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Stylish Hanukkah Gifts for Guys

Stylish Hanukkah Gifts for Guys

Menswear expert Dan Hakimi shares tips on how to give our Jewish husbands a (subtle) glow up

Ariel Shapiro
December 12, 2025

Hey GOLDA gang, Ariel Shapiro here with the latest installment of Eight Days of GOLDA. Today, we’re bringing you a gift guide for the hardest people in our lives to shop for: the men.

I have a husband who, despite being tall and handsome, simply does not care about what he wears. He’ll order packs of $15 shirts from Amazon if I don’t stop him. It drives me nuts, so I take basically any gift giving opportunity I have to get him something a little more elevated that he will actually like.

I have done okay with this approach over the years. He genuinely loves the Bennet Winch work bag I got him for his birthday a few years back. He will actually use the monogrammed cashmere scarf I got him two Hanukkahs ago. And he even admits the Tom Ford sunglasses I gave him for Father’s Day look “pretty cool.”

Finding this stuff required a fair amount of research on my end. Menswear is very specific, so I started following a number of creators who focus on men’s style. One of my absolute favorites is Dan Hakimi (@the.second.button on Instagram), and he is particularly good at breaking down the difference between what’s trendy and what’s actually good style.

I caught up with him about his own style journey, and how to best shop for a guy who could use a little polish (hint: it’s not getting him a whole new wardrobe against his will).

GOLDA: How did you first get into menswear?

Dan Hakimi: After I graduated law school, I realized I had no idea how to dress it all. I thought I knew how to wear a suit at the very least. It turns out that, no, I had no idea what I was doing. So I wanted to teach myself the basics and learn how to not make a fool of myself. The more I researched, the more I realized that most of the advice out there is garbage. What seemed like a simple problem to me ended up being so deep and complex, and I just got into it.

Where are some of your favorite spots to shop for your everyday outfits?

Personally, I shop a lot secondhand. I spend money on eBay and at Alfargo’s Marketplace in New York. It's a pop up, and it's just a really fun place to go. If I’m looking for new clothing, Buck Mason has been doing a lot of solid stuff. They make a lot of wearable, everyday clothing that is simple and rugged, but still has a bit of depth. It’s a great place to get a chambray shirt or a good cut of jeans. If I'm styling somebody, one of the first places I will go is Todd Snyder, but because Todd Snyder has such a wide variety of pieces. It’s a great place to try and find your style.

So say I want to get something for my husband that wouldn’t be too far outside his comfort zone, but that could just edge him up a little bit—what are some gifts I could get him?

A lot of cool stuff right now is in the repair space. People are into patchwork, people are into visible mending these days. If he has one piece that he's always loved and he's about to throw it out, you could take it and then have it repaired in a cool way. That would make a nice gift.

In general, giving clothing as a gift can be tricky. It’s tough to know what somebody’s going to find comfortable and what somebody is actually going to wear. I know people who will buy their husbands cashmere sweaters, and their husbands are like, “I don't want to wear that. I just want to go out in my hoodie.” It’s a tricky problem to solve, but you can't buy somebody else a gift that's really for you. You need to, on some level, meet them where they are.

What is the best way to do that?

Accessories are a good place to start because they fit everybody and what is he gonna say? “Oh no, I don't wear wool scarves. I only wear polyesters.” Nobody says that. I would say a high-end merino wool hat or scarf is better than a low-end cashmere hat or scarf. A lot of low-end cashmere these days is sort of a gimmick product. It's not the luxury that you're used to. William Ellery makes really nice wool hats.

If you want to buy somebody a very small gift, I think getting a really nice pair of socks is better than getting something else that's cheap and not well thought out. American Trench makes really nice ones. They do everything well, and it’s made in the USA.

Another good option is fragrance, if you're trying to get him to generally care more about how he presents himself. If he doesn't wear watches, getting him a nice watch is a good move. Assuming he's dressed casually, a lot of guys like the Seiko Five.

What is on your Hanukkah wish list? Both the high-end, fantasy land gift and more down-to-earth options.

On my watch list, I have this A Lange Sohne Lange. It’s this really beautiful, dressy moonphase watch. A moon phase watch is kind of useful if you're Jewish. I like them in general. That little moon design on them, even if it’s pretty small, and makes the watch as a whole a little more interesting.

On the lower end, I would really like a set of Glencairn glasses. They're a certain type of whiskey glass. if you're into drinking whiskey, these are the perfect glasses.

Dan’s Picks

William Ellery Conifer Hat