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Welcome
to the Land of
No Returns
"Um, thanks."
That's the sound of a pair of flared cargo pants (that
was last year, genius) going limp in the hands of
a teenage girl on Christmas morning. It's like your love
repeating, "Will I marry you?" when you pop the question--in
a way that tells you she won't.
While there's no accounting for the capricious favor of
a 16-year-old female, a 9-year-old boy or your mother, zeroing
in on a piece of clothing the recipient might actually wear
in public is easier than getting hitched. Marginally.
The ability to intuit someone's style is a gift in itself.
But it's not so much a matter of being au courant
as it is knowing a person well--and relating to and accepting
the fashion in which he or she chooses to dress. If your
teen son combs Value Village for Scorpions T-shirts, old-school
windbreakers and vintage ties, chances are he's not going
to be too psyched about a Seahawks jersey. The mother who
runs around in Steve Madden and Bisou Bisou isn't dreaming
of sweaters from Eddie Bauer.
If you want to buy clothes for people, you've got to spend
time around them. The reason your aunt back in Baltimore
keeps shipping out Champion sweatshirts and chunky fisherman
cardigans is that she hasn't seen you in 10 years.
But knowing what makes a person look the way she looks
only gets you halfway through the Miyake/Miu Miu/Mossimo/Moschino/Monica
minefield. You need another map just to get the size right.
If you can't surreptitiously determine pant or shoe size,
stick with tops, which are easier to eyeball. Another word
of advice: Do not get swept up in the colors of the moment;
tangerine looks dynamite on about 10 percent of the population.
Of course you can always fall back on gift certificates,
which in some ways are the perfect presents--currency that
can only be redeemed for clothes, not car payments. They
are also gift-giving by proxy, the badge of a nation too
busy to think.
There's another option.
For our premier gift guide devoted solely to style, we
went to the source to discover what everyone from 8-year-old
footballer Damarcus Chaney to working
mother Julie Bergstrom, 39, wants to wear this winter.
We solicited a wish list from each interviewee/model, talked
to shopkeepers and buyers and cruised Portland to capture
the spirit of self-decoration. We're not claiming there's
something for everyone, but with more than 100 items to
mine, there's surely something for someone on your list.
So when Fiona gasps with joy and approval upon ripping
open a box of Fornarina Mary Janes and asks, "Dad, how did
you know?"--just smile. And forward all thank-you notes
to WW.
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Editor
Christina Melander
Art Director
Mariane Zenker
Cover & Inside
Photography
D-J@AMOS
Copy Chief
Becky Ohlsen
Copy Editors
Matt Buckingham
Ian Gillingham
Jennifer Sargent |
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Contributors
Liz Brown
Mary E. Campbell
Susie Cieszewski
Elizabeth Dye
Trevor Kearney
Michaela Lowthian
Mac Montandon
Design Team
Thomas Cobb
Jason Linscott
Anne Reeser
Jesse Woodruff
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