(festive music)
- Hello, lovely people,
and welcome to my annual vintage gift-guide.
(Jessica gasps)
Oh my goodness.
Well, I will be giving you some of the hot tips
of my favorite ideas for little gifts
that you can share with the ones you love,
or the one you love the most,
yourself.
Now, there will be, of course,
a range of different price brackets
of the things that I'm mentioning,
and one of them is gonna be
a high-ticket item (cash register rings)
because you might be really feeling
like treating yourself this Christmas,
you might be, you might be.
I did,
I did.
But it's something I'll use every year, so it's fine.
It's fine.
And look, I've managed to work it into a video,
therefore it's fine that I bought it.
It's a perfectly okay purchase, all right?
It's perfectly fine.
And others are in a lower price range.
And of course we'll be supporting some small businesses,
so not everything that I'm talking about
will be available in your local area.
I'm just giving you some hints and tips for things
that you might want to be looking for near you.
However, everything will be linked to
down in the description below
or similar if it's a one-of-a-kind.
This video is sponsored by Surfshark VPN,
and we'll find out more about them later,
because yes, because yes, Surfshark is one of the gifts
I will be talking about,
because Surfshark is a gift to my life.
Internet protection is a gift to everyone, okay?
Before we get into the gifts themselves,
I just wanna say thank you so much to everyone
for supporting the Vlogmas content I've been making so far.
A lot of it has been in short-form,
so you can find out if you've missed any of it
by clicking in the link down below.
I've made a playlist where everything is in one place
and you can go and watch everything all together.
Go down in the description down there.
Gift number one.
One of my favorite things I've seen recently
is big retailers turning towards more sustainable output.
One of the reasons that I love dressing in vintage styles
and wearing production clothes
is that often they are made
not only in a very lovely way
with a cinched-in waist and a big skirt,
is that often I'll be wearing clothes
that are just already here on the earth.
Or if the dress has been made new,
then often it'll be made with fabrics that already exist.
I like that I'm not adding something new to the world.
And I really loved recently finding out that John Lewis,
fabulous retailer of Christmas adverts to make you cry,
have started selling secondhand jewelry,
and they have some really stunning pieces.
They cover a wide range of eras,
going from even the Edwardian era up to 1990s.
And these secondhand and vintage pieces,
some of which have actually never been purchased
and worn before, are really truly stunning.
It's really great just to know that you're buying something
that has a history behind it,
you're buying something that hasn't been freshly made
and new and adding to the consumption pile,
but that you're just giving something
a brand new lease of life.
There are a wide range of styles, don't worry.
I'm not saying that the only thing out there
is going to be a very grandma look.
It's not that at all.
Definitely make sure to go and check it out.
I bought three brooches that are admittedly quite me,
but here are some other looks that I found on the site
that I think are quite a range of diverse looks.
(graphics pop)
In terms of price brackets,
as you would expect, some of them
are way high up there. (cash register chimes)
Yeah, did I really like those ones?
Were there some that I was like, oh my god, I love it.
Wow, I need it.
Oh my goodness, the price, though?
Yes.
I hate when you fall in love with something
and then you actually see the price tag.
But there are some really, really gorgeous things
that aren't that much at all. (cash register chimes)
So, snap them up because these are one-of-a kind pieces.
It also gives you the joy of the fact
that none of your friends will be wearing the same thing.
Number two, speaking of vintage,
what would your vintage outfit be without some beautiful
(bell chimes) seamed tights?
And we know the best seamed tights come from What Katie Did.
Tights and stockings from What Katie Did are
the best.
They are soft as butter,
luxurious,
and I'll be honest, as a girl
with the misfortune of toenails that don't,
they don't go down, I have a lot of ladders in my tights.
It's an unfortunate thing I deal with
and I really struggle to spend money on tights
because I go through them.
I really go through them so quickly
and they get ladders.
And I think, why.
Why spend money on something
that will be sadly gone so quickly?
But these little beauties, they actually last me.
It's shocking, but they do.
Highly, highly recommend the What Katie Did tights.
And by purchasing,
you are supporting a small business
owned by a woman.
(bell chimes)
Well, now, so speaking of all these gifts,
I'd like to give you a gift.
What gift, you ask.
Well, the gift of a browser extension,
literally a device connected to anywhere in the world
and encrypts all of your data
from positive to metadata to even your photographs.
Yeah, that one.
I know, you think it's a great gift now,
but I haven't even mentioned the fact
that it works for your whole family,
because Surfshark allows one account
to work on multiple devices.
In fact, an unlimited number of devices at the same time.
I mean, it sounds like a gift for you
and for your entire family.
I feel all warm and bubbly inside.
Is this what Father Christmas feels like?
(bells ring)
Okay, wait, disclaimer,
I'm not actually gifting you Surfshark,
but I am gifting you three months for free
and 85% off with code, JESSICA.
When you go to surfshark.deals/jessica,
so I'm not the worst father Christmas impersonator, right?
If you sign up before the 31st of December,
you'll receive 85% off, and no worries,
there is a 30 day money back guarantee.
All right, third thing, I've ruined my display
just so I could do this.
Ba boom.
Yeah, it's a bag.
I know.
It's a bag, but it's also a talking piece.
Do you feel nervous in social situations?
Buy a grape bag.
It will get you over that.
Yeah, you take it out.
Everyone is your friend.
You have something to talk about, you really do.
People will come up to talk to you about your grape bag,
and you can continue to talk about the grape bag
for a very long time.
It gets you in there.
Want to go to a job interview?
Bring the grape bag.
A great place to start.
If you get really anxious, twiddle a grape.
It works.
It's fun looking, but also strangely practical.
I have fun bags.
They're not practical.
I'd just like to say, that's why I'm pointing this out,
because it is very important.
Yeah, I have fun bags,
but they're not, you know, they're not that wonderful.
But this one is actually really good.
Look, that's a ring box
and it goes conveniently in the fun bag.
Practical.
We went to London on the train with the grape bag
and it did really well.
It fit my phone, which is massive, inside.
It's from Collectif clothing, who I'd just like to say
do a wide number of very, very fun bags.
However, if you are looking for something
a bit more authentic,
you can also find a range of vintage fun bags
by looking on Etsy or similar.
Vinted, also,
although if I'm quite honest, I've never found Vinted
to be that great for the vintage before 1980.
I'm just putting it out there, okay.
Just saying, the adverts, they're all like,
oh, Vinted, it's so great for vintage.
Is it?
What's your idea of vintage?
I'm not calling 1980s vintage.
I'm not.
I don't care.
I was born in the 1980s.
I mean, not really.
Kind of I was, but only I was only there for a few months.
Number four, Christmas is a time of giving,
and what thing is better to give than books?
Yes, books.
One of my favorite companies, Bookishly,
is currently running a fabulous scheme
where you can gift a book to someone who is in need
and lets them know that they're in need
by filling in the signup form on their website.
Which by the way, I have also left down below.
So if you are in need of a book,
that's where you go to fill in the form.
I've sent off a couple myself,
so please do fill in the form.
You might be receiving a book from me.
You can actually nominate yourself
or someone else to receive one of their pick-me-up gifts
that even comes with festive wrapping through the form.
And for those of you who'd like to send the book,
it comes with a 20% discount on one of the usual editions.
This is available to the people in the UK
and also internationally.
I love Bookishly because they make beautiful books,
beautiful covers and book lovers gifts as well.
One of my favorite things they do
is make little book panels which have a page from a book
and then a beautiful little quote
from that page written on it.
We have this lovely panel from "A Comedy of Errors"
that says, "And now let's go hand in hand,
"not one before the other",
which we have our living room and really, really love.
I think it says a lot about our marriage.
(Jessica giggles)
And number five.
(Jessica gasps) What is this?
It's been sat here right next to me this whole time.
Oh, look at this beauty.
I got her from Etsy
and I love her,
and she is to go on the wall
in my newly wallpapered office.
And I didn't realize, it just arrived,
how perfectly it goes, but it's perfection,
absolute perfection.
This vintage embroidery piece
is everything, everything I have ever wanted
from my Etsy search for vintage embroidery
to hang on the wall.
Thank you.
For the vintage lover in your life,
a small piece of artwork like this
to go on the wall can be a really great addition.
Obviously it can be a little worrying
to think about, am I getting someone's taste right?
Oh my gosh, oh my goodness.
Could I get this one wrong?
So going small is often a good shout there.
Don't go for something the size of a fridge
(spring boings) or a door.
They probably wouldn't find that one fabulous.
They'd really need a place to hang it,
but something very neat,
they could definitely find a place for,
especially if it was as beautiful as this.
She embroidered this gold.
I say she.
Sorry, that was very gendered.
Someone embroidered this background.
- [Claudia] I thought it was gonna be like Hessian.
- I know.
- Fabric. - Same.
I didn't even realize when I bought it,
but no, the time that went into that.
Stunning, stunning work,
and it has brought me so much story.
And again, it's so lovely to receive something
that I know was already in the world
and wasn't made specially just for this,
just for this Christmas, just to fill a hole of consumerism.
No.
Lots of time and care went into that,
and if you would like to bring someone just as much joy,
there's a a little link in the description
to similar pieces that can be found on Etsy.
And now we come to a very, very special new piece
of the Kellgren-Fozard Christmas collection.
It's so beautiful.
It's our family advent calendar.
(Jessica cheers) (Claudia cheers)
- You've gotta shake
the tassels. - I got it.
- Oh, sorry, shaking tassels, woo.
Shaking tassels.
Oh my goodness.
I love a reusable Christmas advent calendar
because I think it's so great to have something
that can just be with you year after year after year.
I'm such a stickler for any kind of family tradition
that you can pass down.
Am I going to keep this
and make all of my children do this
year after year after year?
Yes, yes I am.
Am I going to get my grandchildren involved?
Probably.
Am I gonna make one of my children take this,
use it with their own children and potentially pass it down?
Yes, yes I am.
Uh-huh, I am.
I own things from my own grandparents,
particularly great-grandparents, actually,
in terms of some of these Christmas decorations.
I think some of them are a lot older than.
This one is particularly beautiful.
You can put anything you like in it,
which I think is wonderful.
Some of the pockets are quite large,
so you can go for a little toy.
Some of them are a little smaller,
so you can go for just a little chocolate in there.
Whatever takes your fancy, really.
I think it could just be multi-use.
Also, it's beautiful.
Absolutely my Christmas present to myself this year.
Thank you.
So thank you again to Surfshark
for sponsoring today's video.
Remember, just go to click the link in the description,
surfshark.deals/jessica and use code JESSICA
for 85% off and three month's extra offering.
I hope you very much enjoyed my gift guide.
Do let me know which one was your favorite
in the comments down below.
And thank you so much the the fabulous members
of my Kellgren-Fozard Club.
The Club has helped make my channel possible
and keep the light on.
If you'd like to become a member of the Kellgren-Fozard Club
and receive access to a monthly behind the scenes video,
ooh, and my gorgeous little face
after your name with a succession of crowns,
then all you have to do is click the join button below
next to subscribe button.
Thank you so much for watching
and I look forward to seeing you in my next video.
(Jessica blows kiss)
Bye.
(festive music)