Dads are insufferably hard to shop for.

I know I wasn't the best daughter (see my Mother's Day post), but I've always had a soft spot for my dear old Dad. I tried, and failed, every year to buy him gifts that he would use, or at least appreciate. It took me about twelve years to notice that my father never wore the ties or cologne that I bought for him at the local gas station, so I started buying gigantic bags of pistachios instead. We bought him pound after pound of pistachios.This was all well and good until my father had to be hospitalized for a severe allergic reaction to pistachios, and my brother and I were once more at a loss for what to get him. We tried the gift certificate route, but somehow showing our love through Bloomin' Onions at the Outback Steakhouse somehow lacked that emotional integrity we were aiming for. It took several Father's Days, birthdays, and Christmases to realize that there actually was in fact, nothing that we could get our dad that would equate to a good gift.

Which brings me to my point. Don't get your dad anything; take something from his past and make it cool again.  My favorite leather jacket was something that I stole from my dad. It's this sweet burnt orange motorcycle jacket from the 70's, and it was just gathering dust in his closet. I now wear it all the time. He got a great chuckle when I unearthed it from the closet and said how rad it was. Dad's were the original hipsters after all. My first pair of tinted aviator sunglasses were also something that I "liberated" from my father. When I asked if I could have them, he laughed and said sure, amused that what once was cool to him had come full circle to my generation.By taking vintage things away from your father, you are giving his life validity and a sense of hipness that he probably did not get to experience enough in his youth. There, aren't you a good daughter?!

You could also buy him gelato. Just no pistachio, please.