This is Not a Gift Guide

Hi everyone, happy Wednesday! I missed you!

Don’t worry: this is not a gift guide, because at this point it’s largely too late to be buying gifts on the internet anyway, and if you still haven’t figured out what to get your great aunt via the gazillion gift guides viciously elbowing each other to get a gander at your eyeballs, then I certainly can’t help you. I’m all gifted out, I’m afraid! Y’all are tired of reading gift guides, but I’m tired of writing them. I threw out ideas for Strategist’s big giftstravaganza issue; I talked to people who recalled gift shopping during the heyday of the department store; I tended to my stories on makeup gifts and stocking stuffers and gifts for cat lovers; I asked highly tasteful people about their gift recommendations; I sang the praises of a giftable hot chocolate maker; I sourced cool gifty things from small museums across the country; I rounded up the best gifts on sale twice, once for October Prime Day and once for Black Friday; I even went on a podcast to talk about holiday gifting, episode forthcoming 👀. So you can see why I ended up going AWOL these past couple months.

So this is not a gift guide, but merely a list of things that delight me, which, might I add, is still the point of this newsletter the other 11 months of the year. However, in the spirit of the holidays, I would also like to bestow upon you a bonus present: my thoughts on gift guide saturation, Substack’s “vibe shift,” and the future of WIWO. Lucky you!!

I started Worn In, Worn Out in the summer of 2019, as a way to look busy at a corporate internship that required me to wear slacks. Now, over five years later, Substack and I have changed a lot, but the newsletter itself has remained relatively consistent: three items I like, a blurb for each, bolded links, voila. Through a series of fortuitous events, my subscriber base grew to a few thousand, which was large for the platform at the time. Now, with so many well-known writers and content creators building their brands here, it’s not a lot at all. But it’s still a lot to me!!

For me, WIWO has never been about parlaying my newsletter into my full-time job. I already have a full-time job, and I even enjoy it too! It’s always been an extracurricular pursuit, one that makes me zero money — despite opportunities over the years to monetize with sponsorships, affiliate links, etc., I’ve never followed through with any of them. I started it because I wanted to write about some things I liked, and that motivation hasn’t wavered.

But when I look around now, especially within the fashion and shopping category, I see a lot of people for whom it’s not extracurricular, who have the time and energy to devote to their newsletters — to write long, discerning cultural analyses, to engage in conversations with their subscribers, to put together cute little collage graphics. And while I absolutely think the more the merrier, it’s also hard to feel like I can’t keep up with so many creators who are investing much more into the platform than I am.

But honestly… I don’t want to make cute little collage graphics. I don’t want to be pressured into producing a firehose of content so that paid supporters feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. I don’t want to dash off a “note” or hop into a “subscriber chat.” And good lord, I do not want to start a podcast.

Here’s what I do want: I want to hang out with friends more. I want to practice my choreo at dance class. I want to read the library books that I’ve been holding onto for an unconscionably long time now that the threat of overdue fines has been eliminated. I want to try making all my bookmarked NYT Cooking recipes. In short, I want to spend more time living in the world and less time peering into a glowy box.

I’m not going on hiatus — not at all. But dispatches may be slightly more sporadic, and you’ll hear from me only when I feel like I have something really worth sharing, and not just something I hastily whipped up because I felt yoked to a schedule. If you’re still here and still reading, despite the many demands on your attention, on Substack and everywhere else, thank you. You’re not the reason I do this, but I’m still very happy to have you here and I’d always love to hear from you.

I hope you all have a wonderful, restful holiday season filled with swans a-swimmin’ and lords a-leapin’. Enjoy the list, and see you in 2025.

Garment for Your Gardenias

MINI POU POT - PINPOINT ROOM ($24 $16)

A flowering plant has built-in frills, but your prosaic pothos and ZZs deserve some extra ornamentation, too.

Psychedelic Playing Cards

PLAYING CARDS - WILDERNESS BODIES ($30)

After watching too many reruns of World Poker Tour, I’ve decided that my New Year’s resolution is to get really good at poker. I shall be practicing with these maximalist-Cubist playing cards from Wildbod.

Coastal Cologne

NEW YORK SAMPLE SET - THIN WILD MERCURY ($30)
LOS ANGELES SAMPLE SET - THIN WILD MERCURY ($30)

Bicoastal loyalties notwithstanding, I’m curious to see which sample set I enjoy more: New York (34 Bohemian Cafes, Girl of the Year, Chelsea Staircase, Sheep Meadow) or Los Angeles (Laurel Canyon, Whisky, Chateau, Zuma.)

Freaky Socks

MIRA ‘FAKE FITNESS’ STOCKINGS - DANBI ($70 $30)

Imagine showing up to barre class amongst all the pert ponytails wearing these unsettling Vibram-esque socks.

Book of Stationery Sketches

ROOM SERVICE - MICHAEL MCGREGOR ($35)

I feel a kinship with McGregor, because I, too, like to scrawl little ‘thank you’ sketches on hotel stationery.

Trendy Tank

EVERYWEAR TANK - SSPORTS STUDIO ($42)

Basic white tank tops? Dime a dozen. Tank tops in the creamiest, meltiest, most perfect shade of butter yellow? Bit harder to come by.

Single-Serving Snack Platter

EVERYDAY PLATE - UNPLAIN X UNIT 65 ($50)

Inveterate snacker that I am, I do indeed believe I would use this plate every day.

Magic Wand for Candles

SWAND THE 4- IN-1 CANDLE CARE TOOL - SWAND ($60 $50)

An excessively engineered, overly designed tool for the most frivolous of purposes — I love it!!

Wax Kaiju

GARUMON MONSTER CANDLE - PHOTERIAN ($60)

I already snagged the one I wanted, so now I’m more than happy to share Keetja Allard’s Garumon candles with you all. He’s a friendly monster, good luck to have around — he’ll keep watch over you and scare pests away.

Molar Holder

MOLAR TOOTH CANDLE HOLDER (LARGE) - CERAMMIES ($68)

Made from ceramic, but for those with a more whimsical sensibility, perhaps filched from a dentist for giants.

Daffodil Diadem

AFRODITA SCRUNCHIE - PARDO HATS ($86)

At this point, oversized scrunchies are, indeed, passé; scrunchies garnished with an oversized velvet blossom, however, are not.

Larger-Than-Life Postcards

VISIT AGAVE BAY FIVE POSTCARD SET- CARSON WERNER ART ($90)

Come visit Agave Bay, where eagles nest in elevator shafts and mer-pachyderms croon sultry tunes. Werner’s surreally evocative postcards feel like souvenirs you might find in your pocket after stumbling your way back from an alternate universe fever dream.

Adorned Fork

CHARM FORK - DAE NEW YORK ($95)

Bag charm this, bag charm that… I give you fork charm.

Lil Mouse Friend

NICKY MOUSE VINYL TOY - 50 TATTOOING ($120)

He’s so cute, I can almost forgive that fact that he’s wearing a Yankees cap.

Gym Shorts for Girls

BOXERETTE - BEDITORIAL X RELAX LACROSSE ($125)

Very much in line with the “blokette” aesthetic, but hey, I never claimed to be immune to all trends.

Kelp-y Jewelry

SILVER ASYMMETRIC PODS AND PEARLS EARRINGS - KRIA WORLD ($160)

Asymmetric, bizarrely gnarled forms juxtaposed against delicate pearl accents — and handmade in the Catskills? Everything about Kria World was designed to appeal to me.

Concrete Chess Set

CONCRETE BRUTALIST CHESS SET - TERRAFORMS DESIGN ($385)

I’m thinking of custom ordering a set that’s missing six pawns, so I can substitute in my miniature Courrèges perfume bottles.

Fish with Legs

FISH STOOL - MICHAEL LEACH ($790)

I recently watched Creature from the Black Lagoon, and one point a character muses on the different ways piscine species could have evolved to walk on land. The Creature is one such potential evolution; this fish stool is another.

Bag of Kisses

BOA FOUR CLASP BAG - FIDAN NOVRUZOVA (€790)

What’s better than one kiss-lock clasp (the best bag closure, in my opinion)? Four kiss-lock clasps, arrayed in a neat little row like the Madeline girls.

Latticed Keepsake Box

DIAMOND BOX - CASA SPRATLING ($2,400)

I think it’d be so funny to use this $2,400 jewelry box to hold, like, spare buttons or paperclips.

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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!