Don't Be a Stranger
Hi everyone, happy Wednesday!
First off: thank you so, so much to everyone who reached out or responded to my survey from last week. (FYI: it’s still open and will remain open indefinitely, so if anyone has some belated thoughts to share, please feel free to drop them here!) I really, really appreciate that you guys took the time to offer up feedback and advice and also just leave some unbelievably lovely comments???? I may have teared up a little reading through the responses. Thank you all so much!! 🥲
If you’re one of the multiple people who requested I do gift guides — you’re in luck! I’ve done two gift guides in the past, and they’re definitely among my all-time favorite WIWO issues. This year I figured the more the merrier, so starting today I’m planning on publishing several different gift guides leading up to the holiday season. One word of warning, however: I’m really just playing around and having fun with these by making them hyper-hyper-specific, so they may very well be useless to you. If you’re looking for more broadly-applicable gift ideas, lemme just insert a shameless plug right here and direct you to the Strategist’s cornucopia of gift guides for just about any person you can think of.
Ok! Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s start from the outer circle and work our way in, shall we? These are presents for people you really don’t know — coworkers, casual acquaintances, and the like. What do you give someone who’s just a step above a stranger? Hope these suggestions help.
For your coworker with whom you’re friendly on a strictly 9-5 basis:
SCENT SAMPLER PACK - YIELD DESIGN CO. ($60)
Sure, you guys work well together, you’ve forged a few inside jokes about your boss, you’ve maybe even chitchatted a bit about your hobbies, but the moment you clock out, they will not once cross your mind until the next morning. In such cases, it’s best to go with something simple, stylish, and totally devoid of emotion — all words that come to mind when I see the branding of this company, Yield Design. (I do not mean this in a bad way!!) They have a wide variety of home good offerings, so I’ll trust you to decide what your coworker would most appreciate — candles if they like Scandinavian hygge, a French press if they like coffee, hand soap if they’re a bit of a germaphobe — but with their clean lines and unfussy functionality topped with a nondescript font, they all serve to send a clear-cut message to your recipient: “I am not spending time with you by choice, but nevertheless, I enjoy your company.”
For the person you’ve been casually “seeing” for a month or two where you’re still “getting to know each other”:
POLKA DOT ANGEL WING BEGONIA - RARE HOUSE PLANTS (from $33)
Yeah, you guys have “hung out” a few times and text a bit, but it’s definitely NOT serious — I mean, you don’t even know what their favorite ice cream flavor is, for Pete’s sake. But if you don’t get them a gift, they’re definitely going to take it as A Sign, ya know? You need something that conveys “Hey you’re cool and all, but we don’t know each other like that… yet,” and for such instances I’m a fan of gifting plants, such as this dramatic spotted begonia that’s sure to enliven any windowsill. Because, you see, this seemingly-innocuous gift also serves as a litmus test of sorts: depending on whether they care enough to nurture the plant or they simply let it wither away, you should also feel free to do the same with your budding relationship.
For your cousin’s sister-in-law’s fiancé… or maybe your sister-in-law’s cousin’s fiancé???:
LOGO HOODIE HEATHER GREY - UNIDENTIFIED CORPORATION ($64)
His name is Brett, or possibly Brian, and he has brown hair and brown eyes and is 5’9” or perhaps (generously) 5’10”. He works at some, uh, tech company, as a, uh, solutions engineer? Or maybe it was a solutions consultant, you can’t remember. In any case, you would 100% fail to pick this man out of a lineup, and you unfortunately just drew his name in the big family Secret Santa. Such a bland, inoffensive dude deserves an equally bland, inoffensive gift, and I can’t think of anything more characterless than a gray hoodie from a brand called Unidentified Corporation. In this hoodie, Brad can happily recede into even more of a nonpresence, until he is literally indistinguishable from the wallpaper.
Tried one of my recs and loved it (or hated it)? Wanna get something cool on my radar? Drop me a line at kittylguo@gmail.com or swing by my Twitter @kitguo!