Hey everyone, it's Bobby Schussler here, the shopping director at Who What Wear. I hope you enjoy our upcoming episode and all things holiday gifting. I had so much fun chatting with my colleagues Hilary, Kat, and Lauren about our favorite gift ideas this season. I hope you get a few ideas for the special people on your list. One place where I find extraordinary gifts is eBay.
It's where I find those extra special finds like cool, pre-loved pieces that you can't get anywhere else. I now look for the eBay Authenticity Guarantee Checkmark on listings to see which items can be physically inspected by experts before delivery. This is an amazing service ensuring that my friends and family's gifts will be the real deal.
I recently searched eBay for pretty vintage scarves. I love giving scarves as gifts because they're forever pieces and never go out of style. I started with pre-loved Gucci scarves and found fantastic options backed by authenticity guarantee. I spotted a reversible monogram scarf that I know my mother would love. It could totally become a new everyday piece.
A stunning bag is always a lovely gift idea, so I continued with my designer search and uncovered an incredible vintage Fendi bag gap bag from the 90s that is so special and one-of-a-kind. I can't think of anyone in my life that would not covet this bag because of its beauty and versatility.
I also love the idea of a chic card case as a gift. I noticed a rare Louis Vuitton style from a recent collab that popped up that any fashion person would be into. It's seriously next level. I also spotted a chic Prada silhouette that might just have to be a little gift to myself, and that's okay, right? There are honestly so many amazing gift options on eBay. I could go on and on about all of the treasures I found.
eBay is the go-to destination for my gifty needs and when I'm looking for a one-of-a-kind designer piece or a beautiful pre-loved item, the authenticity guarantee filter makes my shopping experience better because having the confidence of a verified item is essential for luxury purchases. Happy holidays everyone!
Welcome to the Who What Wear Podcast, your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the ever-evolving world of fashion. I'm Who What Wear, editor-in-chief, cat callings, and today I've gathered an absolute A team of gift givers to walk you through their recommendations for all of your holiday shopping.
I'm joined by Huwa Ware co-founder, Hilary Kerr, shopping director, Bobby Schessler, and editorial director, Lauren Eggertson. And we've curated some lovely gift options for everyone in your life, from the fashion person to the fitness enthusiasts and everyone in between. We cover absolutely everything in this episode, vintage butter molds, blocks hotel slippers, personalized olive oil bottles, and more.
I came away with so many amazing ideas for my loved ones and I hope you do too. It's all coming up on who, what, where. Hi everyone! Hi Cat! Hi!
I am so excited to sit down with you all to talk about one of my favorite things, literally one of my love languages, which is gifting. So this is a special episode because I'm going to be heading on parental leave in the next couple of weeks. So the voices you hear from today have kindly agreed to fill in for me by hosting the pod. While I'm out, we have our co-founder Hilary Kerr. Hello.
Our shopping director, Bobby Schessler. Hello. And our editorial director, Lauren Eggertson. Hi. Thanks for having us, Kat. Yes, I am jazzed about this topic. I can't even contain my excitement, to be honest. Well, you're a great gift giver. I'm just going to say that right off the start.
Yeah, you really are. Thank you. I accept that title. I also know that Hillary is very competitive gifter as well. I am. I like winning at present. I think we've got a nice spectrum of opinions to tap into today.
So first, let's talk about gifts for our specific community. Obviously we're speaking with fashion and beauty lovers and people who are really tapped into the market and the trends. Let's say this describes your best friend and you're willing to drop a little bit of money because she's your bestie. What are you buying for them? We're talking maybe like a hundred-ish plus dollars.
So my go to is figuring out something that's a luxury accessory from a brand that they're already obsessed with and I feel lucky because I was indoctrinated into this strategic gift giving by my best friend who gave me a school product key chain in like 2006 I was obsessed with schools.
Because that was the era and it was so fun and luxurious. And I thought about her every time I used my keys, which was all the time. And it just felt so charming and like something I would never have bought for myself. So I say, go to whatever brand your bestie is obsessed with and then find like the fun, quirky, interesting, lovely accessory that fits in your price point and buy that for them, something that they wouldn't buy for themselves.
Otherwise, my other strategy is take something that they already wear and love all the time and then upgrade it. So for example, like if they always have a really simple white t-shirt that they like fine, maybe give them a more luxury version of it. So just something that feels a little bit nicer or that is a brand that they've always been coveting. If they like their cotton t-shirt, maybe consider one from the row or something from the great. Just putting that out there, upgrade and everyday essential. That's me.
Gorgeous. I've given the luxury key chain before to a former coworker, rise Michelle. I think I did a vintage route though, like through Etsy or eBay or something. It touched on one of her interests. It was a little Gucci riding boot and she's a horse girl. So work that well. Perfect vintage and luxury and designer. Yes, please. I love that. If anyone wants to give me a designer key chain or a shirt from the wall, I send my address. My main criteria is always to give something that somebody wouldn't buy themselves thinking specifically to my best friend.
She's all about coach bags right now, which we all are also. Our gift guide is literally on the homepage right now with a coach bag front and center. So that's my pick. There's so many amazing styles, like the empire, the Brooklyn style, I think is what I would suggest for my friend in particular. It's a celeb favorite. It's a fashion person favorite. It's a Hillary Kerr favorite.
In the size 39, please, the big one. Yes, the big one. The suede cedar is definitely the front runner. I think it's sold out right now, but definitely go into the store or sign up for the alerts for the restock before the holiday season officially starts.
I love those. Yeah, that bag has taken over, hasn't it? It's gorgeous. It's a future heirloom. It's so simple and stylish and well made and it can fit your laptop. I should know I can fit a laptop and another bag inside of it. It's great. I feel like fashion people struggle with that. You don't want to have to carry a toe along with your cute handbag. So that's always something good. And it's not like $4,000.
Right, exactly. I feel like my friends aren't obviously in this niche fashiony community as we are, but something that I've really been loving are really sculptural, interesting, like chrome hair accessories. So there's one from Le Lette, New York, and it's like a little hair tie, and you can just put it on a ponytail, which is like very accessible
style if your hair is not in a little bob and it just is so beautiful and it can kind of transform any outfit so easily like a sweater, a t-shirt, you can also wear it to a cocktail party and it's definitely something that I know they wouldn't buy themselves or maybe would make them nervous to try something funkier in their hair like that but it's so fun when you have it and I feel like when you see it sitting on your dresser you just want to try to put it on and it'll be fun for them to think about me when they do so.
There's also fun vintage hairpins that I've been looking at, like on Etsy and things like that. So kind of a curation of those across the board would be fun to gift this season. I have been seeing a trend reporting about the sort of hairpins and we're placing the claw clip era. So right on target. It's much sheaker. Achieving the actual French twist is very difficult. I've tried it. I have really heavy hair, so I don't think I'm the best. Oh, poor you. Can't.
Yeah, so hard. What was me? I love that the theme of accessorizing seems to be running through all of our responses, which is nice because it's an item that you don't have to worry about size or anything like that or getting that right. Okay, I also love the category of affordable gifts because one of my pet peeves around gifting is that so many gift guides online are like, oh, gift your friend this $500 sweater. And I'm like,
Like I just suggested? Yes, that is wrong. Go to the row. I mean, maybe people like their friends more than I do, but I like a thrifty thrill gift. So I want to hear your guys' racks in the under 100 category. I love that. I wouldn't categorize it as a thrifty thrill, but I can say that it is officially under $100, which is a Hermes or Celine beauty product.
Personally, my favorite thing is to do an Hermes nail polish as someone who owns two of them. I can say without a doubt that they are some of the highest quality longest lasting nail polish I've ever used in my entire life. The colors are impeccable. The bottle is beautiful. It's very hard to justify buying a very expensive nail polish for yourself, but it is a great gift. So fancy nail polish or beauty product. Celine just launched a red lipstick, I think. That's really pretty.
Also, the Hermes lip balm. No color is also amazing. I use it every day and you can refill it. So maybe I should just take that as my answer, but I won't have another one.
Yeah, give us your other one, Bobby. Okay, so again, like, leaning into what people love, I'm just going to say bag charms. Huge trend if you follow me on Instagram. And if you don't, it's at Bobby Shasang, you should do it though. I'm obsessed with this trend. I don't know where it came from. My bags are completely chaotic. Jane Birkin. Yeah, well, yes. I know. You can't even see Bobby's bags anymore. I know where it came from. I don't know why I started going crazy. You cannot see the bag.
She's charmed up. It is true. I have seen from afar and I love it. Parker Thatch is one of my favorites. They like cute bubble charms are under $100. I have like a Daisy Duck one that's from Bobble Bar that I get compliments on all the time. My daughter loves Daisy Duck or at least I pretend that she does.
And then I love the Wizard of Oz, which maybe isn't that shocking. But Mark Jacobs just did a Wizard of Oz collab and he made a really fun Wizard of Oz bag charm. So I just added that. Love. You've loved Wizard of Oz your whole life, Bobby. Since I was three, I had a whole collection. I had a Wizard of Oz Christmas tree, doll collections. Maybe I shouldn't admit that all right here on this podcast.
Deep cut, fun fact. That's fun for us to know because now we can gift you things in that realm. Yeah, please. Love it. Okay, my answer for an affordable gift that I love giving, which might sound lame at first, but I love luxury socks. They're almost always under $100. One of my favorite brands is Comse, and they're around like $35, $40 depending on the kind of material you got.
If you've had a pair on your feet, you're just like, how have I been missing out on this? I love this brand specifically because they have the best quality. They come in Egyptian cotton, Kashmir wool. They come in crazy colors, like the kind of colors that can fully transform an outfit. You feel like your outfit's boring.
you put on this crazy pop of color sock, you just feel so cool and it makes your whole look feel really intentional. So I think they're just a fun little gifting moment. They also sell them in pairs of three or different kind of groupings of colors, which is fun if you want to go maybe a little bit above that $100 price range, but they're my favorite and I just love them and I want to tell everyone about them. Love it. I would like some socks, so sign me up for your sockless one. You got it.
Okay, on to the next category for the home body. So the girl that it's hard to get her out to the club, the bedroder, the bedroder. What would a person like this enjoy being gifted? I'm so curious because we all know her. Sometimes we are her. Okay, so.
My mom is a cancer, so I have grown up with a home body. And one thing that I did was I upgraded everything in my parents' bathroom and shower one year. So I got them this beautiful little wicker basket, and then I took all of their drugstore faves and gave them a little shush. So it was upgraded shampoo and conditioner from whey and from my favorite rose. It was better for you body wash from necessary. Body lotion, Shawnee Darden, face care, Dr. Idris skincare products.
Some towels from Matuk, which is one of my favorite brands. Wheezy is also another really great brand. They also will monogram those towels, but just really gave them a bit of a zhuzh. My parents are so down to earth and so lovely and so utilitarian when it comes to products like that. So it was fun for me to go through and just give them a little freshen up of all of the best products that are out there.
They have continued to buy a number of them, so I feel as though the present was enjoyed. And at least it makes when I'm showering at their house nicer for me. So selfish and giving all at once. That's a great idea. I might have to steal that. And by the way, it doesn't have to be super expensive. Like, oh, well, this is the best Dr. Braunnarscent or this really great black washcloth with cute little eyes on it. And it just feels like, especially for us who work in this industry, someone appreciates that curation and it was really fun for me to do.
For me, I feel like slippers are certainly generic, which I'm aware of, but I just feel like a hotel slipper feels very chic for a homebody. There's something so luxurious always about like people parading down to breakfast in their hotel slipper. I was just in a hotel actually for Lauren's wedding this last weekend and you saw that. Bamba's, I was looking for myself and they have like a really cool chic one for $65. Lisette obviously has amazing stuff for spurge option, but I think like a chic hotel slipper is fun.
You could also go the merch route and get them a slipper from their favorite hotel. Yeah. Okay, Bobby, I piggybacked off of yours because I'm such a homebody and I love a robe.
like all different kinds, like a really warm cozy one or like a really thin cotton one for the summer with like a good print on it. And I think they're so fun to gift because it's like this little at home luxury. And my dream robe, if money were absolutely no object, which unfortunately is, would be the ones from Bernadette. They have crazy beautiful silk ones. Some of them are even like embellished with beading and sequins, but on the more realistic pay scale.
This brand's deuce and do's in has these really fun, they're all striped like block colors, they're just so statementy and there's no way you can't feel good putting that on at home. So those are my faves. You should look at Petite Plume also. Yes, they have really good ones. They have cozy versions, but they also have like more luxury versions. They're really, really nice. And the price point is usually really good. And it's most everything is 100% mulberry silk, which is also machine washable, which is nice. Ooh, I love that. Great kid stuff too. And you can do family matching stuff. Oh, it's so fun.
Okay, so an evolution of the home body is the hostess who also loves to luxuriate in her home, but with the angle of entertaining. I love this friend. This friend invites you over a lot for dinner. It's home cooked usually and
It's always nice to come with something in hand. Like, what is a great hostess gift that's not a bottle of wine? Oh, category! I am stumped on, so I'm curious to hear your ideas. This is my favorite category, so starting off. I am deeply obsessed with these odd-sized measuring cups and spoons from All Cloud.
I bought a set for myself at William Sonoma. They're so fancy and heavy. And if you have a friend who's a baker, they are perfect because they come in all of these weird sizes. So it's like one and a half cups or three quarters of a cup. So you don't have to get a whole bunch of stuff messy. They're so nice. It sounds so over the top, but it's perfect for someone who loves to bake.
Also, Flamingo Estate, which we all know and love. They have amazing produce, amazing candles. They also are right now doing limited edition personalized olive oil bottles, which I think is lovely and chic and is like wine, but more utilitarian, which is nice. And then finally, I also really love all things Heather Taylor home.
She has a bunch of really beautiful linens at a range of different price points. Female found a business, local here in LA. Cocktail napkins are always nice because I feel like most folks don't have linen or a fabric cocktail napkin, but that's really lovely, plus environmentally friendly. Or you could do the thing that my friend Olympia, who's the creative director of J. Crew did, she had a dinner one time and everyone's napkin, she had the monogrammed with their initials, which I
I thought was so clever. And someone else sent us one time a bunch of linen napkins that had everyone in my family's name monogrammed on them. So I think that was such a cute and fun idea. Hillary, that's the one with me, I think. Unless you have multiple people doing that.
Wait, those are the ones with the red, right? Yeah, I did the like Italian pizzeria themed one. That was so amazing. We use them all the time. So the fact that my children who are five and seven have a Clark and a Wilder napkin, they think they are the coolest people ever. Anyway, my point is this is a wonderful idea and I love it. And thank you, Kat. It does make you feel very special for any age really, I think, to have a personalized napkin. It's a fun one. No, I'm telling you guys, Kat gives the best gifts.
For me, I love the items from I'm sure a lot of you know Sophie Lou Jacobson. She has like amazing decor items and glassware and there's like a picture that I'm obsessed with right now just with like unique colors and kind of quirky handle just like an interesting shape.
So I think any piece from her would be great. Does she also do lamps? Yeah, I've seen those lamps. They are gorgeous. My gift, I kind of like it for the hostess and actually beyond to like this idea of you're helping someone build a collection through your gifts. So
Obviously you should do this with someone who will be in your life for a long time, but I'm obsessed with January 1735. This is like Oriente Italiano collection specifically, but they have all these other different kinds of styles and collections that you can choose from. But I really like the idea of giving one piece to someone for different occasions over the course of their life. So you're kind of helping them build the collection in this way. They have really beautiful serving platters and even smaller trays. And then they have different size plates and things and
When you're buying one at a time, the prices can feel more attainable. I think like a small salad plate can be like a hundred something dollars and a dinner plate can be like 135. I just think it's such like a luxurious fun statement gift that you probably wouldn't buy yourself and it's fun to kind of have someone be on their toes a little bit for like when's the next one coming and I just like that concept.
Anticipation, I love it. Mm-hmm. To go along with your idea of olive oil, Hilary, Gohar World is a New York-based brand, and they have so many delightful linen items that are very unique, and they have little mini aprons that you can put on the bottle, like it's wearing a little apron.
I just am quite charmed by that. And you can get custom embroidery on the front. So you could do, you know, their last name or something charming. And of course, you can put a bottle of wine or a non-alcoholic spirit in there too. So the little apron fits all sizes of things. Okay, my next idea is a little niche, but there's this item that I learned about recently called, I'm going to butcher this, but it's like, cokele, but it's this French tableware item that's usually silver.
And you can get them on e-bear. I'd say if you're lucky for around $50. And they are these like butter, press mold things. Yes. Yes. That make like a mini butter sculpture when you put the butter in them, like soft butter. And it like pushes the butter up into like these amazing swirls and flowers, depending on which one you get. They're all different little patterns. And you put it on your table when you're having a meal. And it's just this fanciful, like for no real good reason, does it exist?
Besides, elegance. Elegance, yes. I love it, thoughtful details for the table. Yes, please. I love that. Okay, great. I feel like our hostess is stacked up. Yeah, she's ready. Okay, next category is for the health and wellness aficionado. What should we give them? So,
As someone who is relatively new to fitness, I am obsessed with my workouts, which are a digital workout from The Nest. Female founded New York Company. I stream it almost every single day. The price per class is almost zero at this point. I feel like they're paying me to take class because I use it so much. You don't require a trampoline for the cardio, though I obviously do that.
They have cardio school classes. They are amazing. And it's just nice to know it's not going to like some big chain. It's actually going to these great female founders. Otherwise, I would say my far and away favorite swimwear brand is called Left on Friday. And they now are making workout clothes that are incredible.
their bathing suits were the official bathing suits for the Canadian beach volleyball team. The two founders originally started at Lulu Lemon, so of course they would get into active wear eventually. The tops, the pants, all of that are great, and I think that's actually kind of a nice present because I personally hate buying workout clothes for myself. So if someone gave me fancy, lovely, nice workout stuff from Left on Friday, I would be happy. That's amazing. I feel like it's one of the swim brands that nails
Sizing so it actually like feels good on your body, which is weirdly not a standard It's tough out there. Yeah, 10 out of 10 recommend amazing So I'm just gonna go with what I know my husband's more into it And he likes these products from we gym like yoga mats and they have weights and different working out accessories I like them because everything comes in like sheet colors like there's a rose and there's sandstone we have those in our home and
and the price points pretty decent so yeah i think that is a brand to look at if you don't know about them already i didn't thank you yeah that sounds chic i also love working out and so do a lot of my friends this one might be a little bit obvious but
Workout classes are so expensive these days. So we kind of love to gift each other one off gift cards or classes that we'll purchase to our favorite workout studios around where we live. That's always really fun because it is just such a luxury to get even three classes or something like that. It's really a game changer. So we always like to take notes of like the new studios that we're all trying and loving and
We often do go a lot together, so that's our favorite thing. I like to pair it with a cute pair of workout socks like Aloe or Nike or like a fun scrunchie or some sort of workout accessory so they have something to open along with it too. I like a theme too around like here's different elements that all sort of work together is fun. Okay, personalized gifts. This category makes me smile. It's just the best. It shows that you put thought into it. You thought about this weeks in advance. This is no last minute gift. It's impossible unless you own an embroidery machine like myself.
Okay, so it is November. We have time on our hands until December. So what are the personalized gifts we should be prioritizing this season? So if you have a friend who
travels a lot. I think there's something really nice about a personalized packing cube. Paravel, which is one of my favorite travel brands, makes some really beautiful ones. I love them. I'm a Virgo, so obviously I'm team packing cube and I like a monogram, so I think they're great. Also, speaking of great,
One of my favorite brands, The Great, makes the most amazing sweatshirts for men, women, kids, and you can have them monogrammed. I think it's really sweet to do sort of like the chest embroidery, one pocket area. You can do a last name, you can do a nickname, which is fun, or I like a saucy word that people are not expecting.
that might be considered off-color. That's always fun. Or I think the other thing that's really nice is to monogram the cuff, like right at the seam. I think that's something that's really lovely. I did that as a group gift for a bunch of my direct reports one year. I've done it for my husband, for my best friends. Everyone loves it.
Also, Claire V does these amazing stunning pouches and clutches and you can get the monogram. So it's wonderful because it can be a chauffeur, like they could use it as an organization piece in their coach bag, or you could use it as a clutch for going out and it can be different prints. So you can make something in different patterns. They last forever. They're really lovely and you can have those monograms. I love that. Gorgeous.
Yeah, I definitely want to echo that also a monogrammed sweater or cashmere sweater, I think is always lovely. J. Crew, you can customize and monogram a piece for just $10 extra, which I think is amazing. I also love the idea, which I'm doing like a really unique jewelry box, like a small one with a customized piece of jewelry in it. The brand Tiny Tags makes really pretty customizable lockets, which is great. But the jewelry box, I found on Netaporte, it's by Sophie.
bill abroad she makes amazing pieces but it's a gorgeous kind of yellow velvet little mini jewelry box it's eighty five dollars and i just think it would be lovely with a customized necklace inside so cute i love like a luxury pajama and i love a monogram pajama because for those people who maybe it's not their style to have something monogram that they would wear out i think it's really fun and kind of catchy and cute to have it at home.
And I love Everjay pajamas. I forever, just like the feeling of them. They're so soft. They last for so long. There's so many washes. They just feel like the coziest things in the world. And it's also fun to get them for a couple or for a family or things like that. I know you touched on that, Hilary. Up fast.
I'm also speaking of the embroidery, which I'm very into, that classic LL Bean tote just got a little sexy upgrade with a collaboration with Tibi that they just released. And it has this like belt situation around the top that kind of feels a little more fashion and edgy and vaguely prodigy. Maybe even not so vaguely. So it's a good time to get a little monogram tote. They've got some fresh offerings. I feel like this episode is going to be packed.
with ideas. I know. We're on to experiential gifts, which I think is really lovely because as I get older, I sometimes second guess. I'm like, do they already have something in this category? People kind of are stocked with the stuff they need. So doing something outside of a physical present, like a consumable or an experiential can feel like the right move. So I'm curious for your thoughts in this category.
It's a classic, but I still like a food of the month club. So I love like cheese of the month from Marie's cheese shop in New York or Helen's wine club, which is Helen of John and Vinny's Helen's. You can do a two bottle reoccurring. You can do a full year of it. Also, Xingerman's, which is by you, Bobby does bacon of the month club. And I'm sorry, there's not a dad in the world or a Hillary who does not like that gift. It is delicious and fun. So I put that there.
Also, I am obsessed with my friend, but also celebrity makeup artist, Joey Maloof, he is offering Zoom makeup classes where he takes you and your products and your techniques and then just upgrades how you do your makeup. I did one for myself earlier this year. It is a gift that keeps on giving. My makeup skills have been upgraded by like 937%, so good, putting that out there.
I always like some sort of monthly delivery service. I got a flower service ones, which I liked because then every month or during that time you're kind of thinking about that person. These days, like a kid subscription box service feels appealing, especially like an educational one, little passports is a brand that I've seen that just feels useful and interesting. And yeah, something that keeps going longer than just the holiday season.
I say love every also makes a really great one for the little littles. And then once they get older, if you have a kid who is into engineering or building things at all, crunch labs, they do amazing stuff. Ooh, I'm going to check that out for my niece's a nephew. Really good. I love gifting concert tickets. I feel like it actually is my go-to. I do it for my husband, my friends, my family.
I think it kind of shows that you pay attention to the things that they like. And even if it's far away, sometimes that's even more fun because you just have something to look forward to in the year. So I think it's just a fun way to create like your next date night together. Also comedy shows, I recently gifted a friend tickets to a comedy show, which is really fun. And yeah, again, it just kind of shows you paying attention to the things that they like and the things that they mention and you create more memories together. Beautiful. I've got some
membership ideas too. I feel like for kids and families, a membership to a museum or a aquarium or gardens, like an annual sort of something is lovely and just gives maybe answers that question of like what to do on a weekend. You can come through for them. For a movie lover, I love a subscription to like criteria and collection or movie. And lastly, I'd love an in-house massage gift certificate or like someone who comes and does your manicure pedicure in your house. That to me feels like the ultimate luxury.
And then they can schedule it before they have an event or something like that and works out well. Okay, now this one's kind of personal. Most memorable gifts. What's a gift that you've given or received that really stands out in your mind as well. They went above and beyond. For received, I would say I have these custom gold cuff bracelets that have my kids' names in diamonds.
They are future heirlooms. Both of my children have expressed great interest in when the bracelets will be theirs. They're super sentimental and major once in a lifetime presence that my husband gave me, so I really love that. My best gift that I have given is he found a vintage watch that he really loved.
And I secretly bought it and then told him, like, oh no, it sold out and then surprised him with it at Christmas. And he was so happy because it was something he would have never bought for himself in terms of the price point, but it was a really wonderful and memorable watch. And he wears it all the time and it gives him great joy. And I also got to surprise him by lying to him.
I think it's those sentimental find jewelry presents that really do it for me. I know the listeners are going to be curious what's the brand of the cuffs that you have, Hilary? They're from 14 carats in Beverly Hills. It is more affordable than you would think. There's still an investment. Ask for SEMA. She's wonderful, but everyone there is very nice. 14 carats is legendary.
Amazing. Yeah. Mine is also on the fine jewelry spectrum. I also do not buy fine jewelry for myself. Someone has to do that for me, which was my husband, which he always does, which is very nice. But I think the best one certainly was last year he gave me the Cartier Trinity ring.
Christmas was like four weeks or something after our daughter was born. And so he gave me that and engraved it with her initials and birth date. So I love that. We love a sentimental husband. Yeah, we love that. So sweet. You'll see what he does in this year. Anyway, but I love that and represents the three of us, which is very nice. So if you have another child, I guess just have to add another ring.
It's so cute. I love that ring. My favorite gift ever was also from my husband and it's been that theme of experiences. Um, I know it's that I feel like everyone she just got married. So.
very new feels not natural to say yet but we learned that one of my favorite bands was opening for one of his favorite bands but like only in Mexico City and we kind of just fantasized about it and we're like how crazy would that be but like we're not going to go to Mexico for a concert and he went out on a limb and surprised me with the concert tickets and it was so fun because we were just like oh my gosh okay we're going to Mexico City and then we planned this whole trip and
It was just so spontaneous, which I think is so fun for a gift. It can feel scary as the giver to kind of go there with it, but it was just so exciting. It was the first time anyone had ever really done something like that for me. So I loved it. That's so sweet. Oh my goodness. That's romantic.
Okay, we've moved on to the last section, I believe, which is on our gifting tips, meaning the strategies, planning for gifting etiquette hit me with how we approach gifting season. So in a perfect world, I would like to give an individual present to every person in my life. However, at the holidays, when time is our most precious resource, I tend to find for different groups of people in my life,
one present that I give to multiple people. So like all of my best friends will get the same present. This year, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law are all getting the same present, which is the coziest home coat from the brand Off Hours. It's sort of like the world's chicest version of a blanket. It's a blanket jacket, perfect for your bed-roading girl.
But it's just so cozy and warm and it's this beautiful electric-y lilac color. The founder also is the founder of soft services and it's so cozy and warm and lovely and luxurious. So I think if you can come up with the thing where it's like this group of people, this is what I'm doing across the board. That makes it a little bit easier and then
You don't have to worry about something that has happened to me before where someone gets a present and your other friend gets a present and they like the other friend's present better. And it just solves that. It makes it clear that you're not playing favorites, which is nice. Strategic. I like that. One thing I do, just from a shopping perspective, is I always make sure outside of course going to KootWara.com daily, subscribing to KootWara newsletter, following an Instagram, TikTok, and everything else. But I do subscribe to all of my favorite retailers
newsletters and like the push notifications, because there's so many holiday sales happening, like way before Black Friday, Cyber Monday time, which is obviously when a lot of people shop. J Crew just had, you know, 50% off sweaters and that sort of thing. So I always make sure I'm up to date on every single shopping opportunity, because you can be like, Oh, yeah, maybe I do want to get a cashmere sweater for somebody. But if you have your email notifications, all of that said, and you could find one for literally 50% off.
which I think is great. Yeah, the competition to reach the holiday shopper earlier and earlier feels like the game that retailers are playing that you can reap the benefits from. Yes. Mine kind of touches on that and mine's more of an idea for what I do for my bulk gifting, but I love getting like a little
set of glasses or a tray or something like that from like a vintage store. They're often super affordable. And then I got something small to go with it. So if it's like a pair of martini glasses, you can get like fancy olives or if you get a tray, you could get like a little bracelet, you know, something like the kind of pairs with the item.
And it's nice to do that over the years and I have like a little box in our garage that I just put things in. And sometimes I buy things specifically for one person in mind, but then other times I just have like, let's say five to ten gifts for like that last minute person coming over that I just want to like throw something together to give them. So it's really nice. It's not for the procrastinator, but since it's like a hobby that I do regularly, I try to challenge myself throughout the year to just pick up little things.
I love it. We do have one little bonus round, ultimate no-fail gifts because sometimes you don't know what to get someone. You don't really know them that well. What are your trusty standbys? Fire round. Okay, so my go-to for this is a vintage or first edition of a culture culty book.
So for fashion folks, I would get an early edition of Judith Krantz's book, Scruples, or Valley of the Dolls, or The Best of Everything, something that's design-y and cool. If you really love someone, some Joan Didion is never a bad idea. It could be poetry, it could be whatever. Who knows? But Abe Books, A-B-E Books.com has an incredible selection.
of vintage books from around the world, many of which are outrageously affordable prices. It's sentimental and it's personal and it's cool and I think anything that has sort of like a niche culty following is kind of a fun one for this. I'm very into that. And there's that cookbook store that I feel like you always go to. Bonnie Slotnick. Right next to the Bowery in the East Village. She has the most amazing selection of vintage cookbooks known to mankind. It's a perfect place to shop, period. Amazing. I love it.
mine, which maybe isn't revolutionary, but a cashmere anything item, whether it's a sweater or gloves or hats, socks. It's always luxurious. My friend literally has never owned a cashmere sweater. She's almost 40, and so I was like, I'm so happy I could make that dream come true. And there's so many options for under $100, too, for cashmere sweaters. I love that. It's a cashmere recall.
Okay, mine might be a little obvious too, but I love the Lewis Sherry chocolate tins and they come in all different sizes with all different colors or prints and designs. And once you eat the chocolates, you can leave the tins out for display. You can use them as a little catch all by your bed for your rings or bracelets and things. And I also love coffee table books. They're just such a fun gift to open and they're so pretty and
I think especially if you buy one that kind of goes with someone's face, you kind of are showing that you thought about their space and you kind of maybe have an idea where you would like it. And I just like that a lot. Those together is a really fun gift, but just the little chocolates in a sweet card, I think are really fun. I just love them. One of my favorite gifts to give to almost anyone is a mini Polaroid camera and the film. I feel like young folks would be delighted by that, but it just is something that you can put into use right away if you're at a holiday gathering or
beyond the holidays. I got a birthday party or something. It's just a fun way to create some memories right then and there.
Of course, me, I'm always trying to like customize everything. So I have this like sticker maker and you can like put their name or even just cute stickers you have on it and kind of customize it. I think it's always well received in my experience. And then this is not groundbreaking, but I think it's a good reminder that we can always do a charitable gift, a gift that gives back. I have someone share their favorite charity with you and call it done. We all have plenty of stuff and the world could definitely use a little bit more giving, I think.
So it's a feel-good one that never fails. True, true. Amen. My goodness. I think we did a lot of the legwork for everyone. So you're welcome. I got some ideas. So thanks you three. Yeah, I got an amazing idea. I did too. We are really set up for the season ahead. Thank you so much for joining me and sharing all the ideas and happy shopping. Happy shopping. Thank you. Happy shopping.
A huge thank you to who what we are gifting genius is, Hillary Kerr, Bobby Chesler, and Lauren Eggertson. Make sure to subscribe to our show wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode. And while you're there, I'd also be so grateful if you'd rate and review us. If you have guests to suggestions,
or any other feedback, drop us a line at podcast at whowhatwhere.com or you can find us on social at whowhatwhere. See you next Wednesday on the who what where podcast.
This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hammers, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Claire Schmidt. Our editor is co-Takosuki Churnavan. Our audio engineers are at Glen Canyon Audio, and our music is by Jonathan Leahy.
Thank you again to eBay for sponsoring this episode. This is what you do when you have high standards and fancy all the fancy things, like a dual saddle bag or that diamond tennis bracelet. You go to eBay. There, you'll find new loves that will never disappoint.
expertly authenticated, whether it's that vintage pearl necklace or brand new ruby earrings, a product crossbody bag, or classic watches like that Rolex Oyster or that Cartier tank. On eBay, there are no limits to your high standards. Yeah. eBay. The place for new, pre-loved vintage and rare fashion. eBay. Things people love.
