Get the Look for Less: Affordable Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Preppy Guy! #ThisIsStyle #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This fall fashion shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #ThisisStyle #cbias.  All opinions expressed are my own.

I have always thought that men are far more difficult to shop for than women.  This is especially true for someone like my preppy husband, who is extremely particular.  If you ever think about buying him a polo shirt, make sure it has more than 3 buttons on the placket, no banded sleeves, and no tipping on the collar.  When I was presented with the chance to do some Holiday shopping for my husband, I was happy to do it.  You know how much I love shopping, but I also love a challenge!  Let's face it.  Finding the perfect gift for everyone on your list is a sport.  My challenge was to shop for fall fashion items to gift to my picky preppy husband.

The key to finding the perfect gift for someone is knowing their tastes.  Even if you have never chatted about fashion with that person, you can still get to know their style by simply paying attention to, not only what they wear, but to what they are paying attention to on TV, in magazines, in stores, and so forth.

Some of the biggest 2013 fashion trends are plaid and moto jackets.  Unfortunately, my husband is not a fan of either, but he just loves colorblock sweaters, pullovers, and outerwear.  Luckily for me, colorblock is still big for men this season!

Because my husband dresses for work during the week, he likes to be casual on the weekends.  This is the perfect weekend look for 'The Prep' in your life.

Get the look for less at Sears . . .

• NordicTrack Men's Two Tone Microfleece Pullover Jacket
• NordicTrack Men's Long-Sleeve Fitness Shirt
• Covington Men's Knit Touchscreen Gloves
• Dockers Men's Tussock Casual Lace-up Ankle Boot

Complete the look with his favorite pair of classic jeans.  Not only does the outfit look stylish, but both the NordicTrack pieces feature the NT Dri moisture wicking, so they are perfect for my husband, who tends to get warm easily.  The knit long-sleeve shirt also has built-in SPF 30 protection, which makes it perfect for transitioning into springtime.

My husband is not only preppy, he is also very tech-oriented.  Any free minutes he has is used to consume media, so for the colder months, the knit touchscreen gloves are a must!  These particular gloves retail for only $10, so you can afford to buy a pair for every man in your life.

For special occasions, my husband likes to avoid wearing a shirt and tie.  The casual Holiday look below would be perfect for him.  It's preppy, stylish, and comfortable!

Get the look for less at Sears . . .

• Arrow Men's Cheststripe V-Neck Shirt
• Covington Men's Wide Stripe Knit Beanie
• Covington Men's Knit Touchscreen Gloves
• Dockers Men's Castaway Casual Boat Shoe

Complete the look with your preppy guy's favorite pair of flat-front or pleated khakis.  What I love about this cheststripe knit is that it has a faux crew neck layering tee built-in.  As I had mentioned before, my husband tends to warm easily, so he prefers not to wear layers while indoors.  This top gives the smart look of a layering tee under the v-neck without the extra layer!  I might just have to go back and buy this top in a few more colors for him.

To learn more about my Holiday picks for 'The Prep' in your life, checkout my Preppy Guy Gift Guide!  For more great gift ideas, browse the #ThisIsStyle Pinterest board.

Follow SoFabConnect's board ThisisStyle on Pinterest.

Geek Review: ThinkGeek Extreme Monkey-Powered Awesomeness T-Shirt

I am not just monkey powered, and I am not just awesome, and I am certainly not just extreme....I am......EXTREME MONKEY-POWERED AWESOMENESS and people need to be warned of that. Can you imagine the mayhem that could ensue if people weren’t forewarned of this?

I love ThinkGeek. Really, ThinkGeek is the kind of company that I always imagined I would start if I wanted to own my own business. They just seem tuned into my inner (heck, outer) geek. Without exaggeration I can say they do not sell one product I would not buy. They don't pay me to say that either, they are just that awesome.

My size 3X Extreme Monkey-Powered Awesomeness Enclosed t-shirt is big and comfortable. The shirt washes well and I know I will own it for years. It needs to last for years because its job is critical. That shirt is the only thing that stands between unsuspecting civilians and my EXTREME MONKEY-POWERED AWESOMENESS!!!

Head over to ThinkGeek to check it out and to find more great gifts for geeks!


Thank you to ThinkGeek for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Shop 'n' Share: Last Minute Back-to-School Shopping at Marshalls

No matter how prepared I feel for back-to-school, I always find myself needing to do some last minute shopping.  I had realized that our 7.5 year old son pretty much outgrew all his khakis and cargo pants.  I also wanted to find some thermal underwear for him to wear during his soccer practices and games this fall.  Marshalls had sent me a gift card to shop at our local store to see what kind of bargains I could find, so off to Marshalls we went with the whole family.

One thing I've learned about shopping at an off-price retailer is that you never know what you'll find.  Did I find boys cargo pants and thermal underwear . . . no, but look what we did find to my son's delight . . .

For about $56 we bought the following for my son:

• 3 pairs of Nike fleece sweatpants for $9.99 each (regularly $32 each)
• 1 Nike long-sleeved t-shirt for $9.99 (regularly $25)
• 1 Nike short-sleeved t-shirt for $7.99 (regularly $16)
• 1 Reebok Official Licensed short-sleeved New England Patriots t-shirt for $7.99 (regularly $20)

I was extremely happy to have found fleece sweatpants because all the ones I had purchased for my son last Spring shrank drastically in length even though they were washed in cold water.  Hopefully we'll have better luck with these Nike sweatpants.  Our son is a huge fan of the Nike brand, can you tell?  I was also impressed with the large assortment of Patriots NFL t-shirts there were.  Our son chose one that has a New England Patriots silly bandz-like design on the front.  He is extremely excited about wearing it to school next week.

We didn't stop at the children's section though.  My husband bought these two polo shirts for approximately $20 for both.

• Men's Arrow Polo Shirt for $14.99 (regularly $48)
• Men's Original Weatherproof Garment Co. Polo Shirt for $5.00 (regularly $30)

Our children can never go into Marshalls without raiding the toy section.  I am always amazed at the prices of toys I've seen selling for a lot more at other retailers.  They each picked out a little something, which my husband and I put away for rewards to use in the future.

Of course, I had to stop by the enormous Marshalls shoe department.  It literally takes up about 25% of the floor.  I really was not going to buy anything for myself, but I saw these berber-lined boots from G by Guess.  The chains on them really set them apart from the millions of other pairs of furry boots out there and they make these boots a little edgy.

• G by Guess Horizan Boots for $24.99 (regularly $60)

I must say, even though I did not find what I went into Marshalls to buy originally that evening, every single member of our family left that store happy.  I gave up buying things just because they are "great deals" a long time ago.  All it got me was a pile of unused things cluttering up my home.  We ended up spending far more than the value of our gift card because we just could not resist the great prices on things we actually loved and needed.

Thank you to Marshalls & T.J.Maxx for sending my family a gift card to shop and report our experience back to our readers.

Win 1 of 50 New Mesh Polos in the Lands' End's Facebook Contest!

To celebrate the launch of their new line of Men's Mesh Polos, Lands' End will be giving away 50 Mesh Polos on Friday (February 4th, 2011) on the Lands' End Facebook page.  To enter the Lands' End Polo contest, you (or your man) will first need to "Like" Lands' End on Facebook.  Then the entrant must tell Lands' End what are some of the things he considers to be timeless or his "go-to" things, such as a book, a movie, a painting, a song, something that was passed down through the generations, or anything else that has stood the test of time and remains one of his favorite things.

50 entries will be chosen to receive a New Mesh Polo from Lands' End, which comes in 5 different styles.  Look for details to come on Lands' End's Facebook page soon.


I received a gift card as a thank you for helping Lands' End spread the word about this contest.