Last Minute Holiday Shopping Guide
If you’re like me, you’ll have no idea how we could possibly be in December already. While it should be impossible, if you give gifts during the holidays, the time has in fact come to go shopping. If you’re further like me, you don’t want to spend your money on corporations that are destroying the planet and society. And while there may be no ethical consumption under capitalism, you can do your holiday shopping so that it supports local people, like the BIPOC and Queer local sellers I’ve compiled for you below.
Be sure you don’t miss Arte Noir’s upcoming Seattle Opera Black Artists Market. Their December 16 event boasts being a, “holiday craft market featuring an array of unique treasures from Black artists, artisans, and Black-owned small businesses.” From 11:30 AM – 7:30 PM at 363 Mercer St, Arte Noir will do what it does best, create markets for black artisans and entrepreneurs to sell their wears. If you cannot make the Market, they do have an online shop, and events all year round!
If you are shopping for someone who really lives up to the Pacific Northwest Stereotype of being a big reader, I have a few suggestions for you. Hinton Publishing’s first book by local educator, activist, and great feminist thinker Reagan E J Jackson, Still True: The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist is available for pre-sale now. Also in January Hinton is launching a monthly literary ePublication called Speak the Sojourner, so you could get your loved one brand new stories, poems, and flash fiction sent to their inbox every month. Don’t forget about local bookstores like the International District’s brand new Mams Books. And if you go through Estelita’s portal you can buy books through bookshop.org that support their incredible work!
If you are shopping for something who has bought into our city’s identity of being aggressively casual you have some great shops to choose from. Ungentrified clothing has graphic tees, hoodies, beanies, and more, all with fun and political phrases. If they’re aggressively casual but still expect pricey items, may I suggest Maiden Noir, made by a local designer (though we do have to share him with Japan) this street wear brand is beautiful, cozy, stylish, and not what I would call “affordable.”
If you are shopping for someone who does not live up to the Pacific Northwest Stereotype of bundling up in flannel all day I have some fun glamorous suggestions for you. Valerie Madison makes elegant fine jewelry any femme would squeal to find inside a gift box, she is also Seattle’s only BIPOC fine jeweler. The Exclusive clothing boutique offers a catalog that is a real feast for the eyes, with bright colors, fun straps, cool patterns, and they offer both straight and plus size clothing.
If you are shopping for someone who is too cool to like anything, I know a few places you can shop to impress even them. Alter Ego Expressions is an incredible visual artist, who’s tee shirts and crop tops are bound to make a statement, they also make completely unique earrings that anyone goth adjacent would love to wear. The Doll Parts Collective has a collection of both vintage and locally crafted items that will appeal to any trendy fashionista would love, I am obsessed with these glass egg accessories. DedreaJewels Designs makes beautiful statement pieces of all kinds, rings, earrings, necklaces, long necklaces, and bracelets. All items are totally unique, and designed to stand out.
If you are shopping for someone who checks the weather app everyday and adjusts their skin care routine accordingly, you have a lot of great options. Hollingsworth Hemp Company has a very impressive selection of products from salves to hand sanitizers. Motsi has many trendy products such as serums and plumpers. Queen Care Products is another local shop with a number of items I wouldn’t mind using on a home spa day, like brown sugar scrums, bath bombs, and body mists.
If you’re shopping for someone who just needs a drink (or two…) at the end of each of these holi-days there are a number of good options. Aluel Cellars is a queer owned wine… shop? Bar? I’m not classy, but they sure are! You can go into their… place of business… and get advice on the perfect bottle of wine to buy for a loved one, you can also order online, or get them a wine club membership. If your loved one needs something a little stronger then vino, you should check out Downtown Spirits, a premiere liquor store that is Black owned. The spirits selection goes from medium to top shelf, and it of course has seltzers, beers, and wines available too.
If you’re shopping for someone who’s impossible to get things for may I suggest: candles. Sukie’s Candle Co has a number of delectable scents such as Cedarwood Vanilla, Warn Honey & Musk, Red ginger saffron, and more. Noir Lux Candle Co has a bar in their store, where you can pour your own candles and choose your own scents. And if you don’t have time for that, they have many premade candles you can buy all with really fun names like, it’s giving, bug a boo, dear santa I really tried, and more.
If all your loved one wants for Christmas is you (please excuse the dominant holiday reference, I just really wanted to quote Mariah Carey…) there are many great events you can take folks to! May I recommend starting your adventure out with a visit to Footprint Wine Tap, this Black owned keg wine on tap bar, has a wide selection of PNW wines, and a well curated food menu that will pair nicely with your drinks. Then, and I’m really excited for this, you can take them to a show! One option is to take them to Seattle Drag royalty Jinkx Monsoon and Ben De La Creme’s Holiday Show. It’ll be campy, hilarious, full of dance numbers, and while it will play with Christmas themes, I promise it will be a fun show for people of all denominations. Another great option is Intiman Theatre’s revival of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity. This is definitely a Christmas show, no doubt about it, so if that’s your thing you better go see the one written by American literary legend Lanston Hughes filled with beautiful Gospel music. My final recommendation for a show to go to this December is Seattle Public Theater’s A Very Die Hard Christmas. For anyone who thinks the 80’s Bruce Willis classic, Die Hard, has the perfect amount of Christmas for a movie set in late December, I am pretty sure A Very Die Hard Christmas will meet all your needs.
Maybe all your loved one wants is you year round, so buying them tickets to see a show in the future would make their day! On The Board’s 2024 season is filled with contemporary dance and performance art from artists they bring in from all over the world. Seattle Rep will be putting on a production of Fat Ham in April and May, which is a Black Queer take on Hamlet, and coming to Seattle straight from broadway. Velocity Dance Center is putting on a number of really exciting and dynamic shows in early 2024. I want to highlight their Bridge Project show in particular, which will highlight three emerging choreographers early in their careers, and give us the opportunity to get a preview of the future of dance.
Finally a charitable gift given in your loved one’s name can be the most meaningful. Doctors Without Borders are on the ground helping those most impacted by war and state violence across the globe. Palestine Children’s Relief Fund provides free medical care to Palestinians, and in these times is doing wider reaching humanitarian aid in Gaza. Locally there’s no end to incredible people helping their communities who could use your donation. A few places that are close to my heart are Y-WE, a trans inclusive, women of color led, feminist youth empowerment organization, that offers dozens of free programs to young women and nonbinary kids in Seattle. Women United was founded by Southend treasure Alesia Cannady, to provide community and support for those providing kinship care, family members who step up to care for relative children. Finally, I recommend finding a mutual aid group in your community. On the South Seattle Emerald Amanda Ong compiled a great list of mutual aid groups in and around Seattle (with a definition of mutual aid in the first paragraph). If you don’t see one for your neighborhood or suburb I recommend searching your community’s name and “mutual aid,” on social media apps to see if you can find a group closer to home.
I hope this list put you onto some great local vendors to shop at this holiday season and beyond. However you choose to celebrate (or not!) I hope this December is a wonderful time for you and those you love!