All I’m saying to Santa is that I better get something out of this shitty year because in the face of all of it, I was pretty damn good. This is my Christmas Wish List, a slight departure from the vapid and vain selections of the past due to the need for masks and humidity, but there are still exorbitant items of fancy thrown in for those who still aspire.
Let’s get the utilitarian mask thing out of the way, as I just discovered that Tom Ford has his own line of face masks done in typically-elegant fashion. My preference is toward the nude/beige shades but I’m open to whatever’s available. (And honestly, these may have already sold out since I’m late getting this post up.)
If they’re gone already, here are a few more practical, and available, price points, in these offerings from Nordstrom or Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus. Mask up, people, mask up.
Accessories are still the simplest way to feel a little more glamorous, even when stuck at home, and here’s a way to do so on-the-cheap: a Marcus Adler bandana set in pretty floral prints.
If those Tom Ford Masks are still sold out, here’s one more chance for Mr. Ford to enter our lives: TF Anti-Fatigue Eye Treatment. Because like all my body parts, my eyes are fatigued too.
In a year when we were suddenly stuck at home, it became about comfort and beauty, not to mention practicality, so this rather unglamorous gift request of another room humidifier is the unheralded way of improving our winter air quality. Throat and skin and hair all do better when there is a little more humidity in the air, particularly when the drying effects of home heat and arid winter air collide. This model works wonders and runs at least a full day without needing refilling.
I never thought I’d be looking at Men’s Wearhouse for clothing items, especially given how much their commercials bothered me a few years back, but this is 2020, the year of COVID, and after being cooped up in sweats and T-shirts I actually long for some basic office wear. They’ve also been upping their game recently online, so let’s give them a whirl. We begin with this striped turtleneck sweater (size medium), and then seal the deal with these red floral pants (size 32).
Before anyone thinks I’ve lost my ever-loving mind at the Men’s Wearhouse, check out these Holiday Tartan pants from Bonobos (waist 32, length 30) because they are divine.
In a throwback to the type of gifts I usually sought when I was younger, this spinning globe from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts recalls my fascination with science and motion and the simple delight of our earth. I already have a spot in the sun selected for it.
Turning our noses toward the fragrance portion of this wish list, I’ve long wanted to get into the Henry Rose line of cleaner scents, and they have this economical sampler set that would be perfect for that.
Finally, here are two glam gifts that mark a season or a year, even when it’s been such a doozy as this one has been. First up is the exquisite ‘Rose & Cuir’ – a fragrance by the olfactory wizard Jean-Claude Ellena, who did all those delicious Jardin scents for Hermes. He’s crafted an exquisite rose and leather scent for Frederic Malle’s glorious line, and it’s one of the finest scents I’ve sniffed of late.
The darker cousin of ‘Rose & Cuir’ is ‘Portrait of A Lady’, befitting an evening instead of sunny winter day, and a scent I’ve flirted with over the past few years and have at long last put near the top of the wish list. A pair of rose scents would be a comfort and antidote to a mostly dreadful year.
If you still have slots to fill, there’s always my Amazon Wish List. Fanciness can be found there too if you delve deep enough. This one’s for you, Santa baby.
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