Christmas gift ideas

Valerie McPhail
MSMU Class of 2015

(12/2019) The nature of gift giving is never void of thoughtfulness, intention, or love. For some, this action translates into an Amazon gift card, offering the recipient freedom to shop as desired. My approach leans more ritualistic. It’s a process that leads with sourcing ideas to tailor the individual’s interests and needs, and concludes with punctuating wrap packaging. The following recommendations draw from this place. With hope to inspire in moments of stress, or getting caught in the motions, may these reflections recommend a fresh perspective on giving.

Wellness - Consider this type of gift honored in the name of self-care. A wellness gift is intentional, proactive, and an overall investment in one’s health and wellbeing. The latest conclusions for mental health report on the weighted blanket. When self-care involves a ‘staycation’, a retreat to your bed, includes a snuggle with a weighted blanket. Bearaby, "The Napper" is the answer by means of technology advancement in wellness theory that shows just how relational the body is to the mind. In comforting the body, abating anxiety and instituting rest for the body, the weighted blanket feels like a hug, as Bearaby best explains. The weighted blanket, an investment by means of the price, costs short of 300 dollars. However, health is wealth. Minimalist design, and soft-tone colors: sky blue, silvery pink and stone-cut gray, is basically a beautiful metaphor for the simplicity of self-care. New age technology can aid in simplistic-seeming solutions for our better health and wellbeing.

Beauty - A visit to the West Village’s CAP Beauty feels like a treasure every time. The ritual is filled with a curated selection of the best-vetted products current to the beauty industry. Never flashy or unassuming, the shop is stocked with respect to self-care and wellbeing – an investment worth indulging. Shopping at CAP Beauty results with a conjunction of beautiful products – face oils, body butter, and a dry brush, which are individually lush and communally rewarding. Together they are supple, building a ritual for self-treatment. This is the best gift to self and to wish and encourage unto others. The brand’s Captivator Love Bath is a fantastic product to introduce and encourage nightly baths. Pair this with Weleda’s Skin Food cream for the body, and Monk Oil for the face, to deeply hydrate the skin. Alternatively Canadian brand, 8 Faces offers a "Boundless Solid Oil." A face moisturizer option leaves your skin feeling dewy and protected. Incorporating a bath routine, I have recently found, is a regiment way to slow down and pause from of the busyness of our days. The body lotion and face oils rejuvenate the skin to moisture, leaving the body feeling appreciated and cared for. Gifted as a set, these products inspire a ritual for good mental and physical health.

Sport - Table tennis is a sport that unites my family around the holidays, as well as karaoke. Each year, an impromptu game of doubles with my uncle and father quickly becomes a tournament for the best of three claims winner, but no one's counting. A pair of Tiffany's paddles make a pretty set for the table and a perfect excuse for a rematch. Fashion has a way of elevating the normalized. Tiffany’s is no exception. These paddles mark a fashion forward team distinguished by stylish equipment, offering an interesting curve to the game. When the Tiffany’s brand engages with sport, there is a feeling of intention behind the material things in life. Tiffany's is breaking the mold. These luxurious leather and walnut paddles bring an art form to your lifestyle.

Fashion - Fashion is the most difficult and rewarding gift to offer. A piece of fashion is not just an objective item of clothing, but a way of communicating. As a result, gifting a piece of fashion means supporting the dialogue of one’s personal expression. Catching wind of the holiday spirit, its nostalgia, and romance, a fashion gift to her this season is a DOEN dress. There is something about supporting a female-founded and lead fashion label that supports and continues to find new avenues to support women and advance the wellbeing of their lives. DOEN’s humble mission, benefiting cultural impact, is a sentiment less superficial regard to fashion. It bridges a holistic approach to how clothing can exist in our lives more than a brand name or sense of style. DOEN is a world filled with peasant blouses and maxi dresses, their signature pieces. The style is familiar; with odes to Americana Western sensibility. There is a foundation to its design and a regard for the feels wrapped up in the holidays – comfort, style, and charm.

The Retro North Face Jacket is the fashion gift for him this holiday season. The recreational fashion brand, known for its outdoor equipment and fashionable gear is making a comeback into mainstream fashion culture through popularizing the pullovers that built its namesake years prior. The lull allowed this piece to become a collector’s item in vintage stores around the city. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. The Men’s ‘95 Retro Denali Jacket, the brand name term to identify the original design is the ideal gift for the man who enjoys vintage pieces, a throwback sense of style, and also in need of a trendy winter jacket. Say no more, North Face is back and has you covered.

Home - A housewarming gift is an imparting influence on one’s lifestyle. May it be a Tom Ford Candle, a set of colorful ceramic dishes, a cat tree house or an art book, these items become a part of one’s dwelling place. In New York, where space is often limiting, a gift for the home is a guide into supporting one’s way of life. Tonne Goodman’s "Point of View," published in April 2019, is the book that brings reality to the glamour of the fashionable life New York City offers its creatives through a photo biographical story of female fashion photographer and previous Fashion Director at American Vogue, Tonne Goodman. With intimacy, delicateness and precision, so close to perfection, Goodman shares her life’s story in the medium of her communication: photographs. This gift is a great addition to the coffee table collection. It’s pure entertainment and interest for the fashion follower at heart. There is a lot of romance, glamour and beauty in the pages. Moreover, the photo storytelling carries the glory that can be discovered in this life.

While gift giving is a focal point of the holiday season, allow the opportunity to be an investment in those you treasure. There is joy in both positions. Not only is there joy in receiving, but gifting with intention offers anticipation for the response of your gift. Fashion’s influence always adds an extra spectacular element to the objects we hold in life. This is its biggest reward – not the fall collections, or the runway extravagance, but rather the impact fashion and its culture makes on every day life.