David is the managing editor and a partner at Heddels. He lives in Denver, CO and is responsible for our CO-OP series of collaborations, our Blowout podcast, and the photoshop abominations that go above the Sale Finder Shortlist.
Welcome to gifting season. We’re just at the start of the four-ish week marathon between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we’re here to make it slightly easier. Last week, we hit you with the Extravagant Wish List, this one we’re a little more down to earth with offerings that are all well within $100.
I’m a long devoted fan of the LL Bean Wicked Good Moc, in fact, I’m wearing them right now, but I will admit the lightweight, insulated, and weatherproof nature of the Nanga, plus that extra tready sole makes them a difficult proposition to pass up. They’re made by a Japanese down jacket label and a Japanese slipper brand and come in a bunch of colors.
How much more wallet can you ask for at $36? It’s just one little envelope of 3.5oz. English Bridle Tan leather but it can hold all your cards and a little bit of cash so you can use it to spend on other things.
Not a bandana, but actually kind of a bandana. Furoshikis are the everyday handkerchief/bandanas people use to wrap up their lunch, so why not wrap up your head? Kiriko has a wide selection of different patterns but I’m partial to this two views of Mt. Fuji.
Want to know the way to my heart this season? Buy me Kapital socks. They’re the perfect gift item because at $30-$50 per pair, they’re too expensive to buy for yourself as socks but they’re just the right price for someone to buy them for you as a gift. And what is a gift but a little extravagance you want to give someone that they won’t give themselves?
Coming in right at the edge of $100, this bag is based on the totes that coal miners used to haul rocks up out of the ground. If it can do that, it can surely handle your loved ones’ groceries and beach reads. Made in USA, heavyweight waxed canvas and veg-tanned leather.
Do you have a friend that’s always cold? No matter what the environ, they’re always shivering. Enter this actual goose down liner jacket from Taion. It can be compressed into a tiny stuff sack that fits in a bag, pocket, or purse, so they have an extra line of defense when sitting near the door at a restaurant.
Fun fact, the bobble on a beanie came from sailors who kept hitting their heads on beams below deck. If you have a sailing passage ahead of you, or you just like the texture, Heimat Textil made their Signal Hat for you. It’s made in Germany from virgin wool.
Did you ever make your dad one of these in shop class? Well now he can have one where all the angles are square and it doesn’t cut his hand on an unfinished edge. This steel tool organizer works for tools, yes, but also pens, loose change, and jelly beans.
Everyone has a tactical uncle that’s difficult to shop for, meet their newest fidget device. It’s titanium, can scrape, pry, open bottles, turn screws, and it won’t accidentally discharge at the dinner table while they’re messing with it.
Actually burning a cigarette is more of a forgone pastime, so you may have to get creative with the uses for this handmade ceramic ash tray. Maybe resting a baby carrot in between bites, buy two and give your drumsticks a nice place to sit, or fill it with mixed nuts and it’ll be like their own little swimming pool with diving board.
If you have someone on your list who knows fashion labels, imagine their face the morning of when they open a new Margaret Howell piece in front of you. Even if they don’t, they can surely appreciate these lambswool fingerless gloves that are made in the UK. They can use their phone and have that Home Alone bandit-chic.
Normally, we have to make some concessions when approaching an entry level sub $150 pair of raw denim. Some of the first things to go are the selvedge on the denim, the leather patch, and chainstitching on the hem. Sage manages to include all that and it’s only $46! These made in Indonesia jeans are a labor of love for Sage and you can get your friends and family into this weird world of ours for less than $50 plus shipping. Speaking of which, if you want to order these, you may want to order these now-ish because it’s a long flight from Indonesia.
Let’s get out the good cutting board, we’ve got company coming over. No, not the one with the swirly stove melt in it. Not the wooden one we forgot to oil and gave your mom a splinter in her tongue. Yeah, the travertine one, that’s perfect! What’s travertine? It’s a sedimentary rock formed by the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals from fresh water, typically in springs, rivers, and lakes; that is, from surface and ground waters. Don’t worry, it’s been treated with a 100% food-safe finish and features a leather tie and one end to make it easy to hang up to dry after a delicious meal.
Hario has made heatproof glass since the 1920s. They’ve done it for laboratory equipment, they’ve done it for industrial and automotive applications, but it wasn’t until 1948 that they reached their apex—coffee. They have two versions of their classic coffee siphon, depending on how much you like the other members of your household or how much you like yourself.
Available for $48 (240ml) and $55 (480ml) at Kiriko.
I lied. This one is $135, but that extra $35 is so worth it. I can’t do it justice, so I’ll let the Hinoya auto-translate do it for me:
“Warehouse reproduced a rare sweatshirt that existed in the 1940s called “set-in freedom” which has set-in shoulder sleeves and freedom sleeves on the armpit side. The most suitable loop-wheeled knitting machine is used to reproduce the texture of vintage clothes, and 18-count yarn made of U.S. cotton is used for the dyed-color top yarn. The yarn count is used so that the warp grain is strong.
“Fabrics knitted on a loop-wheeled knitting machine are air-filled because the knitted fabric falls to the bottom, and so no load is applied during the fabric rolling-up process. Therefore, the fabric itself shrinks after washing and drying, giving it a unique soft texture that wraps around the skin that cannot be achieved with other knitting machines. Since this product is unwashed, it will shrink about one size after washing. For example, after washing, a size 40 will shrink to be about an unwashed size 38. Please select your size carefully.”
