If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

From Collar Stays To Cufflinks (Ties, too!) : The Hippest Wearable Gifts For The Stylish Dad

It's pretty darn traditional to get dad a tie, cufflinks or collar stays for Father's Day. But not these ones! The following are products from companies and designers who've taken the traditional and turned it into fashionable and hip without sacrificing design, quality or materials. In addition to the images, there are links to purchase.

Collar stays by Collar Ink are fun tattoo inspired designs (dragon, flaming skulls, tribal) on functional collar stays. Adorably packaged and reasonably priced, they come in either plastic or metal (plastic collar stays are $12.65 for 7 pairs and the metal collar stays are $16.95 a pair):

Shop Collar Ink here.

TIES:
Hip and nicely made ties. These are far from 'novelty ties'. With beautiful graphic and modern designs on fine fabrics, any of these ties would be a great gift for your stylish forebearer.

Cyberoptix tie labs are modern and stunning silk ties in tons (and I mean tons) of hip designs. And for an additional fee, any from their huge selection can come in this beautiful wood box:

With everything from guns and skulls to plants, animals and water towers, Bethany Shorb's line of silk ties will blow you away.
Shop Cyberoptix Tie Lab here.

Josh Bach Ties, Boxers and Pens

A little preppier and slightly less edgy than Cyberoptix, are the beautiful silk ties of Josh Bach. You've seen them in museum stores and fine boutiques. With a large collection (valet trays and boxers, too), you can find any nice tie for dad that illustrates his interest.

In addition to subway maps and baseball stadiums, there's everything from paint by numbers, space invaders, paper airplanes and tons more! Must go see them all.

In addition to ties, Josh bach carries boxers, desk valets and ball point point b=pens that all make great gifts for dad.
Shop Josh Bach here.

UPDATE: Naked and Angry is no longer in business.
Naked and Angry only has 5 ties, but they are beautifully made, 100% silk and ensconced in award-winning packaging.

Soverign Beck

Ryan Sovereign and William Beck, both graduates of The Rhode Island School of Design in Industrial Design & Sculpture respectively, formed Sovereign Beck in 2005, drawing upon both the traditional and the classically abstract ideals of tie design.

Shop Sovereign Beck ties here.

CUFFLINKS

Jan Leslie's Aristocratic Rock n' Roll Cufflink Collection contains everything from skulls, pin up girls (or trucker girls), devils and angels and shark teeth. They are sterling silver and there are many more to look at than simply the ones I've shown you below.

Buy Jan Leslie cufflinks here

Bad Ass Jewelry also has their own version of the "trucker girl" cufflinks in sterling silver with 18k gold accents as well as their sterling silver Colt .45 Peacemaker cufflinks:

Shop Bad Ass Jewelry here.

Does Dad still play with toys? Ravi Ratan's cuff links include everything from skateboards, wii remotes, nintendo and turntables (and a ball and chain to boot):

Ravi Ratan has many many different cufflinks to choose from. You can find over 200 different designs.
Shop Ravi Ratan cufflinks here.

Armrevolution

And of course, the hippest cuff links of them all (and the priciest), Arm Revolution's architectural ones made of japanese stainless steel come in 8 different modern designs:

Shop Arm Revolution here.

Gillette's Hilarious Manscaping Animations and Site

Gillette and Procter & Gamble clearly have a good sense of humor in addition to marketing savvy. Their latest micro site for male shaving products and needs is a foray into body shaving fun.

Gillette.com has a series of 'why' and 'how to' videos on their website for men who want to trim or shave their body hair, whether it's their head, back, chest, head, groin or armpits.

The site is nicely designed, easy to navigate and thoroughly entertaining complete with cheesy music and fun little factoids. Fun and informative, Gillette matches their products with your manscaping needs in an entertaining and engaging way.

The site design features fun video intros to tell you why and animated video demonstrations (embedded in the post) to tell you how.

SHAVING YOUR HEAD

the why:

the how:

the video:

SHAVING YOUR CHEST

the why:

the how:

the video:

SHAVING YOUR BACK

the why:

the how:

the video:

SHAVING YOUR GROIN

the why:

the how:

the video:

SHAVING YOUR PITS

the why:

the how:

the video:

In addition to the grooming section, the site is very developed. Albeit there's a lot of average work in the entertainment section, some styling videos are quite funny and they have gaming tournaments, young guns promotions and a Gillette tv channel. Another fun interactive device on the site is the Gillette Styler , a 'try on the look' section. You can upload a photo to see what you'd look like various facial hair such as a goatee, a chinstrap, sideburns and more:

You can visit the site here. Like this kind of thing? Check out RSFU's 'Shave The Pussy ' Or Stefane Monzon's Pubic Hair Couture Fashion Show.

But I LIKE hairy men...

Now, for those who like a hairy man, be sure to check out this post all about them including a great new book, Hairy by artist and photographer Robert Greene!

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: it has been brought to my attention by reader Anne Adelson that Philips Norelco also has a microsite with funny manscaping videos, The BODYGROOM MANALOGUES:

Check out the Philips Norelco Bodygroom Manalogues here.

The Bau-Bike, A Stunning Two-Wheeled Homage to Bauhaus Design

The BauBike Designed by Michael Ubbesen Jakobsen

In the words of the designer "The BauBike is inspired by Bauhaus design. It is constructed around the geometric shape of the square and the equilateral triangle. The design is stripped down to clean lines and raw material."

The open-end piece above the back wheel, offers the possibility to customize the function of the bike to whatever need you may have. The different accessories (all shown later in this post) can be placed in the tube (shown below on the right) and can easily be changed if needed.

The design follows a set of formal rules, limiting the geometry to straight lines in a pattern of 60 and 90 degree angles in proportions following the principle of the golden section.

above: diagram of the Golden Section

By limiting the form with a fixed set of design rules and stepping away from the traditional function-oriented approach to the design process, this project transcends the border between design and art, raising fundamental questions about the nature of the bike as design and as a lifestyle accessory and introducing a much needed playfulness on the bicycle scene.