You may think you’re an ace gift giver. You may think you’ve got all females’ desires figured out—what they love, what they hate. But, do you?
We spoke with 20 women who’ve received gifts from boyfriends and husbands over holidays and anniversaries that were downright awful. Some lacked original thought. Others lacked taste and judgment. Then there are the ones that made us all say, What the hell? Read through to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. Then, if needed, reevaluate your holiday plan of attack as the season of gift giving comes hurtling at you. To help you out, here are 20 women on what they really want in a gift this holiday season.
“My boyfriend once gave me a kit to fix scratches on my car as part of a Valentine’s Day gift.” – Heather A.
“Star leggings. They were blue leggings with white stars. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.” – Melissa C.
“My boyfriend found a rock that looked like a duck, put it in a card and said, ‘This reminded me of you.’” – Carly G.
“A very ugly rainbow scarf that he had picked out with his mother.” – Melanie D.
“A pair of socks…” – Rachel F.
“A small teddy bear on a keychain wearing a shirt with my college’s name on it. Oh, and another boyfriend gave me perfume his ex used to wear.” – Julia C.
“I once got a blender. My ex said because I like smoothies.” – Alexa P.
“Hmm, that’s a hard one. I can either go with the chain I received for my one-year anniversary that had no pendant or charm (yes, just a chain). Or it could be the stuffed animal my boyfriend gave me for my 22nd birthday. He gave me the same gift as an eight-year-old child…” – Vanessa P.
“A Subway gift card. And I don’t eat meat!” – Brittany S.
“A book of places to visit in D.C. I had one job interview there and he somehow took that as I was moving. He might as well have just shown me the door.” – Elle S.
“Cooking utensils from the boyfriend on Christmas. Nothing says I love you like some large spoons.” – Jessica D.
“Once my ex-boyfriend bought me tickets to a Broadway show (“A Little Night Music”) that I really had no interest in seeing, but he thought it was so great that I pretended to be excited.” – Jenn R.
“When my boyfriend and I were on a break, he slept with a girl. Then when we got back together, he took me out to a five-star restaurant for our anniversary, and the girl he slept with was our server! He just kept talking about how great a deal he was getting on the discounted meal…” – Romena I.
“A velour track suit.” – Kristen S.
“My boyfriend gave me a necklace he thought was of two people hugging, but it was a silver necklace of a mother and child embracing.” – Caitlin R.
“I have a collection of hideous heart necklaces. A huge blown glass heart necklace. A diamond heart necklace. One made of turquoise. There are few things I hate as much as those…” – Kirsten S.
“I don’t think I have any real horror stories, so I would say that the worst gifts I’ve received in the past have been tacky pieces of jewelry. There should be a rule of thumb: If you can picture your mom wearing it, you probably shouldn’t buy it for me.” -Marie G.
“One boyfriend gave me the Family Guy Star Wars Trilogy set…if that even exists. It was awful. Just so bad.” – Sam M.
“A laptop carrier case. Even though I used it later in life, it was so not a good holiday gift.” – Anna M.
