LOL-- sounds like my household. My father stopped purchasing my mother gifts entirely and will give her IOUs for certain things he thinks she should have and then she can go buy them herself-- they have completely integrated finances, so all presents come out of a joint account and he has a history of buying really bad gifts. That said, there are years where she never gets the gift or doesn't get anything from him and he says "buy whatever you want" while she goes all out. I often buy things from him just so she has more than my gift to unwrap.
Personally, I would enjoy that, as I tend to be very picky about things, especially clothing and fashion things and no one in my life that I exchange gifts with is into any of the same things I am. I would be tempted to make him a list of types of items you want along with a general figure for what the item typically costs . . . then he can pick out which things he would like to get you and you can go pick them out. Basically it saves you returning the things you dislike and saves his feelings, but he still picks the "gift". Kinda like giving you a gift card and saying it is for "new boots".
My SO asks me what I want every year, and I never tell him because I hate asking for things and I feel like he needs to put an effort in, since I do for him since he is also hard to shop for. Last year I ended up with grey fleece grandma pyjamas with little anchors on them. This year I am thinking of making an Amazon wishlist and sharing it with him, as well as with my mother and grandmother who also love to gift but are completely clueless about what someone like me would want. I try to respect the spirit of giving, but I can't lie to my grandmother about a pair of cat socks ever again! She still asks me about them.
