Keeping Your Yuletide Gifting Gay
Qmmunity gathers a list of local queer-owned businesses to shop this holiday season
By James Scott, Fri., Dec. 2, 2022
No matter how fast your gay little legs run you around town, there's never enough time to find the perfect gift for everyone you love. Instead of losing all your steam circling the Barton Creek mall, check out this helpful gift guide that'll give you local queer-made recs for every type of person you know.
Statement Pieces for the Fashion-Forward
instagram.com/wingtipbetty
You'll be showered with praise after you gift your friend a cute jacket from local vintage seller Wingtip Betty, especially when they wear it in their next viral GRWM TikTok. After all, what better way to stand out than a unique piece that fast fashion could never replicate?
Desired Objects
desiredobjects.com
Sleek, chain-mail-inspired pieces never go out of style, and when you gift the hard femme in your life a stunning choker from Desired Objects – made to order from stainless steel – they'll never be seen out of the house without it. Go for their shiny hair clips if you're gifting someone with an untamable mane, or a chic aluminum ring for the low-key accessorizer.
Ephrance Vintage
ephrancevintage.com
They've graced the Qmmunity gift guide before, but Ephrance has only grown better at curating beautiful vintage pieces that run from comfy normcore to bold baroque vibes. Any guy, girl, or enby getting a piece off this vintage seller's rack will be turning heads for days.
Baubles for Beauty Gurus/Self-Care Savants
Royal Jelly Apothecary
rjapothecary.com
No one is immune to a beautiful gem – shiny, shimmering, splendid! Royal Jelly Apothecary offers all sorts of crystals, each one with healing properties that'll help the gift-getter in their darkest hours. An amethyst geode gifts well to an anxiety-ridden colleague, or give tiger's eye to the grindset girlie who needs strong focus.
Castle of Kindness
castleofkindness.co
If you want to impress the most crunchy, clean-girl-aesthetic person you know, one of the all-natural vegan products of Castle of Kindness is an obvious choice. In fact, a bar of their Self Love soap, filled with dried rose petals and clary sage essential oil, will keep their vibes squeaky clean. Or gift anyone whose hands are being sucked dry by winter weather a tin of healing balm, made with lemongrass, tea tree, lavender, geranium, and frankincense essential oils.
Merch for Media Mavens
Sponsored Shelf at Reverie Books
reverie-books.square.site
Local queer-owned bookstore Reverie Books not only provides a great place to stock up on literary gifts for your bookworm babes, but also has a shelf sponsor program. Drop $150 bucks the bookstore's way and get your most well-read friend's name on one of Reverie's many bookshelves.
Passing Strangers & Forbidden Letters: Two Films by Arthur J. Bressan Jr.
alteredinnocence.net/bressan
This disc release from Altered Innocence of pioneering gay filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan's first two narrative films will be a must-have for any fan of early queer cinema. Local connection comes in the form of Elizabeth Purchell, archivist and curator of AFS Cinema's Queer Cinema: Lost and Found series, who provides audio commentary on both films and also produced all of the disc's bonus features.
Sweet Treats for Dessert Lovers
truffles 4 transformation
instagram.com/truffles4transformation
A little chocolate goes a long way, especially when it's a hand-painted, vegan-friendly dark chocolate truffle from truffles 4 transformation. Choose a set of these tea- and coffee-infused treats with names like 72 Hour First Date, Gay Panic, and Bi-Cycle to brighten up a holiday dessert platter.
Tamalitoz by Sugarox
tamalitoz.com
Drop a bag of Tamalitoz's fruity, fiery treats – either hard candy, low-sugar chews, or crunchy Tex-Mex kettle corn – into any spice lover's stocking to queer the idea that sugar has to be sweet. Who doesn't like getting warm on a cold winter's night?
