to be worn together. See where I’m going with this? It’s the perfect fashion-in-a-box solution!

November’s box included a beautiful striped knit tie, a double-sided silk pocket square, a fabric rose lapel pin, matching tie tack and bracelet as well as metal collar stays (with magnets!). It’s been a very long time since I have worn a knit tie and I’m sure there’s a better knot pattern to use than my standard half-windsor. But it will suffice for my first wear until I find one more suited to the material.

I also wouldn’t have thought to wear a tie tack with a knit tie (I always considered knits to be more casual), but again the experience of Harrison Blake proved correct. Off-white with a white shirt? Again it wouldn’t have been my choice, but I went with the expert’s selection and was very happy with the results.

Reds are a hard color to match from material to material, but their inclusion of a pocket square in silk and a label pin (polyester?) were dead-on.

I’ve never been one to wear bracelets just for the sake of fashion, but since the included nautical-themed one matched so well, I felt confident throwing it on for a little extra pizzazz.

I also liked the touch of the pocket square being double-sided. I chose the more subtle side, but if I were to want a little more flash I could simply reverse it and have the red really stand out!

I’m sure you are as impressed as I that for $25 shipped, you can turn a very normal looking outfit into something fashionable, yet still conservative. And let’s be honest, your significant other probably has the same issue I do. Either he doesn’t have the ability to put together an outfit like this on his own or doesn’t have the time to. Just having someone curate all of this into one package is worth much more to me than the monthly fee.

Not ready to hop on the subscription box bandwagon yet? Harrison Blake Apparel offers the exact same box as a one-off purchase so you can see for yourself exactly what you’ll receive. But I do encourage you to go ahead and commit to the full subscription and save another $10 each month. Especially since currently you can save $5 off your first box by using the code “FASTFIVE”!

Be sure to check out Harrison Blake Apparel‘s full line of men’s accessories at better-than-department-store prices. Right now you can earn a $5 credit just by creating a rewards account online and earn what amounts to a 5% credit on every purchase! They also offer credits for sharing on your favorite social media accounts, referring friends and even a little bonus on your birthday! Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for great fashion idea (and maybe even a discount or two)!