Christmas presents
everything I like
Epically long post, use app or web if email cuts out
Before I start, please may I refer you to last year’s lists, which are rammed full of goodness and are still fully operational. I’ve reposted them below. The giant bottom one, 100 presents for under £100, is particularly comprehensive.
All these Christmas-related posts, past and future, are for paid subscribers and are also on my home page under - yes! - ‘Christmas’.
RIGHT, so. The below is a new, huge, baggy list of all sorts of things that I would either love to receive, already own and cherish, or plan on giving. They roam widely across price and they cover various age ranges.
There may be the occasional overlap with last year’s lists - I don’t have the energy to cross check everything, and also if something is great, it’s not any less great because 12 months have elapsed.
I hope you find things you like! I’ll do a second list at some point in the next couple of weeks. I’ll also do a separate post about my favourite Christmas decorations and things to festoon with.
Penguin Clothbound Classics, full set (85 books), £1500 from Heywood Hill.
Individual books in the collection also make lovely presents, obviously - the whole list of titles is here.
Heywood Hill also offer A Year in Books, whereby they send your giftee one book a month (beautifully packaged, with special bookmarks) - various tailored options, including for children, from £175.
Mint, coriander and cucumber toothpaste, £21 from Officine Universelle Beuly.
Patchwork quilt from Toast, £350.
Silk leopard print triangle scarf from Cos, £75.
Tiny desk-debris-cleaning cat with little wheely brushes and emptiable tray, £9.60, also comes in dark grey and silver, or as a golden hamster or a blueish-grey one.
Set of 6 glasses from Liberty, £110.
Kismet folding lap tray, for writing, working, reading, breakfasting or impromptu cocktails + dinner in bed, assorted colours, £170. Made from aluminium, indestructible, very light but very sturdy, in production since 1946 and beloved of the late Queen Elizabeth II, among others. These are the best trays and last at least one lifetime.
Makeup bag that splays open so that you can see properly, various colours, £22.99.
Macy quilted jacket in Leopard, £120 from Damson Madder. Also comes in tartan. Another good youngish person pick, as is the brand generally (nice scarves, mittens and dresses too). Again, don’t let that stop you if you fancy anything for yourself.
Bag charm collection from Goodordering, £25. Various assortments available. Many more bag charm ideas here.
Soy wax hot chocolate candle from Earl of East, £40. Other flavours too.
I would have loved this book when I was little. Welcome to our Table by Laura Mucha and Ed Smith, £14.99.
Pair of red glass lantern tea light holders, comes in lots of other colours, £36 from Mrs Alice.
Paris Je T’Aime small silk scarf by Marin Moutagut, £125, but really anything now he’s in Liberty, from £30.
Victory Oil, £28, for your friend who is going through the menopause, or is about to, or already has. (More on it here).
It’s me, the hydration bore. 1.2l Stanley Cup, many colours, £45.
My children tried to take this cookbook home with them after I’d made 2 or 3 things from it. Never happened before - they cook from their phones. They had to take screenshots of the pages instead because it’s MINE. So good.
PS All the cookbooks I love the most are on my bookshop page.
Dolce & Gabbana panettone, from £58 (many, many flavours and packagings). Is it the best panettone? I don’t know. But they’re 100% the best tins.
Hand-blown coupes with pale rose rim, 4 for £74, Skye McAlpine A Tavola, also in a great blue and in multicoloured. Everything on that site is ridiculously chic, pretty and covetable. I am also a huge fan of her cookbooks.
Cupid’s Bow iPhone case, £49.95.
Samsung The Freestyle HDR Full HD Smart Portable Projector, £599.
Starlino Maraschino cherries, £10.65.
Balenciaga Le City medium tote, £2050. I was talking with a friend who works in fashion and we concluded that this was our favourite bag of all time. Bags come, bags go, this endures, isn’t try-hard and improves with age. Vestiaire has lots of vintage ones.
Box of Fortnum’s marzipan fruits, £25.
Hurray Hurray banner, £24 from Cambridge Imprint.
500 piece Wentworth wooden jigsaw of Aldeburgh beach, exclusive to The Aldeburgh Bookshop, £63. See also their Orlando The Marmalade Cat offering.
Letterpress sardine matches, £8.50.
Needlepoint kit and sewing bag, £185 (but kits start at £30) from the cornucopia of beauty that is The Fabled Thread.
Signed John Broadley screen print of (old) Soho, £200, one of 50.
Cuckoo 3-person rice cooker, £135.
Essentiel Antwerp earrings, £65.
2025 Dodo Pad, £21.99 (also exists as a loose A5 Filofax insert for the very with-it).
Nailberry Oxygenated Nail Lacquer in Cherry Cherie, £16.50.
The most breathtakingly beautiful book by Clare Foster, £55. The gardens in it are sublime.
John Derian x Summehill & Bishop Feast linen tablecloth, from £295.
John Derian x Summerill & Bishop Fungi linen tablecloth, from £295.
New sage green Kindle, Amazon, £104. Or upgrade to a larger Paperwhite in pink, jade or black, £159.99.
Ugg Tasman Maxi Curly Slippers, £110.
The best Belgian linen, bar none. Libeco Bistro Apron, £79. Full range here, swoon, but non-EU shipping costs might apply (my own observation is that you’re ok if it’s below €150, but I don’t know if this is actually a FACT).
Dries Van Noten eaux de parfum, various, from £225.
Gingerbread 62% dark chocolate from Pump Street Bakery, £7.95.
Le Bon Shoppe red cashmere socks, £19.
Kufiya peace ribbon, £10, includes £5 donation to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
John Lewis x Collagerie scallop candle holder, £12.
John Lewis x Collagerie pyjamas, £55.
Iridescent calligraphy ink, £11.50.
Pain in the Arse party crown, £4.95.
Manopoulos 4-in-1 game set, walnut, £68.
Dries Van Noten refillable lipstick cases, £32, and lipsticks, £34.
The perfect tote bag, €130, lots of colours.
Limited-edition Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit, £90 (there are three, of which this Dragon one has the lightest shades. See also Evil Eye and Lotus Flower, which is divine on dark brown or black skin, though I’m light brown and use it too).
These are amazing on everybody of every age. Sometimes older people don’t know how to use them, in which case tell them to watch a vid online.
I think I’ll stop here for now - I’ve been at it for days. Also I cracked a perfectly healthy tooth, total mystery as I didn’t do anything, it just happened of its own free will. I’d understand if I was biting off beer caps with my teeth, but no. Really odd.
Anyway - it is piercing agony, as you can imagine, like someone is twanging the nerve every one second. I’m now on 2 different lots of antibiotics but they haven’t kicked in yet. Plus obviously I am on HIGH ALERT re. the US election. I do actually think the heroic women of America - Dem and technically Rep - will rise up and save the day, and not by as small a margin as pollsters are predicting, but still, it is badly stressful. Someone on the radio was saying we might not know for sure until Friday or Saturday. I’m going to stay up tonight anyway.
Do please add your own Christmas present suggestions in the comments! I put all your comfort read suggestions on a pdf, by the way, which is now attached to that post - I could do the same thing here for usefulness.
Have an excellent or at least minimally agitated Tuesday, and as ever if you like this post then do kindly give it a ❤️ for visibility. Thank you!
You are SO generous with your content. The sub is worth every penny and more.
Another excellent make-up bag is the double-sided one from Lulu Guinness. You can see everything through the inner clear vinyl without any unzipping. She normally offers different designs but there only seems to be one listed at the moment. I normally wait for their post-Christmas sale as they can be 50% less.
https://www.luluguinness.com/products/black-pearl-print-double-makeup-bag
Great list, thank you!
I'm getting these personalised Liberty-print bookmarks for most female recipients this year:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/894305825/personalised-liberty-bookmark-with