He "doesn't want anything," but these are perfect for his life right now.
The truth is, all dads have always been cool. In the internet’s halcyon days, when the term hipster was used only semi-ironically, Tumblr had a collection of photos of people’s dads titled Dads Are the Original Hipsters. Nowadays, you have to be content with the coffee table book version, but the real thing was an endless scroll of 35mm photos featuring mulleted dads in ringer tees, drinking pull tab Coors, wearing perfectly faded Wranglers on motorcycles or trucks with surfboard racks. It was the definition of cool.
Gifts for dads? Not as cool as the men they celebrate. Bad novelty ties, flavored caramel syrup masquerading as whiskey, and new-age family games he'll give up on before pulling out the cribbage board. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ll admit this particular soapbox leans self-serving: I am a dad (certified x3 with a 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 1-year-old), but calling myself a cool dad seems hubristic. I do, however, know many cool dads: dads who flip old homes, fix motorcycles, write poetry, design menswear, run ultramarathons, edit major publications, and pour a good Guinness.
With them in mind, I've pulled together 32 gifts for the deserving dad in your life. Technically this list is for cool dads of the new-ish sort. But if your old man has aged into is golden years and still has that swagger, these make perfect gifts for him. And you never know...maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will consider me cool enough to gift me something from this list.
Swan Logo Cotton Corduroy Cap
Bedhead isn't just a kid thing. This corduroy cap from the famed German tee shirt brand Mez b Scwanen will win the school drop-off line. But if you're bold, you'll buy him a Filson Stetson.
- Matthew Medendorp / Esquire
