The Great Gift Guide 2011: 1 – Snapbacks.

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. Christmas time. A time of bonding, of sharing, of extended periods in the vicinity of your relatives – but most of all, of gift-giving related stress. You may be the organised type. You may have gone out and purchased all those obligatory December 25th gifts, but for those who haven’t and haven’t a clue as to what to do (and for those who feel all the other blogger gift guides aren’t cutting it – OOOOOHHH SNAP!) – look no further. I am going to be your present-searching eyes and ears for the next month. For the next 24 days, I am going to endeavour to find a perfect gift for someone and post it here on the blog, starting today. (This is a huge call, considering the regularity of my posts has been less than perfect lately – wish me luck.) Here goes:

What: Mitchell & Ness Snapbacks (Holla-back!).

Why: Have you not seen the rise in popularity of these things? Have you been living under a rock?! They come in a whole array of designs – there’s one for everyone. They’re classic. You’ll keep it forever. Not to mention, New Zealanders are going into summer and with that hole in the ozone layer, we all need as much protection from the sun as we can. It’s stylish and skin-cancer-preventing! Look. Jay Z is wearing one in the Otis video okay? You don’t need any other reasons.

Best for: Males and females with a penchant for streetwear. Males and females with the tendency to have bad hair days. Girls with long hair (try having a ponytail with a fitted). Girls who like dressing as boys. Girls like me. Get one for someone a little bit special – these things are not that easy to come by in New Zealand and they’re not super cheap so make sure you know the person is going to appreciate one of these little beauties, just so you can avoid feeling resentful when they go, ‘Oh you got me a hat. Cool’.

Okay, okay I’m sold. Where can I get one?: Directly from Mitchell & Ness (but I’m not sure on how quickly you’ll be able to get it shipped here), or from Qubic in Newmarket, Auckland - they arrived this week and while there’s a decent range of styles, there’s limited stock of each so you’ve gotta be quick.