All In A Day's gift guide for your pickiest loved ones
Ideas for the minimalist, the fashionista, the new dad, the royal buff, the obscure film lover
The season of giving can be complicated by those in your life that seem to already have it all — or just have very particular tastes.
This year, CBC Radio's All In A Day has you covered with a gift guide series so you don't have to rack your brain for the perfect present.
Listeners told the show who they were shopping for, and we assembled panels of gift guide assistants to help.
The minimalist
"What does one get a minimalist for Christmas? And please don't say nothing," a listener wrote in.
For some ideas, we rounded up minimalist blogger Marco Laberge, Planet Botanix owner Heather Garrod and philosophy professor Nils-Frederic Wagner.
The fashionista
Shopping for a fashion forward loved one — the kind of person who makes her own clothes and appreciates independent designers — can be a difficult task if you're not in the know.
For advice, we were joined by Christina Ballhorn, who runs Workshop, Regine Paquette, who co-owns Victoire, and Jonathan Walford, who curates the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge.
The busy, newish dad
Imagine someone who is usually easy to shop for but no longer has as much time for his favourite things — like riding his bike, skiing, and drinking wine — because he's the father of a 15-month-old child.
"He is such a dedicated dad. I just don't want to get him something he won't have time to use. Help!" his wife told us.
Chris Farley Ratcliffe, who writes the Dad Goes Round blog, Mike Reynolds, who is known as Puzzling Post Dad on Twitter, and dad Ian Fraser, who co-owns Cycle Logik, provided suggestions.
The royal buff
Royal watchers are common enough in a Commonwealth country like Canada, but when the the buff you're shopping for is interested in the less-known Belgian royalty, the perfect gift is more difficult to achieve.
This particular royal fan's wife told us: "I don't share his interest at all, but I wanted to get him something special this Christmas. I have no idea where to even start thinking about something related to his interest. Our house is small, so space is limited — and I'd really have to draw the line at something that I have to look at every day, like a portrait of a royal figure."
All In A Day host Alan Neal Alan assembled a panel for this somewhat unusual request: Michael Varty, manager of Perfect Books, Justin Morin-Carpentier, royal commentator and Raoul Delcorde, Belgian Ambassador to Canada.
The obscure movie lover
It may have gone straight to DVD — or VHS if it's old enough — but that doesn't mean that obscure, low-budget movie that's widely considered a failure doesn't have at least a few fans.
An All In A Day listener is trying to find one of those not-so-classic movies for his wife: the 1989 film All's Fair.
Rocky Lang, the director of the movie, Ottawa film critic Di Golding and SPARTA Film Challenge founder Allen Roulston come together to offer tips on where to find that particular film and others like it.