23: The Holiday Gift Guide No. 1
This one is for the girls who love to host in their tiny apartments and adore a good accessory.
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Last year when I sent out my gift guide, my dearest friend Kaia saw the email in her inbox and thought I was boldly sending a list of items I wanted to all of our friends. So, before we begin, I’m going to do just that— I want the Salter House Wendy Pyjamas, a medium black long L.L. Bean Boat & Tote with long straps and a zipper embroidered with my last name (Dowling) in thin cursive script, Uniqlo HEATTECH, a subscription to The New York Review of Books, a pair of secondhand Marc Jacobs platforms that I will not link, decaf black tea, long 1950s satin opera gloves, beeswax candles, dark chocolate salted caramels, and a copy of The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters.
And now that my wishlist is out of the way, let’s talk about gift-giving. The greatest gifts are personal and homemade but unless you are a kid, you should probably be decent at making things. The second greatest gift, although this might just be me, stops someone from having to repurchase all their stupid necessities— socks, underwear, their expensive moisturizer habit; hell, even laundry detergent. The third greatest gifts are all about fantasy— giving something the thing that they could never justify buying for themselves.
★ This is the first installment of 3 gift-guides. The next one will focus on men and the last one will focus on your parents, people that are impossible to gift for, and other gifting conundrums. ★
For the Chicest Host You Know
This one is for the girls and gays who like to crowd an unfathomable number of bodies into their tiny Brooklyn apartment. They could always use more items for tablescaping. I recommend, a Gohar World bird or swan lemon squeezer, a set of vintage horse knife rests (abundant on Etsy), Sabre serving utensils, a Japanese Mini Kenzan Flower Frog Set, Sophie Lou Jacobsen wine glasses, an elaborate vintage candle holder from Etsy with Big Dipper beeswax candlesticks, or a set of linen napkins with vintage napkin rings made of shells. If your recipient drinks, I recommend getting them a bottle to add to their cocktail bar– my friend Nate recently brought over Lo-Fi Aperitifs Gentian Amaro and it was fabulous—also, The Art and Etiquette of Gift Giving by Dawn Bryan from 1987 or The New Tiffany Table Settings by John Loring.
★ Does your very chic host friend enjoy collecting vintage glassware and ceramics? Do you want to bum them out? Give them a lead testing kit! ★
For Your Friend That Wants to be Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron Movie
The first item on my Christmas list this year is a pair of Salter House pajamas–I’m quite partial to the Wendy Pyjamas but I think their nightgowns are great too. I am also asking for the original bunny slippers from bunnyslippers.com, I have this idea that the two paired together, Salter House pajamas and bunny slippers might make me feel like Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron movie. Other great gifts in this category include a hot water bottle cover from Damson Madder, an English metal pitcher from Haws for flowers, a Kent comb, cashmere socks from Hansel from Basel, a Mason Pearson hairbrush (beautiful albeit ridiculously expensive), a luxurious Loewe candle, Bienaimé handsoap or Caswell-Massey Almond Bar Soap. A Jane Austen book would be good here too.
For the Home Cook
I highly recommend a Le Creuset enameled cast iron skillet. If you have a Le Creuset outlet store near you, you should go, I got a 7.25 qt Dutch oven a few years ago for less than $200. Other things they might like include a ginger grater shaped like a crane, a set of measuring spoons narrow enough to get into spice jars, homemade vanilla extract or a kit to make it, an enamel mixing bowl set from Falcon Enamel Ware, a cookbook, a Sabre spaghetti spoon, Duralex water glasses, a great pair of kitchen shears, a Peugeot pepper grinder or a set of vintage flour containers (check out Etsy).
★Are your friends or parents’ knives dangerously dull? Get them a whetstone knife sharpening kit or a gift card to their local knife sharpener! ★
For the Person Who Keeps Talking About Fashion Sustainability
Make them a kit of care products! It should include a coat brush from Bürstenhaus Redecker (a wise person recently told me you don’t have to go to the dry cleaner as often if you get one of these), a mesh laundry bag for delicates, leather cream, dryer balls, stain remover, a sweater stone, and a Liberty Sewing Kit. Throw in a couple of pretty buttons, a gift card to a cobbler, and cedar balls to repel the moths and you’re all set.
For the Formerly Polyvore Obsessed Fashion Princess
My first recommendation is obviously the new Simone Rocha Rizzoli book — it’s a bit of a gift guide cliché this year but for good reason, it is exceptionally beautiful. Another similarly thoughtful fashion book is Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. My second cliché is a vintage c*garette case and a vintage lighter. Other great gifts in this category include: a Sophie Bille Brahe velvet jewelry box (expensive, I know), hairclips from C.O. Bigelow, Wolford hoisery, a cake candle from Cereria Introna, a Chanel lipstick, a sterling silver charm bracelet chain, and a charm to add, a compact mirror engraved with their initials and a kiss lock coin purse. I want to make it clear that I don’t, in any way, condone the purchase of an $85 mug but if that doesn’t seem egregious to you, I think the 1970 Bella Freud one would tickle the heart of a girl formerly obsessed with Alexa Chung. If all else fails, a gift card to TheRealReal will do.
Coming Soon on The Pleat
Thank you for reading the first installment of my gift guide series. The next one will come in a few days. I’ve asked all the boys in my life to answer the simple question that stumps us all around the holidays— What do men really want?
I hosted a closet sale last week and I am giving a percentage of the proceeds to The Bowery Mission to help them buy the essentials they need around the holidays. Will share more of what I purchase next week!