NEWSFLASH: fabric HQ's Xmas Shopping Guide

Like we've said before, we'd LOVE to live in a world where global advertising mechanisms only click into Christmas mode from the 1st December. Think about it, it'd give the universe a time to breathe and a welcome respite to pause and look ahead to the heart-warming beauty of the occasion without the crushing weight of omnipresent consumer expectation in oooh, say mid-September time. But, guys... look at your calendar. Tomorrow is the 1st December! Finally, the day has come, so even us shopping centre shy Grinches have got to get ready ourselves. We're all now thinking about it, making those plans, buying train tickets or hiring cars ready for the family break... So on this day we'd like to present you with a selection of ideas that could make your loved ones' Christmas morning even better.

Eat my ideas:

Honestly, I wanted to open this with a witty barb about how, if your man/husband/boyf/brother/dad still loves trance music or plays The Prodigy on a Sunday morning to 'pep' up your breakfast time then, maybe he'd love an outfit to go along with that. But if I'm honest these 'subsonic' meggings from Cyberdog are actually kinda the bomb... Well worth the investment of a bullseye. £45 from Cyberdog. Actually, thinking about it, why don't you team those drainpipes with one of our limited edition t-shirts. That would actually made a pretty rad outfit, regardless of the person's age. After all, you're never too old for a smiley face, now are you...? £25 from fabric Store. And if you've ever thought to yourself, 'gee, what scent should I pair with a synthetic metal trousers?' then look no further than perfumer savant Pierre Guillaume's Metal Hurlant - a minimalist perfume that smells like a stifling desert of leather and oxidized sheet metal. £80 for 50ml EdP from Bloom Perfume. In the now immortal words of Jimmy Iovine it can be hard for women to find new music*, so with that in mind we've once again upped our fabricfirst gift membership option. * In case it wasn't all that obvious to you: the above is very much a joke. This sentence is intended to be loaded with sarcasm - a form of humour that is commonly called the lowest form of wit and so fits the timbre of Iovine's stunted statement. Rest assured that no, we do not condone this statement, this sort of thinking is wonderfully close minded and frankly astonishing. Just to be sure, I'll repeat: these are not words we agree with, they truly are the bemusing words of an out of touch executive. 6 month gift membership from £30. 12 month gift membership for the price of 11 months. Both from the fabric Store. The wonderful Mastersounds dudes have made a t-shirt that has a Calotherm microfibre cleaning cloth sewn into the hem of the shirt. Now firstly this is just a wonderfully executed idea for a DJ or record enthusiast who plays out well used vinyl copies but furthermore, as a glasses wearer, this idea pleases me simply because in an ideal world I'd have an eye cloth sewn into every garment I own. £30 from Mastersounds. Since the great plastic bag tax of 2015, life really hasn't been the same. Now everybody needs an eco-friendly cotton bag on their person 24/7 just in case you get caught out at lunch or see a irresistible BOGOF deal on Curiously Cinnamon cereal at your local Sainsbury's. So, bro, grab a tote with our smiley design on and never pay 5p for an inferior quality plastic carrier ever again. They'rrrrrrre great. £10 (£8 fabricfirst members) from fabric Store. Um... there's little to say about this one, but if you like reading and music and stories about people writing about music or weaning yourself off anti-depressants then The Quietus editor John Doran's Jolly Lad book should be right up your strasse. £14.99 from Strange Attractor. You shouldn't ever put an age limit on working with cogs and rotating discs. These are the sort of problem solving, life skills every child should be learning as soon as they've developed basic motor skills. How are we supposed to breed a new generation of aeronauts and engineers if our kids are relentlessly crushing candy on their over sized miniature iPads? £12.99 from Argos. Yes, of course we do run two record labels. But no, this whole post was not a cloaked sales message intended to remind you to think of us when you are buying your friends/family/acquaintances a small token of your affection this December. We would never do that... What we will say is that fabric Records and it's sister label Houndstooth, have been pretty tirelessly releasing some wonderful music this year. Here's a selection of it: Grab all this and so much more including vinyl, CDs, t-shirts from the fabric Store and the Houndstooth Store.