308: Gifting is a contact sport

Part I of IV

What constitutes a good gift is a vaporous thing to try and define, especially because, as they astutely say, it’s the thought that counts. As a confident and uninhibited shopper, I don’t pang for things that count as “stuff,” but am moved by gifts that have a teaching moment. Within their design, they clue me in to some act of human ingenuity or one of nature’s wonders or most likely both. This is why smart books make such powerful gifts (but it really doesn’t have to be so literal).

In the first of four gift guides rolling out this week, I wanted to train that lens on fashion and beauty items, the most literally touching of all gifts. Some of the selects make sense to buy with this holiday season in mind, but others as you’ll see, are more evergreen suggestions as they take some planning. I don’t really believe that trendiness has any place in gift giving and also still stand behind everything from my gift guides of 2022 (parts I, II, III, and IV) as great options for today.

Magasin’s fashion and beauty gift guide—the first of four for 2024—below the fold.

Azur Gift Set

There’s a Fortuny pleated dress twisted up in a tissue-lined box in the window of Desert Vintage right now, glowing with all of the romanticism and wisdom of having defeated time’s flat circle. But if you can’t make it to Orchard Street—or even if you can—Marseille’s Azur has its own hand-pleated, plant-dyed creations thoughtfully arranged in twos and threes in packages ornamented with a miniature Provençal santon and perfectly ready for passing between expectant hands.

Old Stone Trade Bespoke Commissions

There’s a clever gift suggestion tucked inside of Old Stone Trade’s FAQ page: “Our ateliers and artisans love working with you to make your wardrobe dreams a reality…Maybe you have a favorite childhood sweater you would like recreated.” Maybe you do! Or maybe you know a recipient with especially cute and cozy baby photos (pre-millennium-quality knits are hard to find these days). Old Stone Trade will pair you with an artisan to get the process started, just email concierge@oldstonetrade.com.

Norlha Nomad Dense Boiled Rows Scarf

A feather-like, insulating fiber, made from Yak Khullu and sourced by Northa’s nomadic cooperatives in Tibet, lends itself to “intensely soft” scarves that feel like fleece, but look much better. The elegant Nomad Dense Boiled Rows Scarf comes in a chic sage and gray, with delicately fringed edges. The article is an exercise in, sure, you can give a scarf this season, but why not make it one the likes that cashmere and wool have never seen?

Sperry Authentic Original Boat Shoe

The hallmark of American generational wealth is its nondescriptness, due enormously to the humility of its remarkable heritage brands. Sperry, who made the first ever boat shoe back in 1937, is selling that same style today for only $110, which many see as a one-time-purchase challenge, wearing their decades-old pairs as beater trophies. Before marketing got involved, this was how luxury was best defined.

Perfumer H 50ml Perfume, Saddle

Totally sensuous. A compliment farmer. Plus the right name(s) at the right time. I love the story of this Perfumer H fragrance made in collaboration with Galerie Half, which contributed sliced-off bits of a horseback riding saddle to inspire such a sensory experience with no satisfactory counterpart in descriptive language. I’m sure it’s “very my type,” whatever that may be, but this smoky, animalistic, subtly floral alchemy would find a fan in anyone without a strict, one-perfume policy.

Hermes Travel Makeup Brush, Le Voyageur

Half the gift of Hermes is in the glee of the orange box. The house’s travel makeup brush comes in a perfectly tiny one and, at under $80, it’s an excellent bit of accessible luxury. With a slanted applicator that spans across the makeup-use spectrum, the brush is intended for travel. That said, it possesses more sculptural uprightness than its flay-laying counterparts—at home, it can perch, trophy-like, among perfume bottles and candles and be admired from across the room.

Swedish Stockings Alice Cashmere Tights

Cashmere is a gift-giving stalwart, but if you want points for originality, focus on the oft-neglected lower half. These tights are durable (but semi-sheer), warm and, importantly, comfortable. And like all undergarments from the Scandi brand, they’re made from 80% recycled material, which would mean almost nothing in effect if they weren’t of category-leading quality and design.

Sezane Clyde Trench

Personally, I would never dare gift someone a pair of pants, say, but trench coats, in their forgivingly unstructured bid for universality are—like knit cardigans—an exception to the no-clothing rule. I wore this one by Sezane recently and have to hand it to the French for nailing this mod, A-line silhouette and check lining. I truly got so many comments on it (and agreed with them all), that this is the one fashion item from my own closet I’m including on this list. There are also some pretty 3-for-$5 gift pouches to fold it into should you so decide.

Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti Sliver Bean Pendant Necklace

Elsa Peretti’s jewelry for Tiffany has found its way onto appendages worlds over, and has never felt ubiquitous or basic. Some of the most creative dressers I know have their own pieces that they pride themselves on being “not the kind you usually see.” Unexpected items from Peretti’s archive are—surprisingly, to me—listed in the $100-$200 range on Grailed. When the bean undoubtedly sells out, there’s also this curved heart bangle, triple teardrop necklace, and the holiest of grails: this stone-capped bottle pendant strung on an 18k gold chain (TBH if this is in your budget, this is the real gift pick).

Monastery Essentials Kit

You can give the gift of Grecian (dermal) healing with Athena Hewitt’s Monastery Essentials Kit. The starter pack includes a trio of the brand’s bestsellers in an elegantly packaged set—Rose and Gold, oils for cleansing and nourishing, and Attar, a multi-use balm. (A coin-headed tube squeezer is the forever part of this token that can live on at the end of toothpastes and hand lotions long after the bottles’ contents are gone.) Hewitt spent 20 years as an esthetician, and created Monastery to curb her clients' product consumption—which usually made their skin worse. Aesthetically keen, but over-exfoliated, friends might appreciate this gentle solution.

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With contributions from

Christina Holevas

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