Wife's xmas present help!

December 1, 2005 9:45 PM

PresentFilter: I want some amazing socks for my wife, and perhaps a couple other things... Looking for mefite ideas.

My amazing and beautiful wife has amazing taste in clothes, and I want to get her the best socks ever. She really loves this type of wool/cashmere blend argyle blue and grey socks, and I found a couple pairs of those, but I was wondering:

For someone who is very fashionable, but also values a high level of comfort (nice fabrics, well made) help me find some truly great socks.

But that's not all I'm thinking of. For our 1st anniversary (paper) I got her some letterpress stationery and I bought a reproduction campaign writing lap desk, and antiqued it, and carved her name in the lid. I'd like to find some kind of intricate, and ornate, antiquey kind of thing for her xmas present. Any ideas? I recognize that this is vague, but it's the best I can do, I'm fishing here.

Thanks and happy festivus!

posted by asavage to clothing, beauty, & fashion (9 comments total)

I don't know if this is what you're looking for as a second gift idea, but does she have a favorite book? Could you find a signed, first edition?
posted by null terminated at 10:26 PM on December 1, 2005

Well, this is kind of going with the stationery thing, but this place has some neat ink wells, pen holders, and the like. If you scroll (almost) all the way down, there's a very intricate, ornate letter holder and some stamp boxes that also seem to fit that description.

Admittedly, they are mostly reproductions, but from the pictures they look to be of at least reasonable quality.

As a lover of soft fabrics, I'd like to help with the socks (in fact, I'd like to know where you got the socks you mentioned...), but I'm afraid I'm not very fashionable.

Oh, and taking off of null terminated's suggestion: Abebooks is probably the best place to start your search for a first edition, signed or otherwise.
posted by jedicus at 12:21 AM on December 2, 2005

I doubt they count as "fashionable," per se, but Acorn Polar Fleece socks are the most comfortable things in the universe. Like walking on clouds.
posted by mykescipark at 3:53 AM on December 2, 2005

SmartWool. Most comfortable socks ever. I'm prone to hyperbole, but I completely mean that. They skew to the casual end of things, but they are amazing.
posted by The Michael The at 5:35 AM on December 2, 2005

Socks? Socks are awesome. Try this website. Really specific and helpful information about how all the socks look and wear and fit and lots of fun and unusual styles that I've never seen anywhere else. I really recommend these angora over-the-knee socks.
posted by cilantro at 5:52 AM on December 2, 2005

If she doesn't already have one, I'd suggest a nice vintage fountain pen to go with the lap desk. I'm assuming your anniversary was recent, so I'm thinking desk-like companions. I'm not savvy enough in the pen market to give "buy this kind" advice but looking at a few sites like The Pen Museum or this BBC guide may give you some good ideas.

As stocking stuffers you could also consider giving her some other desk accessories like some old stamps for letter writing -- all old unused US currency is still valid and you can find good deals on eBay where you can buy old postage some of which is beautful, not made of plastic, and sells for near face value. Combine an old roll of stamps with a silver stamp dispenser Likewise other writing implements like the aforementioned pen, maybe some sealing wax [old timey but if you have metalworking friends you could make a custom stamp seal, very cool].

Signed first editions are often much less expensive than you would expect and look great on a bookshelf. Powells has a rare and collectible section and there is a long if somewhat outdated list of vendors here if you don't want to go with the all-in-one ABE Books option.
posted by jessamyn at 6:49 AM on December 2, 2005

Other nice ideas for a wife: a week of undies, cashmere hoodie, cashmere robe, camille cloche, red print flannel pjs, card catalog, sometimes small statements make a big difference (if she's democratic/progressive), silk sash, cashmere socks, two-tone shearling gloves, cashmere gloves, little bits ephemera, far away mailbox, sea bamboo necklace, prim cuff, a seasoned teapot from the collection of Chung Wen-cheng, a membership to paragraph (if you live in NYC and she's a writer), a mcsweeney's subscription (stylish reading for a stylish desk), protein profiler art (only if you're modern), this amercian life cd gift pack, a set of jujus by mel lim, monogrammed purse mirror, cherry blossom robe.
posted by cior at 8:05 AM on December 2, 2005

These aren't socks, but rather stockings. If you want to get her some terribly high quality hosiery, you want to get her something from Wolford.
posted by MsMolly at 8:22 AM on December 2, 2005

i second sock dreams' angora socks. total luxury.
posted by judith at 10:02 AM on December 2, 2005