Sock Guides & Gift Ideas

Wedding Party Gifts: Who Gets What, and What It Costs

The wedding party gift list is always longer than six people. Here is the full roster, a spend-per-role table, and the order in which to buy it all.

Valentine's Gifts for Him That Are Not Chocolate

The test that separates a Valentine's gift that survives from one that is eaten by the weekend, plus what to put on it depending on how long you have been together.

The Valentine's Gift Guide Without the Panic

Decide the Valentine's gift in January, not on the eleventh of February. What to give at each stage of a relationship, what a gift quietly signals, and what to skip.

Mother's Day Gifts She Will Use More Than Once

Most Mother's Day gifts are admired once and put away. Here is how to pick a gift she uses in an ordinary week, what to have embroidered on it, and what it costs.

The Mother's Day Gift Guide, Planned Early

Set the reminder four weeks out. What mothers keep versus what gets stored, how to buy for a new mother, a grandmother or a mother-in-law, and the one detail to check before ordering.

Last-Minute Personalized Gifts, Planned Properly

Personalized gifts are made after you order them, so speed has limits. Here is how to work backwards from the date, what to write when time is short, and what to do when the day has already passed.

How to Ask Someone to Be a Groomsman

Asking a friend to be a groomsman is a favor dressed as a gift. Here is when to ask, what to say, what goes in the box, and how to talk about the cost.

Graduation Gifts for the First Job, Not the Last Exam

Gifts that face backwards get boxed up. Here is what a new graduate is short of in the eight weeks after the ceremony, and what to personalize.

The Graduation Gift Guide for Every Budget

Four budget bands, from under 25 dollars to over 200, plus what a graduate actually needs in the six months after the ceremony and how whole-cohort orders work.

Personalized Gifts for a Wife Who Says She Wants Nothing

What she means when she says she wants nothing, and how to buy for someone who buys her own things. Small, specific, and used more than once.

Personalized Gifts for a Son, From Graduation to First Job

A stage-by-stage guide to personalized gifts for a son, from the first interview suit to the first flat, with honest price bands and what to skip.

Personalized Gifts for a Sister Who Is Hard to Buy For

She has already bought herself anything she wanted under fifty dollars. The way round that is precision, not price. Here is what to have embroidered, and what not to.

Gifts for People Who Have Everything

Spending more does not solve a full house. The three gift categories that still work on someone who needs nothing, the test that predicts whether it gets used, and what to stop buying.