Christmas Gifts for Men: What to Give, and When to Order It

The best Christmas gifts for men are the things they wear every week and would not buy for themselves: a merino sweater, a white shirt with his initials on the cuff, an overcoat, or a suit cut to his measurements. Each of these has a deadline. A suit made to measure at ATELIER 23 in Lisbon has to be started by 10 November. Knitwear can wait until mid-December. And when the size is a mystery or the date has passed, our gift card, from €350, can be sent by email on the morning of 24 December and saved to Apple Wallet. This guide is built around that calendar.

Christmas gifts for men: the dates that decide

At ATELIER 23, a suit made to measure for Christmas 2026 must be started by 10 November, made-to-order pieces from the catalogue ordered by 17 November, knitwear by 16 December for Portugal and 10 December for the rest of the EU, the printed gift card by 18 December, and the digital gift card any day up to 24 December. Christmas Eve falls on a Thursday this year. So before choosing what to give, check what can still be made in time.

Shipping is free to every country we deliver to, with no minimum order, and pieces in stock leave Lisbon within two working days. Delivery to the United Kingdom and the United States usually takes five to seven days; write to us and we will confirm the last safe date for your city. One practical point for parcels leaving the EU: import duties and taxes are paid by the recipient. If the gift is a surprise for someone in London or New York, send the digital card and spare him the customs bill.

Why clothes are still the best Christmas gift for a man

The most useful Christmas gift for a man is something he can wear on the evening itself: a new shirt, a bow tie or a wool sweater. There is a picture of Christmas most of us recognise without having lived it. A small American high street in the 1940s lit from end to end, men in overcoats and hats leaving the shops with boxes under their arms, a voice like Nat King Cole's on the radio. It was a Christmas of suits and ties, even at the family table.

We like that picture because it makes a simple point. A good garment is worn the next morning, while the house still smells of pine, and it is still worn years later. The rest of this guide covers what we make that belongs under a tree, from a pocket square to a suit that takes six weeks.

What ATELIER 23 offers for Christmas

ATELIER 23 is a made-to-measure menswear atelier at Avenida da Liberdade 110 in Lisbon. Our suits, overcoats and knitwear are made in Portugal, our shirts in Naples, and every gift leaves in our ribbon, bag or garment bag. For Christmas there are three ways to give something from us.

A sweater. Crew necks and long-sleeve polos in extra-fine merino at €350, quarter-zips and lambswool crew necks at €450. They are knitted in Portugal from Italian yarn spun by Zegna Baruffa, and they are the gift that still works in December.

Something made for him. A shirt at €350 with his initials embroidered free of charge, an overcoat, or a suit made to measure from €1,500. These need November.

The gift card. From €350 to €2,000, digital or printed, valid online and at the atelier. He chooses the cloth and the cut; you choose the moment.

Christmas gifts for men under €500, until mid-December

Under €500, ATELIER 23 offers merino knitwear at €350 and €450, a shirt with free initials at €350, a silk pocket square at €190 and a silk satin bow tie at €250. Knitwear and accessories are in stock in Lisbon, so they can be ordered until 16 December for Portugal and 10 December for the rest of the EU. Most Christmas gifts are bought in this range, and it forgives a late decision.

Knitwear is the safest gift because it is the most worn. The extra-fine merino crew neck and the long-sleeve knitted polo cost €350 and sit well under a jacket. The lambswool crew necks, spun from a lamb's first shearing, and the quarter-zips cost €450 and are the warmer choice for a man who lives in a colder city than Lisbon. If you are deciding between wool and cashmere, we compared them in our guide to the cashmere sweater for men.

For the man who wears a jacket often, the white silk pocket square is the discreet gift. The black silk satin bow tie is for a man who already owns a dinner jacket, or who will need one on New Year's Eve. Neither needs a size, and both arrive in time even when ordered in December.

A monogrammed shirt with his initials: order by 17 November

An ATELIER 23 shirt costs €350, is made to order in Naples in a shirt factory about a hundred years old, and his initials are embroidered free of charge on the left cuff or low on the front at the waist, as Italians do. For Christmas, order by 17 November.

The cotton comes from Albini and Thomas Mason. The buttonholes are sewn by hand and the sleeve is set into the armhole by hand. Once we have his pattern, every next shirt can be ordered by message and shipped anywhere, so the first shirt is also the pattern for every one after it. See all our shirts.

Christmas gifts for him from €1,500: order by 17 November

From €1,500, ATELIER 23 makes an overcoat in wool and cashmere at €1,500, suits in Super 130s Italian wool at €1,750, a midnight blue velvet dinner jacket at €1,850, tuxedos at €1,950 and an ivory Loro Piana silk jacket at €2,500. All are made to order, so the date is 17 November. From here you are buying what other people notice first.

The overcoat comes single-breasted and double-breasted. The single-breasted one goes with almost everything; the double-breasted one has a more structured front and sits particularly well over a suit. The suits come in navy, grey and black. Super 130s describes the fineness of the wool fibre; for work, navy and grey solve more situations than black. See suits and tuxedos.

For the evenings there is the velvet dinner jacket, the black tuxedo and the ivory shawl-lapel tuxedo. For a man who already has the evening covered, the ivory Loro Piana silk jacket is the piece he will not expect. If his diary has a black-tie New Year's Eve in it, add the bow tie and a white shirt, and the evening is dressed.

A suit made to measure in Lisbon: start by 10 November

A suit made to measure at ATELIER 23 in Lisbon costs from €1,500, takes 4–6 weeks with one fitting, and is built with a full canvas and hand-stitched lapels. For Christmas 2026 it must be started by 10 November. It is the one gift you cannot buy without him: you give him the appointment, and the rest is his.

It starts with a visit to the atelier at Avenida da Liberdade 110, where we take his measurements and he chooses the cloth from the books of Scabal, Holland & Sherry, Dormeuil, Loro Piana and others. The suit is made in Portugal, and at the fitting we settle the lengths, the proportions and the line of the shoulder. How the process works, step by step, is on our made-to-measure page and in our guide to the made to measure suit in Lisbon.

He does not need to live in Lisbon. Many of our clients are in London: some come to Portugal to marry, others are measured here and their suits are made by hand in our workshop and shipped to London. A finished made-to-measure suit is shipped anywhere in the world free of charge. If his trip to Lisbon is after Christmas, give him the gift card in an envelope and let the suit begin in January.

Christmas gifts for your husband, your dad, or the man who has everything

For a husband, a shirt with his initials at €350 or a suit made to measure from €1,500; for a dad, a merino sweater at €350 or €450; for a new partner, a pocket square at €190 or a bow tie at €250, which need no size.

A Christmas gift for your husband usually fills a real gap in the wardrobe: a white or light blue Italian cotton shirt, or a new navy or grey suit for work. If there is a party in December, the velvet dinner jacket is the gift that will be remembered.

A Christmas gift for your dad, even a dad who says he wants nothing, starts with knitwear: a merino crew neck for every day, or a lambswool sweater for winter. For a father who still wears a tailored jacket, the silk pocket square is the classic answer, and the overcoat in wool and cashmere is the gift he will wear for many winters.

For a partner, choose something he can wear the next morning: the merino quarter-zip or a knitted polo.

For the man who has everything, choose what he would never take the time to order: a shirt with his initials, an overcoat cut to his shoulders, a suit in a cloth he picked from a book rather than from a rail. If you cannot choose for him, give him the visit and let him choose the rest. We wrote about this case in the man who has everything and the gift he doesn't expect.

The ATELIER 23 gift card: he chooses the cloth, you choose the day

The ATELIER 23 gift card comes in €350, €1,000, €1,500 and €2,000. The digital card is emailed on the date you choose, including 24 December, and saves to Apple Wallet. The printed card arrives in a black envelope with a wax seal and should be ordered by 18 December for delivery in Portugal; abroad, send the digital one.

Often the best gift is the choice itself. You may not know his size, he may want to pick the cloth himself, or the making time may already run past Christmas. The card solves each of these. It is valid in the online shop and at the atelier, for a suit, a shirt or knitwear, or as part of a larger order. €1,500 covers a made-to-measure suit at the starting price, and €350 covers a shirt or a merino sweater.

Buy the gift card

How to order before Christmas, step by step

1. Suit or dinner jacket made to measure: book the visit by 10 November.
2. Overcoat, suit, shirt or tuxedo from the catalogue: order by 17 November.
3. Knitwear or accessories: order by 16 December for Portugal, 10 December for the EU; for the UK and the US, ask us for the date.
4. Gift card: by 18 December for the printed one, up to 24 December for the digital one.
5. Before you pay, confirm the size, the colour and the delivery address. For made-to-measure pieces, we agree the fitting date at the first visit.

Christmas gifts for men: questions before ordering