Our gift guide pt. 2

It's the most wonderful time of the year

27 Nov

As per tradition, we asked Dirt contributors and friends to share what’s on their wishlist this year. Have fun, give thanks, go shopping. Not necessarily in that order.

Read part one here.

I’m such a summer person that I try to live in a state of willful ignorance about which season it is. Instead of mittens, leather flip-flips from Maria Farro’s ongoing sample sale or Zoe Leonard’s book of Niagara Falls postcards from 1900-1950.

It’s not out until next year, but a pre-order of Katie Kitamura’s Audition. And, Jacqueline Rose’s Sexuality in the Field of Vision from Verso; I’ve bought enough from their half-off sales over the years that, among everything intangible I owe them, I feel like I owe them money. 

I'm asking for donations to Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign, because what would be a better gift than an equitable, even livable, city? Speaking of the city, get any Manhattan-coded hag in your life Elaine Kraf's The Princess of 72nd Street and a promise that you'll buy them the rest of Kraf's delirious daydreams of novels as they're reissued throughout 2025. Take a friend who had a shitty fall out for martinis and tell them a secret. Buy a girl something silky to sleep on or in. Preorder Aria Aber's Good Girl for the most erudite party girl in your life.   

2024 was a tumultuous, transformative period for me, which is also to say that this winter I'm expecting a rather tetherless holiday season. It's my first in nearly five years as a single woman and—by Christmas—I'll be only three weeks out from major surgery so still more or less trapped in my apartment. For my closest friends, I usually ferret out bizarre editions of beloved books, but I find myself increasingly thrilled with customized trinkets. Last year I bought my best girlfriend a compact mirror engraved with her name, but this year I'm thinking jewelry! My eleven-year-old dog recently realized she's a child of divorce and destroyed her bed, so I'm getting her a fresh orthopedic one from Chewy, on top of her biannual Lamb Chop. Unless Santa or some other man brings me one, I'm planning to finally gift myself a bottle of Stora Skuggan's Mistpouffer, seeing as I'm tired of ordering samples of it from Luckyscent every five weeks. I also LOVE these slippers and earmuffs from Ithaca Sheepskin, though whether we'll have a proper enough cold spell this year to warrant them remains to be seen.

A tricky WiFi situation this past summer saw me returning to a media of my youth: DVDs. Browsing through the Cornell library's extensive collection to discover my weekend watches quickly became a highlight of my summer. In an attempt to continue the habit, I would love a nice compact DVD player that I can connect to the projector in my room. I found this one on Amazon after a cursory Google search but I'd love someone to surprise me with something a little flashier. I'm also trying to grow my jewelry collection this year, so I'm asking for these rings from J. Hannah and Mondo Mondo, as well as this Wales Bonner necklace. As always, I wouldn't say no to a gift card from 100 Percent Silk—it's my favorite store.   

As a daughter of Soviet Jews who only celebrate a mostly gift-less New Years’, one of the most genuine and innocent joys of my adult life has been marrying into a proper Christmas-observing family. There’s something about my mid-thirties, pajamaed self planted in front of the tree, eagerly awaiting gift time, the novelty of lumpy stockings and twinkling tchotchkes that really sets my inner child free like nothing else. 

However, this will be my first holiday season with a literal child of my own, and ironically that makes me want to cling even more stubbornly to my new identity as Jewish Christmas morning brat, but let’s also work in some chic baby stuff into the gift-giving calculus:

I’d be thrilled if someone got me this pillow, anything from my friend Mater Soap, these divine Ukrainian perfumes if they can figure out how to ship them to the US or perhaps more practical is a perfume gift card to Stéle, a Human Design reading, or these wrinkly boots. Our little music-obsessed baby would love this wooden keyboard, or an elegant bead maze.

Here is one method of gifting books without making it feel like a chore for the receiver. Let’s say you have a friend you think would really like The Brothers Karamazov but they’re not a “voracious reader,” especially of literary fiction, nor have they expressed a desire to own that specific book. However, they are open to reading, read occasionally, and/or have read in the past. The way to get away with giving someone a "risky" book is to pair them with two approachable ones. My formula is one nostalgic or silly children’s book and one visual delight. For example, Alphas by Lisi Harrison and I Like You by Amy Sedaris. Or Diary of a Wimpy Kid and a book of cyberpunk photography. Or Frog and Toad or Ruth Krause’s Open House for Butterflies with a copy of Kitsch: the World of Bad Taste. Sources of visual delight include magazines like Lux in addition to books on food, architecture, and gardening. Used bookstores IRL and ThriftBooks online are among the best places to source. This is where you should cater to their interests both as a child and as an adult. By lowering the barrier to entry for 2/3 of the present, you have effectively lowered the barrier on average, officially making this an enjoyable gift unit. 

I heard that my Merry Rizzmas gift guide last year resulted in several successful exchanges between bfs and gfs. So the lord's work will be revived... meanwhile here are the best Dirt-y choices:

  • Luxury lighting outfit Apparatus commissioned The Cinnamon Project to make custom incense for each of their London, New York, and Los Angeles showrooms, and they're available to purchase — at least your home can smell like it would have a $32,000 horsehair pendant lamp in it.

  • My former roommate's ex-situationship has been on the anti-sex wave longer than you. Buy their shirt.

  • Set your Instagram alerts for @press_sf and snag a rare book such as Le monde du pain (1984) or Fireplaces (1992).

  • If I win the lottery the sign will be my 45r wardrobe

  • I’d like a pile of satsumas 

This year I’m bringing a Tre Marie pandoro to parties and outsourcing my annual cookie box to Veneiro’s. But for myself, I’d like sundries that gild the lily: Book 2 of Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume, a travel vial of Hermès’s steamy-leathery Violette Volynka, a rare pair of Alaïa FW1989 shearling gloves, silk underwear from Rive Gauche lingerie shop Sabbia Rosa (you can DM), jasmine-scented taper candles, vintage Lalique for my vanity, and a discreet black cashmere balaclava. When I was in London this fall, I saw jars of potted stilton at Fortnum & Mason and thought they were chic. You’ll never go wrong with red Fortuny. I’d also like someone to come wallpaper my entry hall in this blue-and-white stripe that reminds me of A Room with a View.

Maxwell Williams (UFO Parfums)

I have a long list of “needs” sadly. So what I really want is a unicorn angel investor!

The top of the tangible list is the Ohaus SPX223 Scout Analytical Balance, 220 g x 0.001 g.

Paul McAdory

Skiing is prohibitively expensive and winter's only redeeming activity (unless you're a snowboarder or an ice skater, I guess). I learned this two Januaries ago, on my birthday, when I took my first ski lesson from George, a grayed-out slope dope perched on the far end of middle age and addicted to referring to himself in the third person. ("George told you to bend your knees!") He berated me for being insufficiently masculine, the veins in his neck throbbed with disgust for me, but to his credit he politely refrained from calling me a slur. More importantly, he taught me well. Now black diamonds pose only a moderate risk to life and limb. This year, I'm shelling out for one of the less extortionate Epic Passes and driving out to Okemo and Mount Snow with the gays and girls. 

For the people in your life who are soft yet sharp, a Shy Talaga barbed wire pillow. They're sewn, cut, and filled by hand. “Snuggle me,” these pillows say, “but with caution.”

For the people in your life who are in need of a kitchen upgrade, a Fredericks and May cutting board. They’re sturdy and cheerful and come in a variety of sizes and colors. When the recipient is chopping vegetables, they’ll be thinking of you. Maybe they’ll invite you over for dinner.

For the people in your life in search of meaning, the Moonlit Hermit tarot deck. Artist J Swofford’s collage designs — carefully researched and reinterpreted — are the perfect blend of pretty and spooky, which feels appropriate for our era of societal decline. 

Gesture 

An oyster knife paired with a copy of MFK Fisher’s Consider the Oyster · Vague Predictions and Prophesies by Daisuke Shen · No worries if not print by Maisie Cowell · Scenes NY Nylon Team Shorts · Daddy perfume by Universal Flowering · I Am Toward You 12” Solar Outburst Vinyl · Cocchi Vermouth Americano Rosa · Williams Sonoma Marzipan Fruit · Wide Eyes matches by Archivist · David Rappeneau monograph · Deadstock martini Zippo · Kewpie Doll perfume · Floral Estrangements by Rebecca Fishbein 

Grand Gesture 

Loop de Loop Table Lamp in pink/orange · A signed copy of Spanking the Maid by Robert Coover · Blue Lobster Wallpaper by Sara Fitz · La Chimera Italian movie poster · AYM Studio’s Billie Bamboo Bodycon Dress in Chocolate · The Poets (ekphrasis) from David Zwirner Books · Wolford Sheer Opaque Dress · Quince 100% Shearling Bomber Jacket in black ·  Diemme’s Roccia Vet fabric boots in Dark Cherry · Todd Snyder’s Mohair Striped Rugby Polo in Dark Wheat  

Even Grander Gesture 

For the friend who has everything including a Fishwife gift set, celebrate soup season with this genius offering from Sarah Nathan’s nooish: instant matzo ball soup, ready in a few minutes in the microwave or with boiling water like instant ramen. You could order a multipack and split it into multiple gifts — two cups of soup plus two all-purpose soup spoons, like these moody ones from MoMa, or a perfectly serviceable set from Crate & Barrel or Pearl River Mart. There— consumable, useful, original, and delightful, and under $20. 🎁