The festive shopping season is almost upon us, but before you even start thinking about getting thoughtful gifts for your beloved, think about yourself! Yes, as Mama Ru put it “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”, and there are few times of year when that stands as true as the last Friday of November – Black Friday. While the glut of discounts that day brings is certainly exciting, figuring out what, exactly, is worth buying can be a toothsome challenge. This year, though, we’re giving you something to be truly thankful for – a guide to the chicest things that the sales have to offer, brought to you by the guys and girls you already know well from our previous ultimate gift guides. What should you gorpcore boyfriend be snapping up in the SSENSE sale? What discounted party frocks will catch our Material Gworl’s eye on NAP? Read on to find out!
Material Gworl™
With the holiday run-up now upon us, the only things our resident glamourpuss is shopping for are the sort of party looks that make everyone else wonder whether it was even worth making an effort in the first place. Slinky dresses are, of course, de rigueur, and in this year’s shopping basket you’ll find an abundance of the season’s chicest, most shimmer-y festive frocks. Glowing after a top-to-toe Dr Dennis Gross exfoliation session, and decked out in a feather-trimmed, sequinned 16Arlington minidress one night and an exquisitely bedazzled fringed Conner Ives satin gown the next, our girlie isn’t coming to play this Christmas! As if the sequins weren’t enough sparkle, she’s also deepening daddy’s credit card balance, filling her cart with some actual bling. Given that she’d honestly rather drop dead than be caught walking into a bash at Claridges with a bare décolleté, a gold pendant from Anissa Kermiche or Alighieri is an it-girl must! As for the shoes, some Jimmy Choo slingbacks to replace the pair she wore out last holiday season, endlessly shuffling between Mayfair and Marylebone, are a need – this year, though, her magpie eye has also been drawn to Malone Souliers’ glitzy Julia mule… such a tough choice! Luckily, it’s not one she has to make – the price of something hardly matters when you aren’t the one paying!
Your art school graduate niece
With the pennies she’s put aside from her minimum-wage gallery attendant gig at a project space, your dear niece is using this year’s Black Friday sale as an opportunity for a full transformation. ‘Art school graduate’? No, thank you! She’s a fully fledged art girl now! Desperate to flex her rapidly-accruing in-status, she’s dead set on copping a wardrobe chock-full of esoteric grails. A skirt by recent CFDA winner Elena Velez, a ruffled mini by London’s queen of crochet Katya Zelentsova, a shirred Amy Crookes ankle boot, a pair of Panconesi earrings, a Georgia Kemball chain… she wants you to know that she damn well knows. Add a blazer from Jean Paul Gaultier’s collaboration with alt-girl empress – and i-D senior editor-at-large – Lotta Volkova into the mix (and her Adidas collab slides for good measure), and your girl’s ready to steal the show at any Clapton warehouse-cum-gallery opening.
Your swampcore girlfriend
The bog brimmeth over with treats for our swampy queen this Black Friday, with a veritable glut of marked-down Shrek-chic products in store. On the accessories front, you’ll find a seaweed inspired messenger bag from Danish upstart label Solitude Studios, as well as froggy bags and rings from New York’s earthiest brand Collina Strada. VeniceW’s seemingly mummified linen bandage trousers and and a crossbody inspired by Nessie – the OG swampie – are available at a prices that no self-respecting goblin girlie would turn up her nose at. And while she’s not typically one for shoes – “I need to feel the earth!” she proclaims – these moss green Eckhaus Latta boots might just convince her.
Your gorpcore boyfriend
If the amount of discounted AFFXWRKS on offer in SSENSE’s Black Friday sale isn’t enough to get your gorpcore boyfriend sprinting over to their site, then what will?? Well, lots actually – besides all the hoodies, work jackets and cargo pants from the label co-founded by Kiko Kostadinov he could wish for, there’s also a good selection of pieces from the designer’s eponymous brand – like this vaguely F1 racer-y twinset and these graphic gaiter boots. If he’s after a more IYKYK flex, though, there’s also plenty from future-forward Korean ripstop magicians Post Archive Fashion and Hyein Seo. From Khaki “Technical Centre” trousers to stormcloud grey gilets, this year’s sale has everything your boo could ever need to live out his fantasy as an expensively dressed land surveyor.
Your spoiled hypebeast brother
Raf Simons. In the wake of the announcement of the Belgian brand’s shuttering, your spoilt hypebeast brother is splashing all of the cash he’s made selling last season’s sale cops buying up SSENSE’s reserves of Raf Simons. If there’s any pennies spare after that, then he just might be able to stretch to an A-Cold-Wall* jumper, a hoodie from Israeli-Palestinian streetwear label Adish, or some sandals from Adidas’ fresh collaboration with Pharrell’s Humanrace. If there isn’t, though, then at least you know what to get him for Christmas!