Another Gift Guide!
thoughtfully curated goods I love
Excuse my absence! After a few weeks of traveling back and forth across the country, I am finally settling into LA life (until I head east again for the holidays next week!).
I’ve been finding all the gift guides really entertaining this year. Yes, they are everywhere. Yes, I have been wanting to share my own here as well. And this might be a bit too late for gifting purposes cause some of you may be so organized already or foregoing gifting season entirely, but hopefully you may learn about some lovely independent brands and businesses.
This isn’t going to be a conversation about consumerism (although I am anti-black friday sales and all of that it entails). This is about sharing consciously curated goods and brands I adore with you and about gifting those we love. Here are some beautiful thoughtfully designed objects that I would love to give and receive.
I wouldn’t normally suggest a gift card but when it comes to vintage shopping, you really need to go and try pieces on yourself. Supporting vintage stores is something I value deeply in fear that our country will soon turn into all big chain stores. Some of my favorites where you can buy gift cards are Desert Vintage (sell both online and in NYC), Scout Vintage in LA, Deep End Vintage (love these Sonia Rykiel culottes!) and Front Street General Store in Brooklyn and online. In addition to selling women’s vintage and designer clothing, Front Street General has a tremendous mens section, the best silver jewelry and japanese meets scandi utilitarian home goods. This is definitely a welcome gift for the most stylish friends and family.
Beauty and self-care gifts are always so special to give AND receive, especially because you wouldn’t necessarily buy them for yourself. A favorite independent queer owned brand I love is NOTO Botanics. Gloria, the founder, is a friend, and has redefined the natural beauty industry with her gender-inclusive, clean cosmetic line. Some of my favorite products are in the travel kit which would make a great gift for someone who wants to try a few of the skincare essentials like the dreamy hydrating serum. I have worn the two lip colors above for years so I can personally vouch for them.
A wonderful small gift or stocking stuffer is the elegant Winden comb. Made in France, the comb was developed as an effort to reduce waste made from the factory’s scrap materials and is free from any added dyes or chemicals.
I have been a longtime fan of Incausa, a non-profit company with a product line for ritual and meditation practice. The bundles and incense make great gifts. I have personally been given them a few times and always cherish the moments of calm and reflection they create. Incausa partners with Indigenous cause initiatives and develops social entrepreneurship to reignite indigenous heritage by collaborating with artisans, villages and associations in the Amazon Basin.
Another beauty gift I have been using and loving is the Corpus Beauty body wash + deodorant set in No. 6. The company + products are so cool, climate conscious and impeccably designed in a way that feels very luxe for natural beauty. I normally skip scented products and prefer unscented beauty goods, but these are formulated without the use of any synthetic ingredients and the No. 6 smells undeniably citrus from the orange blossom but with more complexity from the bergamot and cardamom. I imagine I will be using them for quite the long time.
I guess I am partial to gifting beauty goods, because here is another; the J. Hannah Mini Polish Set in Rarities, a set of miniature polishes that brings together five unusual colors inspired by the specific choices made in artist’s palette. For the nail polish color resistant person like myself, these feel like an artistic element that consider the gracefulness of hands. The set includes petite bottles of some of my favorite bizarre colors - Compost, Blue Nudes, Carob, Eames, and Ghost Ranch, all housed in a cute lil reusable mesh zipper pouch. Of course all the polishes are non-toxic, cruelty-free and made in the USA. Who wouldn’t want their nails painted the color of compost?
Loungewear, because sending well wishes of self care and rest to those we love is always a good idea. Many women in my life wear Deiji Studios pajamas and say they get softer over time. This checked linen pair is on sale and quite cute.
These visually stunning special edition Moon Lists workbooks are hand-sewn, linen-bound books that take design cues from collegiate textbooks, but more importantly, they are a tool for self-reflection. After a year of using the Volume 2 Edition of Moon Lists, I really must recommend them. Described as “a journal for a non-journaler, a supplement for starting a new project, for thinking in different ways, for being a researcher of your own experience. For observing patterns, giving way to what you don't yet understand, for using specific language rather than subverting to a script of broad strokes.”
One of my favorite LA stores and brand, LOQ introduced me to Canadian artist Elise McLauchlan’s work. Her hand-turned wood vessels are those you might not want to gift and just buy for yourself honestly. I have a small donut bowl where I drop rings, sometimes keys, etc. but most of the time I just wan’t to keep it empty to be a beautiful object I occasionally pass by and admire. The cake stands and bowls are just as striking.
Speaking of LOQ, I am particularly fond of these little wallets, they call the Anda. They are the perfect small size for those who don’t care to carry a purse or prefer a small bag for evening (or day!). I carried one around Europe in the spring and it is great for just the essential cards + a lil cash. And what pretty colors! If you don’t know the brand, check out their shoes. On every project we buy pairs for our lead actors to wear and they are made with extremely soft leather.
The Plasticana Garden clog trend is one that initially baffled me but overtime I have switched my tune and really enjoy seeing everyone (honestly just so many Gen Z’ers) wearing them. If you think you know someone who may want a pair or want to take a risk on a silly gift for any gender, Mohawk General Store has a full size range available. Salter House might have been the ones who started this fad, but they seem to sell out very quick, however do still have some larger sizes still.
Cookies! For a foodie like me who always craves something sweet around holiday season, this CAP Beauty Cookie Tin collab with Tartine’s Chad Robertson + Laurie Ellen could be great to have on hand for hosting (or simply savoring) or gifting. The cookies are two different crisp and buttery shortbreads: a nutty Seeded Toasted Oatmeal shortbread topped with a light dusting of sugar that leans more classic and a fragrant and earthy Matcha shortbread. Cause, yum!
For the design obsessed friend or family member, there are two books I have been eyeing recently that I am sure would be a welcome addition to one’s coffee table or book shelf. The first is Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction, published by MOMA, a richly illustrated catalog of the multifaceted abstract artist's innovative and wide-ranging body of work, as well as her involvement in the Zurich Dada movement. She consistently challenged the historically constructed boundaries separating fine art from craft and design with her different art forms including textiles, marionettes, stained glass, paintings and architectural and interior designs.
The other book I think any art aficionado would love to receive is Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel which focuses on Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler, five women painters who revolutionized the modern art world in postwar America. Described as “the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of twentieth-century abstract painting -- not as muses but as artists. From their cold-water lofts, where they worked, drank, fought, and loved, these pioneers burst open the door to the art world for themselves and countless others to come.” How could you not want to read this?
If you don’t yet know about Rebekah Peppler’s work, then I am here to tell you, she is the one to go to for your entertaining needs. She is a new friend and someone I have admired for years after reading her NYT drink recipes. She is a Paris-based food, travel, and lifestyle writer who has written books about drinking the French way, and cooking and hosting soirées with French charm. After my spring trip to the south of France where I ate my way through Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, I felt so inspired by the seasonal and effortless way of dining. Her newest book (still on pre-order), Le Sud, is all about those flavors, techniques, and the spirit of the South of France. Earlier in the year, I ate a meal from her last book, À Table, at a Botanica hosted Supper pop up, and every dish was simultaneously simple and elevated in a modern French way.
The handmade Louis Roe Balloon Glass Vase is just so playful and a sophisticated statement piece for a loved ones home.
I am a longtime fan of the Binu Binu soaps that are inspired by the intergenerational communal spirit of Korean bathouse culture, so was thrilled to hear about their new candle collection. With such a modern minimalist design, these stainless steel vessels are filled with scents like Korean Kiln Sauna, which smells of a mountainous forest sauna, with notes of pine, birch, and sweet hay. This would be such a lovely gift for someone who relishes in ritual and design.
Jewelry is another favorite object to give to all those in our lives who wear it and cherish it. Ursa Major by Kate Jones is one of my all-time favorite jewelry designers. I have worked with her for custom orders but also always buy pieces from her collection for every job I costume design. Not only are her pieces designed to be contemporary, yet timeless, they are all handmade in house (in her Maine cabin studio!) using the most careful eye and finest materials (only recycled metals, reclaimed diamonds). Some pieces I treasure are the checkerboard hoops and matina hoops. She also has many more sold at Reliquary and gift cards are always a good idea for jewelry.
Leigh Miller is another jeweler whom I often work with and wear myself. Her pieces are all handmade in her LA studio and is inspired by the natural world which translates into meaningful sculptural metal works using unconventional methods of creating and developing. I love the touch of whimsy in her work, with pieces that are at once symbolic and indefinite, universal and personal. A few things that would make great gifts are the Corkscrew rings in brass and silver (these look great worn together layered), the perfect hoop, and the dew drop earrings. I also wear these fun corkscrew earrings a lot for a night out. Like Ursa Major, Leigh Miller is adamant about using recycled, upcycled, and repurposed metals. And a gift card is a great way to support small independent makers.
I hope you enjoyed these and maybe learned about a new brand, designer or maker you would personally enjoy!
Thanks for reading and spending time with me here. Let me know what else you would love to see and read in the comments below. Speak soon.
x
Claire