The 2023 Holiday Gift Guide
“everything on passerby’s holiday wish list”
passerby is thrilled to share its annual gift guide with curated selections from the entire team, starting with a list of organizations we’re passionately supporting this holiday season. If you are looking for gift ideas for loved ones (or yourself), continue reading for what we’ve been loving in fashion, beauty, books, home objects, and food. We’re also excited to offer multiple discounts to passerby club members — for anyone seeking greater community in the new year, we highly recommend joining. We hope you enjoy this guide and wish you and your loved ones a restorative, peaceful holiday!
Support
SPIRAL Collective
SPIRAL Collective (Supporting People in Reproduction and Loss) was founded in late 2012 by a group of reproductive justice activists, organizers, doulas, and former abortion care providers to assist folks in accessing abortion/loss care. As passerby is invested in the freedom and wellbeing of all women, we recommend donating to their list of abortion funds if you are able as well.
Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides independent, impartial medical humanitarian assistance to the people who need it most. Nearly one-fourth of Doctors Without Borders’ projects are dedicated to assisting people living in conflict. The organization does not take sides in conflict zones and instead provides medical care based on needs alone, working to reach the people most in need of help.
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been providing critical medical care and supplying basic necessities to those most in need in Palestine for decades, with a focus on providing immediate relief to vulnerable children. We share PCRF’s vision for a world where all children in the Middle East have access to quality medical care, regardless of nationality, religious or political affiliation.
Sirkhane Darkroom
Syrian photographer Serbest Salih was recently profiled in GQ Middle East’s Men of the Year 2023, and after reading, we were excited to support his mobile photography project for refugee and local children near the Turkish Syrian border and Iraq. In the program, children learn how to take photos, develop analog images, and print them, demonstrating a commitment to self-expression and creativity for all people, regardless of circumstance.
Parole Preparation Project
Working toward a solution for a local cause we are passionate about, Parole Preparation Project provides critical advocacy and direct support to currently and formerly incarcerated people serving life sentences, seeking to transform the parole release process in New York State.
Downtown Women’s Center
The Downtown Women’s Center is an organization that passerby is proud to support, as it’s the only organization in Los Angeles focused exclusively on serving and empowering women experiencing homelessness. Their Housing First and trauma-informed service model impacts more than 5,700 women annually.
fashion & Accessories
String Ting Wristlet Phone Strap
For anyone who loathes constantly searching for their phone at the bottom of their bag, consider String Ting’s wristlet phone strap, spotted on passerby alumni Rachel Nguyen. The colorful accessory adds a hint of brightness and joy to the otherwise stale-looking object we are forced to bring everywhere.
GEMSUN Korb Bag
We recently discovered GEMSUN’s Korb Bag after being fans of their belts for a while. These pieces come from recycled materials, with 10% of sales donated to Sewing the Seeds, a project that supports women in becoming independent through learning how to create garments. This brand is beloved by multiple passerby alumni, such as Alexis Badiyi, Laura Reilly, and Dione Davis.
Santangelo Glory’s Forever Waist Chain
Waist chains can elevate any piece, and this particular version from Santangelo can be separated into three distinct necklaces, enhancing the versatile role it can have in any outfit. We’re fond of the combination of ocean-inspired materials, including abalone, heishi shell, pyrene shell, and more. Each piece is handmade and no two pieces are alike, making it an even more special gift.
babaà cardigan no25 navy
This classic crew-cut cardigan is our founder’s favorite cardigan from our November monthly recs newsletter. Made from 100% extra fine merino, it’s soft and a perfect thin layer to go under a warmer jacket or worn alone when the weather allows.
LENYS WORLD Mocha Suede Slippers
For when you must retire your decades-old Uggs, turn to LENYS WORLD’s elevated house slippers, which come in a variety of velvet, suede, and leather options. We’re fond of the Mocha suede slipper for an understated look.
Annika Inez Large Cravat Earrings
These earrings are our ideal statement jewelry for the holiday season. They come in both gold and silver, so you don’t have to break your jewelry allegiances. This festive addition to Annika Inez’s already stacked earring inventory (we’re big fans of the brand’s Voluptuous Heart Earrings) makes us excited to see what’s next for them. Each piece balances sophistication with a youthful femininity.
Sisi Joia Long Fleur Necklace in Brown
This necklace from Sisi Joia includes a handmade recycled glass flower pendant, which brings a statement to any outfit. It can be styled in two different ways, simple and long, or double and short.
Gimaguas Alice Balaclava
For those windy days when going outside typically seems out of the question, this balaclava from Gimaguas will serve you well. It’s equal parts soft and chic, with a tie around the neck that makes you feel extra warm.
Octave Jewelry The Seeing Stone
This collection from Octave Jewelry is inspired by ancient wisdom and offers a contemporary take on the “evil eye” necklace. Each raw stone — with options in ocean jasper, quartz, snowflake obsidian, and more — is cut by hand and offers a subtle statement that can be dressed up or dressed down.
Dunton Ellerkamp Necklace
For a stunning everyday chain, turn to the Dunton Ellerkamp necklace, which features a signature clasp hardware that functions as both a clasp and a pendant. The simple hardware is produced using the lost wax casting method, a technique that has largely remained unchanged since its inception in 4000 BCE.
Beauty & Body
Everyday Oil
The cold winter months require hydrating and nourishing yourself. Everyday Oil has been doing just that for our skin recently. Made from organic and wild-harvested botanical oils, we like to slather this on both our face and body when we need some extra comfort.
Merewif Ipanema Polish
This vegan-friendly nail polish is long-lasting and comes in a range of neutral (but not boring) shades. We love Ipanema for a warmer taupe, a shade that comes in handy when we don’t want a statement nail, but also don’t want something that will go unnoticed. This shade is the ultimate balancing act. All Merewif polishes are free of formaldehyde, parabens, and many other harsh chemicals.
Susanne Kaufmann Bath for the Senses
This bath soak features the soothing scent of ylang ylang, patchouli, lavender, and rosemary for ultimate relaxation, leaving skin nourished and soft. This gift is a kind gesture to tell someone they are deserving of some luxurious downtime.
Universal Flowering 4 Sample Set
For the romantic in your life, consider Universal Flowering’s 4 Sample Set and choose from fourteen different fragrances. Pleasure Portrait is a requirement, with soft spice, citrus tang, and a subtle gesture of musk combining into one of our favorite recent fragrance discoveries.
Bodha Cashmere Eye-Pillow & Free Vibration Perfume Mini Trio
An eye-pillow can be a helpful accountability tool to keep our eyes away from screens, forcing us into an intentional moment of relaxation. Bodha’s Cashmere Eye-Pillow is filled with a custom blend of lavender flowers, chamomile flowers, and organic oat groats, and when you buy now, you’ll get a Vibration Perfume Mini Trio for free as part of a holiday special.
Books & dvds
An Archive of Love by The Middle East Archive
This book from The Middle East Archive includes photographs taken between the late 1960s up to early 2022 across the Middle East and North Africa. The collection of street photography captures the subtle, the indiscreet, the romantic, the platonic, and many more manifestations of love. Each image reveals a story we are desperate to learn more about.
Bettina by Aperture
Bettina Grossman was an eccentric personality fully dedicated to her art who lived in the Chelsea Hotel from 1968 until her death in late 2021. Bettina is the first monograph to showcase her interdisciplinary practice, spanning photography, sculpture, textile, cinema, drawing, and more. Her work reveals a fascination with people on the street and shares a camaraderie with passerby’s interest in the unknown.
Zine: Survey of Liturgical Incense by Chris Rusak
Chris Rusak’s singular fragrances have garnered him quite a reputation in the fragrance world, each with their own unique name (such as Beast Mode) and complex notes. Chris’ current studio zine, Survey of Liturgical Incense, is a 9000-word essay on 14 different commercially available loose incense blends produced by a variety of industrial and monastic entities who market their products as created for liturgical use. For any diehard incense collector, this is a fascinating reference manual.
Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine: A Cookbook by Nasim Alikhani
Brooklyn chef Nasim Alikhani has finally revealed the recipes that inspire her beloved New York restaurant Sofreh. With over 120 recipes, this cookbook is perfect for home cooks interested in the true tastes of Iran, including savory stews, pickled vegetables, and stuffed meats.
Drylongso by Cauleen Smith
It’s easy to get lost in the streaming wars and enter choice paralysis when you want to watch a movie. Give the gift of making that choice for someone you care about. For your physical media companions, we recommend Criterion Collection’s 2023 BluRay release of Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso, an underappreciated treasure from the ‘90s DIY filmmaking era. We also recommend Yasmina Price’s essay on the film, which is a beautifully crafted celebration of Drylongso’s overlooked focus on the bond between young Black women.
Poems by Zoë Lund
Poems is the first publication dedicated to American writer and actress Zoë Lund (1962–1999), and includes four unpublished poems written by Lund in the 1980s. It’s another hard-hitting and vulnerable offering from the Paris-based independent publisher Éditions Lutanie (coming off the success of last year’s equally essential God with Revolver re-issue), co-published with Stephanie LaCava’s Small Press.
New Directions’ New Classics Club
For $160, New Directions will send you a handpicked book every month for a year. Editors chose from the latest additions to the New Directions’ catalog, including selections in novels, poetry, story collections, and essays from writers such as Clarice Lispector and Natalia Ginzburg. The monthly delivery extends the gift unboxing sensation well past the holiday season.
Tough Cookie by Cake Zine
Cake Zine is a hedonistic exploration of history, pop culture, literature, and art through sweets. The fourth issue, Tough Cookie, is available for pre-order now and contains ninety-six pages of recipes, essays, illustrations, poems, fiction, and photographs related to cookies.
home & decor
FRAMA Sphere Oil Diffuser | St. Pauls
Inspired by artist Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Rotoreliefs’ created between 1924 and 1936, the Sphere is a geometric steel sculpture that functions as an elegant oil diffuser, which is currently 20% off for passerby club members. We enjoy the minimalist design and emphasis on functionality. St. Pauls, FRAMA’s signature fragrance, is both earthy and fresh — the ideal entry into FRAMA’s scent offerings.
Gossamer Nesting Set
The Nesting Set is well-suited for smokers who want to elevate their ashtray from an eyesore to genuine decor. The three-piece glass collection contains a lidded ashtray, standing pipe, and matching one-hitter, which can be concealed as simply a design-forward centerpiece on any table.
Kungyokudo Incense in Matsuo Moss
With more than 420 years of history, Kungyokudo is Japan’s oldest incense manufacturer. For a more gentle and relaxing aroma, try the Matsuo Moss, reminiscent of a Japanese moss garden, available at Itsumo.
Tuft & Paw Cove Modern Litter Box
This isn’t the most glamorous recommendation, but for cat owners who are constantly cleaning litter off the floor, we recommend Tuft & Paw’s Cove Modern Litter Box, which includes an integrated scoop, dustpan, and hand brush. Consider the New Year the holiday to give yourself a life improvement, even if it’s a purely practical one.
iko iko Rowena Sartin Plisse Pillow
This plisse-inspired pillowcase with a velvet insert adds a bit of luxury to a standard bedtime ritual. We are particularly fond of the lavender/olive color combination, which adds a hint of color to otherwise neutral bedding.
A History of Frogs Frog Knife
For the bread and butter obsessed, we recommend this unique knife from A History of Frogs, a Los Angeles-based project by Antonia Pinter and Chase Biado, who hand-sculpt and cast solid sterling silver items as part of their investigation into the rehistorical object.
Sori Yanagi Y Glass Blue L size 200ml Hirota Glass
If you’re searching for the perfect holiday dinner party glassware, consider the Y Glass, designed by Sori Yanagi — one of Japan's leading industrial designers — in 1966. With a simple design and multiple retro color options (we prefer the blue but you can mix and match), these glasses remain versatile enough for any occasion or crowd.
A Gift Card at The Standard Hotel
For anyone who wants to give the gift of getting away from home, consider a gift card to the boutique hotel chain The Standard Hotel, ideal for anyone needing a respite from the chaos of December. With destinations in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, and more, passerby founding members can plan a staycation or get out of town with a 15% discount on their booking at all locations.
food
Lata Gift Box Deluxe
For the consistently nutrient-deficient, there is no greater gift than protein. The Lata Gift Box Deluxe comes with eight different tins of seafood, ranging from razor clams, to sardines, to tuna belly, for a fun way to up your protein intake in the new year (and even better, passerby members get a 10% discount). Perhaps invite some friends over to work your way through a tinned seafood cocktail hour.
Psychic Wines Visions Wine Club
Visions is a wine club, a membership, and a magazine run by Los Angeles-based Psychic Wines. In addition to the bottles in the club, they publish a small zine with writing about wine, food, gathering, hosting, and collaborating. Each issue is designed by James Anderson and features a rotating cast of voices, themes, and highlighted producers. You can sign up for a subscription, in-store pickups, nationwide shipping, and local delivery options available.
Canaan Palestine Nabali Olive Oil
While olive oil frequently ends up on gift guides for the cooks in your life, this Nabali Olive Oil comes with both a smooth finish and a rich history. Nabali olive trees are indigenous to Palestine and cultivated according to sustainable agricultural traditions passed down over millennia. Today, Canaan works with over 1,000 artisan family farms spanned across 43 different villages in Palestine.
From Roy Pistachio Amarena Cherry Panettone
If you find yourself on the From Roy website and see one of Roy Shvartzapel’s beloved panettones in stock, consider yourself lucky. Mentored by the global panettone master Iginio Massari, Roy makes panettones that have become a holiday staple for chefs and food writers alike. Pair the Pistachio Amarena Cherry Panettone with your morning coffee or tea, and your day is already off to a decadent start.
curated by the passerby team (Clémence, Sammy, Maanasi, & Clio), words by Sammy Case