Wowowowwww, happy gift guide season! It came up fast this year, didn’t it?
Truth be told, the Style Girlfriend team not-so-secretly loves putting together gift guides for the holiday season, with lists for both what to get the guy in your life, and for the gal. It helps get our gears turning on what to buy the men in our lives, and what to put on our own wish lists.
This year for The Inventory, we’re breaking out our gift guides into two “tiers” for both men and women - one for when you’ve said, “I like you” and another for when you’ve said “I love you.”
The former clocks in with less expensive, (slightly) less personal gifts, while the latter ratchets up both the price tag and the intimacy levels accordingly.
Up first? A gift guide for what to get a newly-special lady in your life:
For the Meghan Markle stans out there. Gift your girl this cute hand cream and lip balm set from Soho House’s in-house spa and wellness line. In the leadup to her royal wedding, Markle celebrated her bridal shower (sorry, hen party) at Soho Farmhouse outside of London. Meaning, she’s probably used the exact same products in this traditional British holiday “cracker,” which by my calculations makes Duchess Meghan and your lady practically self-care bff’s.
Make a cute joke about how you sold your pocket watch in order to buy her these hair clips and see if she laughs at your clever O.Henry reference. If she does, marry her.
Is it a beret? Is it a fisherman’s cap? It’s both! Sort of! This stylish little chapeau would make any outfit look more je ne sais quoi. This collab between Madewell and Brixton has birthed a timeless hat with a vintage vibe—’60s mod with a totally French twist.
Last year it was scrunchies, and this year, headbands are all the rage. What ‘90s’ trend will make its way back into our accessories drawers in 2020?! (My money’s on snap bracelets).
In the meantime, upgrade your lady’s accessory game with this turban headband in festive tartan. Then, meet her under the mistletoe.
I am all too happy to die on the hill that says socks are a great gift. With a nominal increase in price, you go from basic to bougie. And right now, socks are totally “having a moment” (as they say) for women. This Egyptian cotton pair from Comme Si would be so chic peeking out of penny loafers or an ankle boot.
Bonus? The giftee will think of you every time she pulls them on.
Is there anything more luxe than cashmere sweatpants? That’s a rhetorical question, obviously, since the answer is hell no (okay, maybe wearing cashmere sweats on a private jet, but like, let’s be realistic here).
This pair, from cashmere superstar Naadam, ring up under $200. Which is not bad for cashmere sweatpants!! If you can spring for the matching hoodie, it’ll be a bit of a reach for a relationship that’s still in early days, but if you two didn’t set a price limit, I’m telling you, she’ll love it.
Get her the opposite of lingerie this holiday season - namely a boxy sweater in bright pink! She’ll love it AND appreciate how much you “get” her every time she pulls it on.
Cashmere...waffle...turtleneck. Are those not three of the most beautiful words you’ve ever heard strung together into one glorious cozy gift? This waffle-knit cashmere sweater will look good with absolutely everything in her closet, and in case you didn’t know, everyone loves getting cashmere as a gift. Everyone.
Perfect for the CBD-curious, this gift set from Plant People includes three mini-tinctures: Mind + Body, Drops + Sleep and Drops + Relief.
If you’re on her case about the bag she schleps to work throwing her posture out of alignment (and if you are, please stop), then at least do something about the problem by gifting her a weight-distributing backpack that’s also totally cute.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy by Jenny Odell is best consumed on a weekend trip together where smartphones get terrible service.
Giving ice cream at the holidays is not as crazy as drinking iced coffee through the cold months (which, I just...can’t). This year, stock her freezer with a few of her favorite, hard to hunt down pints.
Founder Kaylin Marcotte started doing jigsaw puzzles while working at theSkimm in its early days, as a form of startup-induced stress relief. With Jiggy, she’s modernized and elevated the tech-free pastime, with art by emerging female artists, sustainable packaging, and specially formulated puzzle glue to preserve completed masterpieces for framing. (Feeling frisky? Buy her this 450-piece “Boobs” puzzle instead.)
Another good “Let’s stay in tonight” gift, a chic cheese board set is one of those highly underrated present ideas that’s sure to be a hit. It’s functional and fashionable, with a cute lil cheese knife that comes with it (delicious cheese, sadly, not included).
Toast to your newfound love (or rather, like) with this set of cool bubble glasses from The Inside...gifted to her along with a bottle of her favorite wine, of course.
Has anyone else been inundated with an outrageous number of hyper-targeted Instagram ads lately? Same. I suspect I got one for this candle company after talking about heading back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving too close to my iPhone. That said, I really want one of these candles now, so like, it worked!