The Late-Romantic dot com Gift Guide – The Co-Worker You’re… Friends? With Now

This list also works for the office Secret Santa: it’s for somebody you chat to every day on a superficial level. Maybe you want to know them better, maybe you don’t, but you certainly don’t need to be spending a tonne on them… equally, though, a card might not cut it.

• Make them a mixtape. Let’s be real, this is a Spotify playlist now, though if you want to bougie it up they do sell fake cassette tapes with USB sticks in them. Make it a work playlist – whether that looks like Rage Against The Machine or reimaginings of contemporary hits (there’s a lot of classical / bardcore versions out there), this keeps the gift in the work / funny realm without edging into inappropriate. Keep your playlist 1-2 hrs so you’re not spending forever making it, and hand over a gift that’s all thought and no dollar.
• Literally just get them a mug. Get if from Emma Bridgewater if you’re feeling fancy, but a mug is the quintessential coworker gift – it’s nice, practical, and doesn’t break the bank.
• A JustEat or Deliveroo voucher. Buy your coworker dinner without having to hang out with them, and alleviate their work / life stress by giving them a little treat.
• Some kind of very fancy or novelty food. Bonus points if you can work both in together, like the Fortnum & Mason Christmas coal, made of cinder toffee and chocolate. It’s funny and won’t hang around their home forever… their choice whether to share it or not.
• THE BOOK: A novelty children’s book – something like this – or this. Unless you know your coworker’s taste well, this is nice enough that they won’t feel lumped with it, and will be a bit of a laugh or something pretty. They’ll enjoy it for 10 minutes over the holiday and it will be pretty as part of the shelf it languishes on.