Ideas for non blokey pressie for non blokey DH's birthday?

[Effjay]

Really stuck this year. His birthday is on 16th Nov. He's not into football, cars, golf ... or any of the other stereotypical blokey stuff.

Am looking to spend about £40-£50. Any suggestions welcome ... within reason

Dp is also quite non-blokey.

Things he has liked in the past -

Books (he always likes these: ditto CDs and weirdo foreign language or horror DVDs);
Foodie stuff - eg voucher for a posh meal out, posh chutneys, a variety of beers etc;
Nice shirt or silly t-shirt or band t-shirt (eg A Flock Of Seagulls);
Shower gel that is slightly more upmarket than his usual cheapo stuff;
Theatre tickets.

does he cook? How about investing in a good knife for the kitchen or other kitchen gadgets.
A cookery lesson.
Some expensive ingredients - you could make up a hamper.
Does he drink coffee? Coffee grinder and some fancy beans?

itiswhatitis.co.uk is a great web site for t shirts. I got one for my bday with 'i dont care who you are, I'm not giving you my spoons' on it. I love it
Try Red5 website too as they sell ridiculous gadgets that are really good fun and cant be left alone.

DH's birthday next week - we're going to see Milton Jones on Sunday night.

An interesting house plant

Blue Mountain coffee

Large Airfix Spitfire

Complete Sweeney / Dad's Army / whatever DVD box set

Paul Smith shirt

....what does he like?

Also non-blokey DH... Last Christmas I got him an amazing pair of lovely sheepskin slippers, like massive bootees. About £65 though. The man who could never be bothered to own such a pointless thing as slippers now gives a sigh of pleasure as he slips them on, and wears them all the time. A great winter present! Think the company is called Just Sheepskin.

This year I want some!!

Hmm, thanks for all your suggestions. Some good ones there.
DVD boxset is a good idea - he watches loads of series like 'The Wire', etc.
Tickets sounds like a good idea too ... am off to investigate!

Also, he's just started French classes again, so any 'francophile' ideas may be useful ...?

Ah, OK, French-language DVDs blokes will like. No particular order:

Betty Blue. Quite a lot of nudity in this. Ahem. The blokey one to get is probably the director's cut, which is about an hour longer than the cinema release.
Nikita. It's about a foxy hitwoman.
Cache. Stalker movie.
Delicatessen. Black comedy, funny in a revolting way.
Irreversible. Scenes arranged in reverse order, notoriously harrowing rape scene. Has Monica Bellucci in it, who most men seem to like, blokey or not.

Diva. Thriller. Opera nerd records a diva who never records, ends up with a different tape that the Mob are after
Les Visiteurs. Deadpan time-travel comedy.

Le Diner des Cons. Black comedy about a dining club where each member competes to bring along the thickest guest he can find.
36. French "heist movie".
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources. Plots very hard to summarise, but Gerard Depardieu was just brilliant and can piss on my plane anytime.
L'Appartement. Thriller, stylish + sexy. Vincent and Monica again.

Banlieu 13. Violent French sci-fi.
A Bout de Souffle. Classic French new wave.
Et Dieu créa la femme. Brigitte Bardot, cheeky for 1960ish.

You could probably get him all these on DVD inside your budget. There must be a way of searching Amazon or indeed Amazon.fr for French language movies.

Betty Blue has a very famous and tasteful poster cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/56/5661/XLDUG00Z/posters/betty-blue.jpg

Would he like a repro of that or some other movie poster in a nice frame? I have bought a couple of those as gifts from allposters.co.uk, they have a very neat ordering system where you can try out the poster in various frames / mountings before you order.

I should add that having a French ex you end up sitting through a lot of French movies...

what about something pampering, ie massage or facial etc. Know some guys who are into those - also something that he wouldnt spend the money on himself

I bought dp Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources which he loved; also the Diving Bell And The Butterfly but I can't remember if that is French or not!

Did you watch The Killing? That would be a great present if you haven't seen it.

I loved the In Treatment boxed set, too - season 1 is absolutely fantastic.

I'm buying my non blokey DH a gorgeous scarf he admired the other day...it is £75 though. I figured, if I'm going to buy such a boring gift it may as well be an expensive boring gift

Not sure where you live but how about day trip to Paris on Eurostar?

I bought non butch DH a membership of the Tate for his 40th. He liked it so much I renew every year.

A subscription to a magazine? e.g. Private Eye, the Economist, LRB, Spectator etc.

Slippers?