As ever, I’ll be throwing my holiday party, and I’ve set the unfortunate precedent of serving fancy cocktails. So now there’s pressure to perform.
Enter 1 Jack Rudy Cocktail Co.’s new bourbon-soaked cherries for dressing up the old-fashioneds. $16, jackrudycocktailco.com
Party music’s an important consideration, and Criminal Records has a big batch of 2 holiday re-presses, some of which haven’t been issued on vinyl in decades, like Jackson 5’s Christmas Album. $19, 404-215-9511, criminalatl.com
For cutting a rug, 3 Lucchese’s pony hair Letizia booties “kill it” without, well, killing me. $795, special order from Onward Reserve, 404-618-0751, onwardreserve.com
On the table, find 4 Bunny Williams’s new entertaining collection for Ballard Designs, a cheerful set of blue hues made seasonal with a simple sprig of holly. $49–$199, 404-603-7033, ballarddesigns.com
If I’m invited to sit at someone else’s table? I try to avoid declarations, but it’s my opinion that the New Year’s Eve hostess gift this year is local artist 5 Maggie Mathews’s super-chic, hand-painted Champagne bottle. $275, by custom order, maggiemathewsart.com
And for my party date, 6 Brier and Moss’s “Golightly” bow tie, the local company’s Tiffany-blue wink at one very famous ingenue. $50, brierandmoss.com
In the vein of Miss Golightly’s sterling telephone dialer, I can’t think of a gift more delightfully frivolous than 7 Hermès glove clips (give her the 8 gloves, too, silly). Filov gold-plated glove clips, $345; Orange Nervures Droites gloves, $720, 404-233-1011, hermes.com
Stuck for stocking stuffers? 9 Sydney Hale’s Woods candle smells like a Christmas tree in a jar—no tangled twinkle lights required. $30, Young Blood Boutique, 404-254-4127, youngbloodboutique.com
Oh, and St. Nick, if I haven’t been too bad this year, 10 Ann Mashburn’s smart clutch-meets-wallet is at the top of my list. $395, Ann Mashburn, 404-350-7132, annmashburn.com
All photographs courtesy of their company; Jack Rudy: Squire Fox; Mathews bottle: Caroline C. Kilgore
This article originally appeared in our December 2014 issue.
