Nassau St. stores offer options for male shoppers

The local shopping scene is not always male-friendly, but beyond stores filled with cashmere scarves and floral acid-infused sugar face scrubs, men can find great gifts for roommates, relatives, girlfriends and themselves.

Preppy Princeton men will find collared sustenance at the new Ralph Lauren store on Nassau St. Even as winter approaches, the standard polo shirts fill up an entire wall. Roughly 20 different horse and shirt color combinations are available for $65 each. Deep-pocketed skiers might like an RLX Gore-Tex jacket for $595 or a cashmere jersey sweater with embroidered slalom racer for $495.

Those with tighter budgets will find plenty of good deals on music and movies at the Princeton Record Exchange. Full albums by bands from the Beastie Boys to the Police are as low as $9.99. Used CDs are even cheaper.

The Exchange stocks new releases, but students who like music will appreciate the wide selection of obscure issues, singles and vinyl LPs that are hard to come by at Best Buy or Sam Goody.

Thomas Sweet Chocolates at Palmer Square offers a variety of tempting confections. Milk chocolate spheres foil-wrapped as basketballs, golf balls and soccer balls are $6.50 per bag. True chocoholics will enjoy a $60 giant hollow snowman that weighs in at 4.78 pounds. The shop also has a selection of Christmas and Hanukkah-themed sweets.

For the caffeine-addicted, Small World Coffee sells humorous novelty gifts. These include $7 coffee mugs that read "Sleep is for the weak" and $20 t-shirts that proclaim "Coffee makes you smarter."

If you get your photo taken at an interesting locale while wearing a Small World shirt, you can bring the picture back to Princeton for a free beverage. The independent coffee house carries non-coffee items as well, such as $15 wallets made entirely of duct tape.

Students up all night studying organic chemistry and seniors struggling with theses would benefit from the squeeze therapy balls at Origins. Students will have to venture into a world of scented candles and flavored shampoo to pick up the $5 release mechanism for people who are, as the packaging notes, "Stressed out!"

A gift from the "certified tobacconists" at A Little Taste of Cuba can also help high-anxiety friends calm down. The Witherspoon St. cigar shop stocks select brands of cigars, along with humidors, lighters, rolling papers and pipes. Tobacconist Jason Knott recommends Padrón cigars for those on moderate student budgets. Nonsmoker guys might like the $30 monogrammable silver hip flasks.

Any of the $6 shot glasses or $15 beer mugs sold at the U-Store would also make a practical gift for someone who needs to unwind. While there, students might also remember to get something for the people who contribute toward their tuitions.

Princeton University coffee mugs for moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas are an easy and relatively cheap ($8) choice.

Finally, for those lucky guys in a steady relationship, there are plenty of gifts in town for their significant others. Most girls will love a substantial gift certificate to Blue Mercury, an upscale makeup and body product shop and spa off Palmer Square. The especially friendly staff will guide your girlfriend to everything from perfume to lotus gel that diminishes puffiness under the eyes.