The Best Gifts I've Ever Received
Feeling #thankful for these gifts from $5 to $500 (plus, check out my wish list for the future + things I've given others in the past).
Hi! For my second and last gift-related post of the year and in honor of the upcoming holiday that celebrates genocide over true thankfulness, I wanted to reflect on the best gifts given to me over the years, which range from $5 stickers to $500 machines but all have in common the true tenderness of a great gift-giver behind them. Below those are items I’d wish for if I had any say in what I received as a future gift (you’re gonna want to see the hat brand my friend Aline champions), plus gifts I’ve actually given to other people to great effect. I know these gift posts are inherently consumerist, but they’re also inherently community-oriented, as I do truly feel like physical gifts connect me deeply to the giver or recipient, so… navigate on your own terms. We’ll be back to regular programming next post!
By the way, even if you aren’t a paid sub, my paywalled posts always have a bit of free content in them, so do scroll down—you’re missing out if you ignore these! Also, read on directly below to learn how to get a $1.50/month or FREE subscription to this blog, no questions asked. Just wanted to remind you all that the paywall need not be an obstacle to you, no matter your financial situation—it’s simply an opportunity for those with the means to do so to support the creation of this blog, which runs on fumes and your love!
If you like these posts, please let me know by liking and commenting here or on Esque’s Instagram, subbing to the Esque Substack (this) for free, getting bonus posts for five bucks a month, or for ZERO DOLLARS, share (tag me if on IG so I can see and thank you)! If you share with three friends (or enemies), you’ll automatically get a free month’s subscription to Esque’s paywalled posts. If you buy anything from an Esque link, there’s a chance I’ll earn a percentage commission at no cost to you—if you end up inspired by anything below, please send over a photo of your new togs by replying to this email and I’ll comp you a month of Esque!
If you cannot afford the $5/month, I totally understand—respond to any of my email sends and I will get you a $1.50 subscription or comp you, whatever you need. Esque is for everyone!
THANK YOU for being here, and I am always available @that.esque on Instagram for sartorial scandals/situations/summons. Here is a little preview of what’s below the paywall:
As I wrote to
for a forthcoming coming roundup of Substack writers’ favorite gifts (go follow + read her amazing blog!):My amazing friend of nearly a decade, Marcus Scott Williams, bought me this set of tins when I was in a really sad place—literally, staying with my father’s family in the suburbs. They arrived with no forewarning—I’d mentioned to msw that I was thinking about buying them weeks before, but he beat me to it. They’re special collectibles only sold in Japan for a crossover between the candy brand Milky and one of my and msw’s favorite animes, One Piece. All the main characters are rendered in the cutesy style of Milky’s mascot, Peko-Chan (you’ve seen her around if you ever used Tumblr), and they’re just so unique and special. Useful, too—I store everything from pills to perfume inside them.
Another incredible friend of over ten years, the inimitable
(again, go sub and read their newsletter before you read on here) heard I regretted not grabbing this discovery set from the best perfume shop in the country, Stéle, and showed up to a fashion show I styled last winter with it in tow, refusing when I offered to pay them back for it. A lovely surprise that has paid sniff dividends many times over in the past year, especially the scent Olatua, which smells like Manic Panic hair dye soaked in coconutty sunscreen (in a good way).
I was bowled over when my boyfriend, with no occasion to speak of, presented me with my very own Steam deck, a gaming platform that eclipses the Nintendo Switch and others like it in terms of features and specs. The most impressive part of this gift was the fact that I instantly knew why he’d gotten it—he and his friends (whom I like very much) game constantly on Discord, and he knew I was frustrated my potato of a computer couldn’t even download Steam, let alone store a single game. He wanted me to feel included and able to hang out with him and his loved ones in another dimension, and that’s just about the sweetest reason anyone’s ever spent money on me. I have since played [redacted] hours of Ace Attorney games, a throwback to my childhood, though I’d never made it past the first trilogy, so experiencing Apollo Justice and The Great Ace Attorney has been a true comfort and joy these past few weeks of otherwise nonstop work.
Another great scent—honestly, I haven’t jibed with most of the Abel scents I’ve smelled, though I love their transparency and thoughtfulness with “clean” ingredients, but The Apartment is a lovely exception. Its tart cherry, rum, and cacao glide sublimely over a bouquet of white florals, and I find this fragrance’s lasting power way outsells its simple ingredients. It’s the perfect holiday party scent, festive and luxuriant but understated and sleek and not at all cloying or chintzy.
My lovely sister somehow read my mind and added these rolls of washi tape to my birthday gift this past year (wrapped in Luigi Mangione tabloid reports), mere weeks after I’d set them down at Kinokuniya, not being able to justify their price to purchase myself (I think they were SEVENTEEN DOLLARS at that rip-off of a bookstore). I’ve used them to put many postcards and ephemera up in my room since, as washi tape is less likely to rip or discolor stuff than scotch tape, in my experience. My sister knew that Whisper of the Heart has forever been my favorite Ghibli film (while Castle of Cagliostro, which I recently rewatched and want the soundtrack vinyl of, is my favorite Miyazaki film!) and intuited that I’d appreciate this rare spot of WOTH merch in my life!