5 Gifts for the Fashion-Obsessed That Aren’t Clothes
By Audrey Treon
The holidays are a season for giving, but in this day and age, giving gifts often leads to overconsumption, especially for clothing. As an official Fashion Obsessed™ person and self-proclaimed excellent gift giver, here is my list for 5 fashion gifts that aren’t clothes.
1) A Trip to the Cobbler/Tailor
This is an excellent gift for anyone — fashion lover or not. Maybe you bring those leather boots that are too worn down, or that pair of pants that you bought months ago with the intention of hemming yourself, but procrastination got the best of you. Whatever the case, cobblers and tailors give new life to garments, and the chance to repair a beloved piece is a better deal than buying a cheap alternative.
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, September 1946, Courtesy of Vogue
2) Sanzo Wada’s “Dictionary of Color Combinations”
Sanzo Wada was an iconic Japanese artist and costume designer who pioneered the way for color combinations and color application in both the arts and the outside world. This color dictionary is small but mighty — every page has a unique color combination that can be used to foster new ideas in your closet. More often than not, what people need is a fresh perspective, not necessarily more products, and a color dictionary gives that fresh perspective.
Image Courtesy of Amazon
3) A Good Perfume/Cologne + A Fragrance Class
Scent is something beautifully unique and personal, but with thousands of options on the market, it can be hard to figure out where to start. But sites like Scentbird offer insights into thousands of perfumes and colognes on the market. Similarly, a fragrance discovery set allows the giftee to learn what scents and notes they do and don’t like. Want to go beyond gifting an object? Do some research into your local perfume scene — there are classes and workshops all around the world where people have the unique opportunity to learn about and create a craft.
Image Courtesy of Le Labo
3) A Jewelry Box
Jewelry storage is one of those things that evolves as your collection does, and a good jewelry box can be the antidote to a tangled, knotted mess. Jewelry boxes come in all shapes, sizes, and prices and can be found vintage and antique on sites like eBay or Etsy, or new from Jonathan Adler and Chan Luu.4)
Image Courtesy of Jonathan Adler
4) Fashion Book(s)
I love a good fashion book, and we would be here all day if I went into why, so here are some of my favorite titles:
Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion by Charlie Porter
How Directors Dress by A24 and multiple authors
The End of Fashion by Teri Agins
The Anticapitalist Book of Fashion by Tansy E. Hoskins
UGLY: The Aesthetics of Everything by Stephen Bayley
Dressing the Resistance: The Visual Language of Protest Through History by Camille Benda
Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style by Jason Jules and Graham Marsh
Androgyne: Fashion and Gender by Patrick Mauriès
Thinking Through Fashion: A Guide to Key Theorists edited by Anneke Smelik and Agnès Rocamora
Fashionopolis: Why What We Wear Matters by Dana Thomas
Fugitive Denim by Rachel Louise Snyder
Fashion Theory: A Reader edited by Malcom Barnard
Photo by Julie Lê, Courtesy of The Met
Fashion is a beautiful and expressive art form, but as fashion lovers and gifters, we cannot ignore the extreme levels of overconsumption and waste that occur within the industry, especially during the holiday season. So, rather than buying more clothes, try getting creative with what you have and expanding your knowledge of the art. Happy holidays!
