Looking for a Christmas or birthday present for your husband? Think no further than a nice shirt or sweater.

Depending upon your husband’s clothes sense, purchasing a new shirt or sweater ought to be the easiest thing in the world.

You know what size he is. Fundamentally you would need to know the collar size of your man before hitting the stores. It is impossible to guess this sort of thing. You do need to know if he’s a fifteen inch neck or a fifteen and a half.

Does he prefer plain shirts or stripes? Does he enjoy sporting a pattern or a checked shirt? Many wives will know the answer to this but if you have less than five years experience of clothes shopping for your man under your belt, you may not know what he is comfortable in. To some women it doesn’t actually matter too much what he’s comfortable in, she will get it anyway because she knows best! Dictating the style of men’s shirts and sweaters that your husband wears is a more successful plan than running the risk of buying him something he would never buy for himself!

What sort of collar would look best on his shirt? A standard collar, a polo neck collar or possibly a collarless granddad style may suit. As long as you get the collar size correct, the type of collar you get will determine the occasion he wears the shirt. That is to say a standard collar will be worn on a formal occasion where a tie is required and a polo collar will be worn for sporting event such as during a game of golf or for picnics.

The question of colour is of considerable importance. Is he ‘man enough’ to carry off a pink shirt or is it better to stick to the safer option of beige or pastel blue? You decide!

On the matter of your man’s sweater, you can never get too much of a man in a lovely cashmere sweater. Light and stylish a cashmere sweater can be worn casually over the shoulders as well as properly on.

The neck of the sweater is important too. Choose between styles like a polo neck, V-neck, turtle-neck and more. Know your necks before purchasing the sweater.

Last but not least, will your man’s sweater have a pattern or be a plain option? The patterned type always makes a great present (especially if there is a Christmassy style theme on a Christmas present sweater!) It may not get used as much as a plain sweater, but the novelty sweater is always the best choice (in my opinion anyway!)

When purchasing men’s shirts and sweaters you can’t go wrong, but if you do, you can always take them back and exchange for items they actually want!