The Eccentric Gift I Get All My Friends
My friend’s birthday is coming up—Larry, if you’re reading this, x out of this browser window—and I know exactly what to get him: a ten-inch, burnable wax bust of Napoleon Bonaparte.
As I’ve been covering design for Vogue over the past couple years, I’ve noticed something: While candles like Diptyque’s Baies or Jo Malone’s Orange Blossom are a predictable presence in well-curated homes, increasingly there are also, well, weird ones. There’s Cire Trudon’s line shaped in the likeness of not only Napoleon, but Marie Antoinette, Louis XIV, and Benjamin Franklin. Dada Daily’s hand, that upon burning, leaves only the middle finger standing. Piera Bouchner’s misshapen, ombre fruits. Candle holders have also become more innovative (House of Hackney, for example, sells snake candelabras) and so have scents (Goop’s This Smells Like My Vagina).
Think of it as a micro expression of a macro trend. While the 2010s were filled with stark white kitchens and living rooms adorned in grey, beige, or even greige, the end of the decade saw the pendulum swing back to maximalism. Suddenly, it was all about wallpaper! Rich velvets! Chintz! Tassels! As Kathryn M. Ireland told me back in December—”personality is back,” and that applies to even the smallest of objects.
And is there any easier way to embrace this newfound eclecticism? If a green velvet sofa or a tassel chair isn’t in the (credit) cards, don’t fret: a wondrous wick will add achievable joie de vivre to any room.
Which brings me back to my gift. A candle has always been a standard, safe offering: everyone likes them. Your grandmother likes candles, your best friend likes candles, your cousin likes candles too. But this versatility can also make it something of an impersonal show of appreciation.
That’s why a weird-shaped one is so great: You can’t just get anyone a middle finger, or a Marie Antoinette head. The strangeness of the silhouette shows there’s clear thought behind it, specific to the relationship between giver and receiver. Plus, while a home gift can be tricky given people’s specific tastes, a candle is usually small enough (and by its nature, eventually disappearing) that you can err on the eccentric side.
The best part? The recipient is bound to have a reaction—whether it’s curiosity, bewilderment, or laughter.
Below, a few of the best, most unusually shaped candles perfect for giving hostesses, birthday girls, and just because—because it’s always fun to take a ride on the wild wick side.
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