The Best Hostess Gifts FW26
by Diana Chu
Give a more nuanced, unexpected gift than a bottle of orange wine or irreverent tea towels. These Slow Gaze approved host / hostess gifts gesture your gratitude without obliging folks to gift in return.
Good olive oil. Not sure if your hosts like to cook or drizzle with their olive oil? Here's a pack that covers both.
A niche chocolate bar. This Casa Bosques x apartamento toasted buckwheat bar is as delightful in the wrapper as it is out.
Surprise tarot 'reading'. Three mysterious oracle cards from the Raider-Waite universe. Pick a pack for a friend and one for yourself. Compare readings.
A modern travel guide. I was gifted my first Wild Sam field guide to Nashville in 2012. It was before everyone traveled everywhere and every influencer had an opinion. This handbook is chock-full of recommendations but also interviews, local flavor, and journalistic rigor that comes with publishing in print. They've expanded their guide locations a lot since then and I'm glad to see it.
Nettle gouda. You don't know cheese until you've lived in the Dairy State for over 10 years. This cheese delights a crowd and disappears quickly.
Black & white film camera. Bring nostalgia back on film. This one can be developed at places that process color film (sometimes black and white film requires different chemicals — but this Ilford camera doesn't). Take photos of your dinner party or event and enjoy the delayed gratification of waiting for the film to return. It's a gift that gives twice.
Slow-burning scentless candles. The blaze orange tapered beeswax candles from this voltage collection by Slow Burn stay lit long after the party disperses. We love the fluted taper design at the bottom — they sit so well in candle holders. Made in small batches by hand.
And the best taper candle-holder. Chip-carved by hand from Emily Duke Studios.
A cutlery set that deserves display. The Good Set by Fool's Gold is particularly becoming in mint.
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And for hosts with littles:
This book. "You Choose" by Pippa Goodheart was found in a Waterstones bookstore in London. I bought it for my daughter who was 1.5 years old at the time. Since then, we've taken it on planes and gifted countless copies to friends with kids that range from 1–6 years.
A charmera. Go the extra mile and gift it with a micro-SD card.
Cyanotype kit. For fun spent outdoors in the sun.
Pickle bandaids. Or, really, any fun, novelty bandaid from your nearest pharmacy aisle.
— Diana
