2023 informal, totally official gift guide

It's the most perplexing time of the year

Some rules for gift-giving

When in doubt, give something consumable.

A giant jar of piparra peppers, pick-and-mix Swedish candy, a top-shelf condiment like Limono Oro, a daily calendar, and taper candles are all convivial and low-commitment.

Tools magazine issue no. 3, $28.50 at William Stout in SF (buy locally and save on shipping!). Florida Coast tote bag, $28 from Home Depot. Karl Martens-designed daily calendar, $40. Il Buco butter dish, $78. A set of two wooden bead coasters, $102. An Ichendorf glass dessert tray, which is not obviously “me” but I adore in spite of that, $86.

Expensive, usually-published-abroad magazines.

They are a goldmine for both established and burgeoning snobs. Shoutout to my mom for this idea—she would very memorably wrap a stack of Nest and other mags for me as a teen, and I still remember the images in those old editorials. The new Nest is probably Tools, a design-industry “it” mag that publishes only once a year with related themes: to weave, to cut, to fold.

Museum stores rule.

Jewelry with historic precedence, red lipstick in “Neue Galerie red,” a set of peony-scented cedar pencils.

Shopping locally and offline is rather satisfying.

Bay Area brethren: Walker mesh bags are made in San Francisco (hat tip Tessa Watson) and rival Baggu for cuteness. New England dwellers: This onion basket is perfectly old-school and handmade by a woman in Maine. Chicago friends: You can’t go wrong with anything from The Weaving Mill, an artist-run industrial weaving studio, including a pillow in “optical twill” or a scarf in brown wool with a zing of neon orange.

Something practical and classic, but the highest-quality version of it.

To cite a few that I have deemed the best of the best: a sweatshirt, a canvas tote*, the only pepper mill that matters**, coasters, silver hoop earrings.

David Mellor “London” steak knives—perfection in a box, $169 from Heath. Fleece vest from Aseedonclöud, $435. Sophie Buhai everyday silver hoops, $171. Woven scarf from the fantastic Weaving Mill in Chicago, $68. A Walker mesh pouch in one of many excellent colors, $19. A selection of Peugeot pepper mills, $57-$120 from Food52.

Double down on a theme.

“Health is wealth” might involve the best sunscreen stick, hand sanitizer that actually smells good, a great baseball cap, and electrolytes. “Host with the most” = woven napkins + stain remover of choice + bitter liqueur + proven hangover remedy. “Vintage queen” = the results of a highly specific saved Ebay search + vintage scarf to wrap it + headstock ribbon to tie it up.

Pick someone to spoil rotten!

I’d give a set of David Mellor steak knives, a green-edged butter dish from Il Buco, handmade lace coasters, a custom (!) Bode corduroy pillow, or a blanket that usurps all other blankets.

Ideas that will succeed if you are, well, me.

Anything from the Japanese label Aseedonclöud that’s sold at Rennes in Philly, particularly this fleecy black vest number. One piece from Tung Chiang’s Design Series for Heath Ceramics—like this oversized container from Series Ten. This collection of California Design catalogs 7 through 11, which recently sold at auction (surely with me as the intended recipient, right?). Something frivolous to contrast a purposely utilitarian kitchen.

Wise advice, courtesy of my husband:

“Take notes all year long so you’re not pressed into random shopping on the internet.”

A real high-low mix here, people. Painterly mohair blanket made in Ezcaray, Spain, $375. A container from the Heath Design Series 10. Striped bags, $25 each on Etsy. Pick-and-mix Swedish candy from BonBon in NYC, $43. A set of California Design catalogs that just sold at auction for $310. Yes, that’s a lace doily. Not at all practical but something I’d enjoy looking at every day. $60 apiece.

Side note

Hold up, why is the Wirecutter making fashion and home goods recommendations? What actual human asked for these?? It’s one thing to set criteria for testing the efficacy of an appliance, quite another to definitively proclaim the “best” throw blanket, women’s denim—all highly subjective items that require individualized taste to succeed. The most recent email to send me over the edge was one touting the “best cheap cashmere sweater.” Pretty irresponsible, IMO, to condition readers to buy things that are so cheap they’re essentially disposable. A more niche gripe: Cashmere is also not the only soft yarn for sweaters. Mohair and alpaca are both less pricey, and wool can be softened by washing it with a conditioner. (Try Eucalan.)

On that note, sales in general are problematic. I think we all know this, inherently, and worth reading more if not. Obviously the psychology of a bargain (or the chance to save on something we’d buy full-price anyway) is a powerful drug, one to which I’m not fully immune… A few pre-selected holiday gifts, one precious skincare item, and some deeply discounted ankle boots are all making their way to me as I type. I am, if nothing else, a work in progress.

Guilty pleasure

At the risk of sounding like a bonehead: plastic bags. Liking something so intrinsically terrible feels subversive, and the materiality (cheap gossamer!) and visual intrigue (retro graphics!) appeal despite—or because of—this.

Anyway, friends, I am not the only one. Ali Osborn—whose show is up at Archie’s Press in the East Village through Christmas—invokes the humble plastic bag as a means to play up the graphic quality of his chosen medium of woodblock. Jaye Schlesinger, a Michigan-based painter of what I will call “observed reality,” renders depictions of plastic bags as fine art. To channel your inner American Beauty, you could do worse than this set of three, which allows the schlep of a plastic bag without the ocean-clogging aspect, or these striped bags, a more indirect interpretation.

L-R: Baggu, Ali Osborn woodcut, Jaye Schlesinger painting.

Odds and ends

• California is mandating cursive instruction in schools starting this January. I repeat: Cursive is BACK. Proof positive that not everything can be replicated digitally, as script typefaces are notoriously lousy.

• A very internet-y thing I’ve been enjoying is River, an infinite rabbithole of visual ephemera. Click on individual images to populate with related imagery, and right-click on a single image to open it for detailed provenance.

• An ingenious solution to the problem of sad overhead lighting.

• Make It Home Bay Area—which the San Francisco Chronicle just covered here—is a non-profit furniture bank with a mission to “end furniture poverty while protecting the environment.” Giving Tuesday is as good a day as any to donate; meanwhile, anyone local who wants to join me in volunteering over the holidays, please drop a line.

River: a great way to procrastinate on deadline.

Until next time!
Kelsey

*If you think this looks exactly like another better-merchandised, more expensive canvas tote, you’d be correct.
**Don’t be fooled by all the extremely visually appealing design-y pepper mills out there. You need a grinding mechanism with horsepower, and Peugeot is the best for my money.

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