Gifts for Your Friend Who Can’t Stop Saying ‘It’s Vintage’

Personally, every December turns into a scramble to find
gifts that top the previous year’s—or a scramble to find an eclectic boutique where I can do one big shop for every loved one in my life. And every year, without fail, I find that the hardest person to shop for on my very long list of people I care about is that one friend who won’t shut up about their vintage loot.

Look, I can empathize. On the rare occasion that I receive a compliment on any of my thrifted threads, I get a dopamine rush equivalent to five consecutive Juul hits. But I swear owning pre-loved items gives us some sort of god complex. Like, do you think your clogs are cooler than mine because some quite possibly deceased person previously owned them? Do you think you possess a certain je ne sais quoi just because your sweater vest smells like mothballs and mine is from H&M? Are you morally superior because you dug through bins at Crossroads to uncover that tattered “gem” you’re wearing, while I, an unconscionable consumer, clicked four buttons on Amazon? Well...yes, actually, you are.

As the nation is set to experience shipping delays fit for the end times and the IPCC can hardly convene let alone throw together a plan to delay global warming, it might be time to put up a personal picket line on fast-fashion gifting. Earth will thank you, and you can feel morally superior forevermore rather than letting your sister claim all the glory after gifting the entire family reusable dish towels.

I swear I’ve never had more fun shopping than at The Vintage Twin’s Jeanius Bar in SoHo. The stylists literally just look you up and down and start throwing vintage Levis over the dressing room door without ever asking for your size. Let them know what wash and fit you’re looking for, and 4-6 pairs later, you’re walking out of the store feeling like a ‘70s fox. Even better, you get to tell a 15-minute story about how this really chic stylist found you some really chic jeans just by looking at your waist and confirming that it is indeed
snatched. But seriously, rifling through used denim can be a pain in the ass. At The Jeanius Bar, the stylists will do all the work for you, and the options are endless: paint-splattered washes, mom jeans, bell bottoms, high-rise fits, and so on. Head to one of the brick-and-mortar locations with your bestie or shop for a styling box gift online.

I’ll let you in on a little secret that my cousin taught me: One of the most thoughtful gifts you can give is letting your giftee pick whatever they want. Taking the guesswork out of gifting via gift cards or cash isn’t exactly a novel concept, but you can gift money with a stipulation: Bestie has to use the money on pre-loved clothes, and they have to take you! You can turn it into a memorable little adventure complete with West Hollywood influencer staples including the Crossroads thrift shop and Alfred’s Tea and Coffee. Plus, Crossroads in particular offers a highly curated section (I’m 4/4 for successful hauls there) and features somewhat recent trends and brands so you can still hop on the fashion bandwagon while shopping responsibly.

Some of the best goodies never make it to the thrift store bins. Instead, they wind up in dumps or in the hands of crafty salespeople on Mercari, an e-commerce marketplace for pre-loved treasures. Try, for example, North Shore Aloha Vintage, which features vintage jewelry and housewares from the North Shore of Oahu. Might I interest you in a giant peacock brooch? Perhaps an Aurora Borealis Beaded Necklace? How about a Swarovski Spanish Fan (necessary)? These gifts are probably best for friends who love morbidity and previously owned items that may have a ghost living inside of them.

This one’s for the lazy vintage people who don’t want to step foot in a thrift store. Honeyfer Vintage offers a collection of vintage clothing, home goods, and handmade products curated by photographer and stylist Cassidy Bliss Cooper (who is quite possibly one of the coolest human beings on the planet). Based in Los Angeles and sourced from all over the world, Honeyfer is handily sorted by trends, so you don’t have to pretend to watch TikTok to know what’s trending. And if you’re not as well-dressed as the vintage gal you’re shopping for, don’t sweat it. Please just let someone with taste—ahem, Cooper—help you.

If you’re struggling to find a vintage item, you can also gift the aura of a vintage chanteuse. The Treehouse Social Club salon in the East Village was founded by curly shag queen and famed NYC hairstylist Mischa G. Mischa, who was responsible for my first-ever curly cut (I’m a different gal now, we call her Glamily), told Vogue, “I’ve never been one to follow trends or what’s trendy at the moment, I prefer to take the classics and morph them to work for the person in my chair. It’s about evoking feelings of the past with well-curated vintage looks, and keeping it feeling present for the person’s individuality.” There’s also a really cute mirrored disco wall, lucite bar carts, a Dolly Parton mural in the bathroom, and they typically offer you champagne, wine, or the house cocktail du jour while you get your hair done. The vibes are immaculate, the cuts are life-changing, and the environment Mischa has curated is truly a manifestation of her blood, sweat, and tears.

I know some of you weirdos are into taxidermy, so why not gift a butterfly pinning class from Brooklyn Taxidermy? (Start with something mild before you graduate to the chipmunk or the raccoon shoulder mount class.) During the one-and-a-half-hour class, for $150, students will learn to pin and mount a variety of butterfly species. The cost includes five butterflies, an entomology spreading board, entomology pins, pinning tape, and a shadowbox frame—all of which you get to take home! The classes are also BYOB, so this feels like the vintage, less basic version of those paint n’ sip classes. Have fun with the little furries!

At Woke Vintage in Brooklyn, you can peruse old Playboy magazines for that friend who’s trying to rewrite feminist history. Snag classic covers featuring pinup stars like Anna Nicole Smith, Brooke Shields, Pamela Anderson, and even the Spice Girls. Aside from the covers which feature a handful of scorned and fired NFL cheerleaders from the ‘80s, my personal favorites showcase nameless women of the ‘60s and ‘70s, which are honestly quite artful. Your giftee can display the zines on their coffee table, and convince houseguests they are trying to take back the idea of Playboy while erasing Hugh’s misogyny from it all! It’s edgy, it’s a conversation starter, and, most importantly, IT’S VINTAGE.

If you’re looking to splurge on something special for a partner, Las Vibras Vintage, is a great place to start. (I cry every time I look at this feed with the immense grief of longing. This small business started as a hobby for a trendy-NYC couple and has since blossomed into one of my favorite pages to peruse. If your partner has a shag cut, a half sleeve, and exclusively hate-reads Knausgård, this curated furniture selection is for them. Allow strangers to make insightful inferences about the inner workings of your rich interior world by adorning your apartment with furniture of the olden times! Try a bigger-ticket item like this rattan bell flower dining table, or this slightly cheaper 1980s post modern hazelnut scroll headboard and nightstands for $175 (honestly a steal).

Another very cute interactive idea! You can either buy printable altered art on Etsy, like this crackled vintage portrait of a Girl with Pearl Earring by Jan Vermeer on ArtVechnaya, OR you can go dumpster diving, find an old baroque piece in a gilded frame and some paint, and make it yourself. I saw a cool girl do this once and, wow, what a good idea for your artsy hipster friend that’s repurposed and homemade all in one. Probably also good for your coworker who loves talking about Victorian children.