Dressing up the wine lover in your life, start slow

Wine lovers, in my personal experience, do not as a group suffer from an excess in sartorial sophistication. Certainly they have palates able to discern fine differences in Pinot Noir from vineyards only miles apart. And there’s no doubt they have brains like library card catalogs – able to recall at will the exact cuvee blends of obscure wineries in Southern France.

But clothes? Not so much. Think Hawaiian shirts and Dockers. But this holiday season you can help out the wine lover in your life by picking up one of these terrific T-shirts from Patent Wear, a company that converts old patent illustrations into wearable art.

Yes, they are T-shirts, but we are talking baby steps here. Trying to immediately convert them to club collars and hacking pockets might well bring on a case of vertigo. And I quite like these graphic tees, decorated with details of antique plans for corkscrews and bottle closures.

Of course, on the wrong back, shirts like these could lead to some really detailed discussions about corkscrew mechanics and how the designs have changed or not changed over the decades. Buyer beware.

Graphic cotton T-shirts, $22 plus shipping; www.patentwear.com

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