Now we all know that women love fashion and clothes. And we all know that women love gifts. However, when the two combine and are put onto a man’s shopping list then it is often a recipe for disaster. I can count the amount of times I have made the mistake of buying a girlfriend a pair of shoes or a dress, for them never to be worn out in public.

Here a just a few truths which suggest that women’s fashion and clothes should be permanently stricken from our shopping lists.

Firstly, most red blooded males haven’t got the faintest idea about their own sense of fashion and style, let alone what is IN in the female fashion world.

Secondly, and this is perhaps the issue that gets us in the most trouble; sizing. We could go out of our way to find out what the must have dress or jeans for a given season are, buy it and wrap it flawlessly only to buy the wrong size and be accused of calling them fat or hinting that they need to lose weight.

However, there is hope for all men wanting to surprise the women in their lives by buying them clothing they’ll actually wear in public. The secret to this is not buy clothes per se but buy clothing accessories for women such as scarves, gloves, hats and jewels!

Although garments like these are subject to fashion trends, there is a host of classics in each category that are timeless. Arguably one of the finest, if not the finest, accessories for women is the hand woven pashmina shawl that has been a style piece since the Renaissance period. Being made from pure pashmina, the highest grade of cashmere there is, the touch and feel of the scarf alone make it such a sought after accessory by any woman.

Also due to the size of shawls, they can be styled in a variety of ways such as the knotted scarf, the wrap and the looped scarf to name a few.

Silk lined leather gloves are another timeless woman’s accessory. I would advise silk lined over cashmere in this instance as they will make the fingers look more slender and feminine than cashmere lined gloves. As for the colour, I would recommend a neutral black, brown or beige unless you are sure of a certain colour.

And last but by no means least; jewels. We all know how much women love their jewels and my tip for this accessory is simple – diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, gold, silver and platinum. Only precious stones and metal, that if you’re a big spender.