A suitable hostess gift a century ago was a Dresden porcelain egg warmer, replete with a hollow center for hot water and four handy slots. The price for this lavish gift according to Vogue’s December 1912 issue? $3.
These days, finding a present for your host — whether you’re spending the night or simply attending a cocktail-fueled evening — can seem nothing short of impossible. What to gift the lady of the household with seemingly everything, or the man with an apartment exquisite enough for a photo shoot? It’s a hard task, but someone has to do it. And with Labor Day on the horizon, and ideally a weekend’s worth of fetes as well, there’s no better time to round-up some of the very best presents out there. Below, ten ideas tailor-made for ten different destinations. You may just discover a little something to pick-up for yourself along the way.
1. Hot Pots in the Hudson River Valley
Geoffrey Beene for Swid Powell tea set
$500, 1stdibs.com
Ideal for warming up the (soon to be ahead) chilly evenings of Hudson River Valley country abodes. You’ll earn bonus points when your hostess realizes this circa-1980 set is from a limited-edition run.
2. Divine Wine in Sag Harbor
$24, Wölffer Estate
The name of Wölffer Estate’s Chardonnay-blend white wine says it all: Summer in a Bottle. Grapes are grown in Sagaponack, Long Island and promise tasting notes of all the best seasonal fruits: peaches, apricots and cantaloupes.
3. Glam Glass in Venice Beach
Murano sommerso vase by Flavio Poli
$160, 1stdibs.com
Bring a hint of Venice, Italy to your host’s Venice, California home for an afternoon barbeque. This midcentury piece will beautifully hold wildflowers picked from alongside the canal.
4. Sweet Treats in Brooklyn
$60, Cacao Prieto
Single origin Dominican cacao may sound like a mouthful, but it is an exceedingly tasty mouthful. Each organic bar is made from Dominican Republic cacao beans and wrapped in whimsical postcards illustrated by Brooklyn artists. This assortment includes such heavenly combinations as pecan-and-sour cherry and almond-and-salt. Fair warning: it may be tempting to eat the contents of this package before reaching your final destination.
5. Say Cheese in the Hamptons
Antique silver-plated cheese dish
$177, 1stdibs.com
For the Hamptons home with a panoramic view of the bay, and a requisite sunset wine and cheese hour, this turn-of-the-century English cheese dish will properly hold Gruyère procured from local favorite Lucy’s Whey.
6. So Soigné in Pacific Palisades
Swans: Legends of the Jet Set Society
$195, Assouline
Any coffee table (and any host) will appreciate a hefty tome illustrating the glamorous escapades of society stars of yesteryear.
7. Masterful Mosaics in Miami Beach
Georges Briard 5-piece glass serving set
$400, 1stdibs.com
Award-winning designer Georges Briard’s glassware was a favorite fixture at department stores in the 1950s. His blue-and-green midcentury trays are just as relevant now, and perfectly suited for adorning the cocktail table of a Miami Beach terrace in the sky.
8. Good Glow in Gramercy Park
$80, Le Labo
Make your host’s home smell as deliciously woodsy as the Gramercy Park Hotel with Le Labo’s Cade 26 —developed exclusively for the property. The candle is completely vegan and burns for 60 hours, a good enough reason to stay over all weekend long.
9. That’s a Wrap in Maine
$960, 1stdibs.com
Who could deny the appeal of an Hermès signature blanket? Ideal for a drafty holiday weekend spent on the Maine coast, or, come fall, a leisurely Saturday afternoon curled up on the couch.
10. The Write Stuff in Silicon Valley
Tom Dixon Cog brass and aluminum pen pot
$95, 1stdibs.com
We’ve all heard that letter writing is a dying art, but to that we say: so what? Change the mind of even your most tech-attached Silicon Valley friend with Tom Dixon’s brass-plated beauty of a pen canister.
