The 2025 ACL Holiday Gift Guide

A reluctant guide. 60+ Ideas for good gift giving or maybe you are just shopping for yourself. Either way, here it is.

It’s that time again, the 2025 gift guide no one asked for is here. Actually, multiple people have asked me if this is happening, and quite honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was. Not since 2020 have I felt less inspired to send this out. I feel like Black Friday did me in this year, with the insanity of e-commerce emails, sales and general tomfoolery. It feels like the Christmas and the holiday season has crept up further than ever and the barrier of Thanksgiving can do nothing to hold it back. I found myself saying to our kids. “In this house, we wait until after Thanksgiving to put up Christmas decorations!” Which made me feel both righteous and old! Alas, here’s your gift guide.

For Reference: Gift guides from the ACL archives are here: 2024 holiday gift guide, the 2023 gift guide, 2022 gift guide and the 2021 gift guide. The 2020 gift guide felt a bit different and the most recent Mother’s Day and Father’s Day guides.

STYLE & EVERYDAY

Editor’s note: Who is really buying people these types of clothes for holiday gifts? Does that happen? I understand giving someone a sweater but I can’t imagine people giving other adults a pair of pants. That said, there are pants in here because my thesis is that you all are shopping for yourselves.

Wool ’60s Club Jacket — Portland’s Dehen is getting better and better each season. This jacket is perfectly executed and is definitely something that would last for a long time.

Thomas Mason x Telerie Spadari Milano Pajamas — This is my favorite pajama store and all of the Thomas Mason sets feel soft on your skin and have structure.

Perfect Wool Tartan Scarves — I love these wool scarves from the French brand Hartford because they are soft, classic-looking, and not bulky.

Le Laboureur French Work Jacket — Inexpensive and classic. Just be careful with Tourneur since they don’t allow returns or exchanges. I took my normal size.

Wool Scarf from Campbell’s of Beauly — Wool Hank scarf from one of the best stores in the world.

Crescent Down Works Down Shirt — Down shirts are the best. Made in the USA too. What else do we need?

Ralph Lauren Reversible Balmacaan Coat — If he likes clothes, he will like this objectively perfect reversible Balmacaan. This is on here because I want to buy it for myself.

French Corduroy Garden Jacket — I came so very close to buying this thing when I saw it in Paris. The French are great with corduroy.

Land Rover Slippers — Another lovely item from the geniuses at Campbell’s in the Scottish Highlands.

Rolex Submariner — Because no date! 1916 is the best, and I am forever a fan of the no-date sub.

Manresa Double Knee Pants — Possibly the best expression and quality version of this type of workwear pant. Manual labor optional.

SMALL AND GOOD

Vintage Trouts Fishing Hat — Everyone wants something from here, there’s no doubting that. I want about 20 things from VT and have to avoid going to the site so I don’t buy everything.

PENCO Melamine Tray — I don’t know why I want one (or four) of these, but I do.

Snow Peak Milk Bottle Vessel — The ergonomics of these mugs are the best around. The lids don’t leak and they aren’t too good at keeping the temperatures hot without being scalding.

Rivay Airways Hat — If you ever wanted to be like Jon Ruti, co-founder of Rivay you would wear this hat! No, seriously, this is a good one even if you don’t know who Jon is.

Trout Throw Pillow — A tasteful way to celebrate your love of days on the water.

A Handsome Little Pen — Because sometimes you need to write something.

Catch & Release Wild Trout — Let the world know you are a degenerate angler.

Parapack Hat — A lightweight, packable, and quick-drying hat.

The Believer — Because I like fishing and love Dave’s writing.

Yakana Nalgene — I don’t care that they are plastic, I love a Nalgene. Feels like Tokyo with one of these things.

Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Chronograph — Seiko is the best everyday watch brand out there from the triangulated perspective of quality — style — price. I believe the term is “can’t go wrong” with one of these.

TRAVEL, TECH AND FUN

Bleu de Chauffe — I am absolutely obsessed with these French bags. Mr Porter seems to have the best selection with some special makeups.

LEJ Plage Coat — Make RFK Jr. proud and wear this to the airport to look nice (you can take it off to do your pull-ups!).

Realtime Subway Clock — Because you need to know the trains are running from your kitchen.

Patagonia 100L Black Hole — This is the bag that always comes in clutch for any type of trip. It goes to Argentina, on a golf trip, or can fit all of my clothes and everything the kids need for a family vacation. I love the Black Hole bags so much more now that they are made from recycled material and not shiny.

Kodak Snapic 35mm Film Camera — I will never see one of these simple film cameras and not want it. Might not ship in time to be under the tree, but still cool.

Oyster Tempo Cooler — This is one of the greatest things I have ever owned. Just an incredible innovation for coolers. Light, easy to transport and works like a thermos — so it can keep things hot or cold. The prices of these have been announced as increasing in 2026, so if you are on the fence, now is the time.

United Economy Plus Subscription — No Status? No problem! Give the gift of instant upgrades.

DSPTCH Weekender Bag — This bag is a great size (33L), a great color (Light Army green), and made from durable yet light materials. DSPTCH is one of my favorite bag brands, and it continues to release great new stuff.

Quintarelli Wine — Let’s just be transparent about how I make selections for this guide. If I want to buy it, it’s probably good to be included. I want all the Quintarelli I can get. All praise Kermit Lynch.

COOKING, HOME AND KITCHEN

A Bread Envelope — Something perhaps only the French would dream up, but this is a lovely little item for transporting loaves of bread.

Great Wine Glasses — I have gone completely down the rabbit hole on wine glasses over the years. My current feeling is that these are the right balance between good quality and not insane prices. I also really like the Made In wine glasses as an alternative.

Hinoki Cutting Board — I really love Boos Block cutting boards, but they are fairly unwieldy. These are more friendly yet still made from a solid and beautiful wood.

Professional 22 Charcoal Kettle Grill — A kettle grill can do so much and is just an iconic piece of American design. Unfortunately, the Weber grills are not the best quality and often have several plastic components which rules them out for me generally. I like this Napoleon 22-inch kettle grill as an upgrade alternative.

A Ghiaia Ceramic Mug and Teapigs Tea — Nothing says cozy menswear enthusiast like this mug and tea from my beloved Teapigs. No microplastics involved either!

The Best Iron — My wife is obsessed with these irons and once you’ve used something as good as this it’s difficult to go back to more pedestrian irons.

Japanese Prep Trays — Because they are the right size and nothing is better than having the exact right thing you need in the kitchen. Let’s make some chicken katsu shall we?

Dubost Olivewood Carving Set — This is one of those things that will be appreciated every time it is used. It’s surprisingly hard to find wood and metal cooking utensils these days.

Erewhon Cypress Cedar Candle — Yes, Erewhon is ridiculous, but I was there the other day and bought one of these candles. They smell absolutely delightful, and I sort of love the absurdity of Erewhon and its insane customers, so why not!

STOCKING STUFF(ERS)

Personally vetted — I own almost all of this stuff. Everything here is for last-minute Amazon Prime delivery. Not sponsored by those bastards at Amazon.

Opinel knife and Leather Case — This thing is great and inexpensive. Men are into knives.

Keychain Carabiner Multitool — I own this and love it.

Leather Travelers Notebook Cover — inexpensive but good. Let’s keep track of stuff.

Small Notebooks — For the previously mentioned notebook cover.

Japanese Packable Nylon Bag — Versatile and good for groceries or to throw in your travel bag

No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money Book — A Coggins rec and very enjoyable read.

Anker Nano Power Bank and Anker Nano Travel Adapter — Useful and necessary.

DoohicKey Key Tool — This is the fun side of the EDC world IMO.

Zojirushi Thermos Bottle — The best bottle for keeping hot beverages hot for a long time.

Gifts for the Women in Our Lives

Emme Parsons Parker Loafers — I love this brand Emme Parsons and think the footwear is so perfectly executed. These shearling Beligan-inspired loafers are perfect and would make a fantastic gift. Poke around on this site because so much of the collection is great.

Cashmere Topcoat from Auter — Beautiful outerwear (hence the name) from a super buzzy brand that just launched. Beautiful, classic style. What else could she want?

Polene Cyme Mini Bag — This brand always had a huge line at Bon Marche in Paris. The bags are chic and are very well priced. I have to think most women would be thrilled with such a gift.

Toteme Knits — I’ve purchased a few sweaters for my wife from Toteme, and each has been extremely well-received. This means a lot because I haven’t had much success with my choices for wife gifts through the years. Thanks for my friend Laurie for the initial suggestion on these.

ILIA Beauty — You don’t need to understand this. Just buy her one of these clean makeup sets. She will like it.

Call It By Your Name Tote — Who doesn’t want another tote bag? These are unique, fun and you know they won’t be returned for fit issues.

& Daughter Cardigan — More knits, but knits hit. The & Daughter cardigans are excellent, and women love good sweaters. Plus, it’s easier to guess the fit correctly.

HÉROS — Activewear she will be impressed you know about. This unitard would certainly raise questions as to where you learned about this brand. The reality is my friend Joni started it and she’s one of the coolest gals I know. She even passed a special ACL discount. (Use code ACL20 for 20% off).

Stone and Strand Jewelry — Personalized necklaces and other jewelry that isn’t crazy expensive but still looks nice.

Prada Nylon Backpack — If she wears black this could be a gift for her. I personally have always liked Prada despite being Mr Heritage City Boy. These Nylon bags are iconic IMO.

Bogner Ski Jacket — Does she ski? If she does, then she will definitely be happy to receive one of these baller jackets from Bogner.

Dr Dennis Gross LED Mask — These are honestly one of the most terrifying things you can ever see someone wearing, but women seem to love them. What does this thing do? No idea; she will know.

Kujten Cashmere Scarves — My wife wears these often this part of the year. This is an easy type of thing to give as a gift since sizing isn’t exactly an issue.