Birthdays should be synonymous with fun—well that is unless you have a girlfriend. Put the carefree fun back into it with this girlfriend-made-easy gift guide.
The Girl You Just Started Dating
Chances are you are still in that awkward touchy ‘where-is-this-all-going phase’? You totally dig the girl, but you don’t want to appear too into her this early in the game. Hell, she may even have told you ‘you don’t need to get me anything’. Wrong. Unless you are looking for this little romance to have a quickly approaching expiration date, ignore her misleading advice. Here is what she really means, ‘it’s too early for me to to expect a present, so I’ll just pretend I don’t. But I do.’ Follow that? Buy her something.
This is a tricky stage though. Anything too grandeur or overly romantic, will probably have her feeling smothered. Think small, thoughtful and cute. Something that you could have just happened to catch out of the corner of your eye and it reminded you of her. For instance, if she always orders tea when you two go out, you could snag this adorable submarine tea infuser. Or maybe your lady is always talking about traveling, try this scratch-off map.
Win. Win. You’ve made it clear you do listen to her. Nothing reads as ‘oh em gee! let’s get married!’.
The Girl Who’s In To Fashion (aka the Chictopian Girlfriend)
This is the girl that always manages to allude boys. Sure, you think it’d be easy. They love clothes! Problem, there are an infinite number of options—read: an infinite number of ways to get things wrong. You buy a size too large, ‘you think i’m fat?!’ You buy a size too small, ‘what do you wish I was that skinny?!’ You get a purple dress, ‘you know I hate purple’. And gift cards, let’s not even go there. So before you go and do something awful, like buy her a purple dress, please read on!
Try the movie that can unite nearly every fashionista, The September Issue. Its subject Anna Wintour, a demi-god to many. Or for the more hip, less traditional, look for out-of-print Misshapes. This style lookbook is Cobrasnake cool, before Cobrasnake existed. How much cooler can you get than that?
The Girl Who’s Always Hinting at a Ring
This type is typically done-to-death in film and tv. Always digging through her boyfriend’s things, hoping for a hint of a diamond. Nagging about marriage. Pointing out other married couples. Looking for any excuse to get you into a jewelry store.
Now if you really are into the girl, you will just have to grin and bear it. If you don’t dig her so much, well then I think you know what you should do. The bearing will be made easier for all if you avoid certain gifts. Gifts that come in small blue boxes for instance.
It’ll take something pretty magnificent to temporarily get her mind off that ring she isn’t wearing on her index finger. And magnificent means one of two things—something everyone will envy her for having, or something expensive. Try hitting both marks by getting her a designer bag like this Alexander Wang (this is a cross-category since it will also appease your Fashionista girlfriend).
It may be pricey, but it’s still cheaper than a diamond!
Still needing a few more hints? Then listen up as our EIU contributors chime in:
fashionjuice: “…a nice watch would be perfect… Whenever I’d check the time I would be reminded of him.” And this Michael Kors watch is perfect.
naomayyy: “I’m not one for cheesy stuff, like roses or a teddy bear or chocolate. I would like something funny, maybe something we have a little practical joke over, that would be really cute.”
iris[anddaniel]: “…I think the perfect gift for me, from anyone really, is something off of my essentials list like a black dress, a gray sweater, or black flats because I’m really into minimizing my closet and making sure I have the basics.” Notorious mecca for basics, American Apparel.
purplewang: “Depending on what the occasion is, I like handmade cards (actually got a macaroni one for Valentine’s Day..haha). The perfect gift for me would be a fun day or weekend trip somewhere.” Hello Bora, Bora!
Image Via Numero no100 2009
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cute!