I am on a mission for Christmas this year: finding the perfect vintage present for all my non-vintage friends and family!
I just want to give something that represents me (vintage) to those who are not (yet) into vintage but maybe just need a little help to share this huge passion with me. If you are already struggling with ideas for this Christmas (it's in a month after all!) maybe you can find some useful tips here!
Let's start from the family, maybe the hardest one: no one in my family appreciates vintage, except maybe for my mum who has a huge passion for antiques so her present is kinda easy. She is a collector of stoups from all over the world and I had the chance to find a vintage one at the Antiques market in Milan last month: it will be her first vintage stoup so I guess that she will appreciate the idea!
My dad was a bit more complicated as the idea of wearing something used disturbs him a lot so I had to find something in perfect conditions but from another era. It has been a long search but I ended up buying a perfect vintage Hermes tie from the 70s on Ebay and I think he would not even realize that it has been worn (I was wondering myself if it has ever been used!).
Sister has the same problem of my dad for worn things so I had an idea! I found a vintage fabric, polka-dot pattern, and I asked my friend to make a handmade 40s inspired turban with it. It is amazing and the funny thing is that she added vintage decorations on it, like vintage buttons and pearls...not bad eh? I'm quite proud of this one!
If you have brothers, depending on their age and passions you can always find easy solutions with them: vintage games or used books or CDs for example, or vintage tee shirts (from their favorite music band) and caps (with their favorite sport theme) if you want to offer clothes.
Friends-wise you can still see "brother" section for male friends (that's what I did as I don't have brothers!) but for female friends it is always easy: first of all they are women and you know exactly how they work, but they are also not into vintage so you have to find something that has a smaller impact; for example I would avoid vintage shoes or hats as they may not like the idea of putting their feet and their head into something already worn. I decided to go mostly for vintage jewelry: brooches, earrings, necklaces and bracelets that I mostly found online or in some vintage markets. In one case I went for a vintage perfume but just because I knew that she was interested in that one in particular! In another case I went for a vintage bag but there again I made sure that the inside was not too worn out (and the outside was too good anyway to care about the inside!!).
Eventually I hope that they will never read this post, as I am realizing just now that if they do I completely ruined my vintage Christmas presents surprise!!