PERFECTLY PROPER PRESENTS:

Etiquetteer's 2007 Holiday Gift Guide

With Thanksgiving behind us, the lovely glow of the holiday season may now descend upon us. To keep your glow from turning to a flush of exasperation, Etiquetteer invites you to consider some suggestions for Perfectly Proper gifts:

Accessories for Ladies or Gentlemen

1. Etiquetteer's beloved Beau Ties Ltd. offers a mind-boggling array of bow ties for Christmas as well as for Hanukkah. Prices vary.

2. For the lady or gentleman who travels frequently, Levenger offers a Departure Case with space for passport, tickets, and other necessities.

3. M. Kathleen Tesnakis of e ko logic has updated the Bob Cratchit look with very modern-looking cashmere fingerless gloves. $76 a pair. Etiquetteer highly recommends these for that special reading of Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

4. While many of the products offered by Blue Q are far too irreverent to be Perfectly Proper, Etiquetteer was taken by their Don't Freak Out! shopping bag. $11.99 each.

5. The briefcase seems to have gone the way of the dodo. In a way Etiquetteer understands; Etiquetteer prefers to have both hands free during the morning commute. Since nothing could be more Perfectly Proper than solar power, Etiquetteer is delighted to recommend the Voltaic Daypack from Voltaic Power. This can be used for town and country travel since it includes a solar power source for your gadgets and a water bladder. You can also add a laptop sleeve. Daypack is $239; laptops sleeves $15 each.

6. Those who want something sturdy, traditional, and perhaps dainty to bring their lunch to work might want to look at the Tiffin Lunch Box Set from Design Within Reach. $80 for the set.

For the Home

7. Atelier Daguerre has created whimsical etiquette napkins and placemats of hem-stitched linen. $45 a pair for either napkins or placements, or $150 for a complete set of four placemats and four napkins.

8. Salt and pepper shakers by Alberto Mantilla, from Follow Function, look like black and white ghosts. Lovely for a Hallwe'en dinner, or any time. $25 for a pair.

9. A more luxurious effect may be achieved with crystal votives in the Sierra pattern from Tiffany & Co. $45 each.

10. Also from Tiffany & Co., the severest Perfect Propriety (which is sometimes the very best Perfect Propriety, let Etiquetteer tell you) is represented by the chaste design of a pewter photograph frame. $45 each.

11. And for a pair of people you enjoy, consider another example of chaste design from Tiffany & Co., a pair of Classic crystal tumblers. $25 a pair.

12. Aside from the faces of happy diners, nothing graces a dining table more at the holidays than lighted tapers. Beeswax candles have long been the best, and Candle Bee Farms produces particularly beautiful octagonal tapers. $7.00 a pair, or $7.50 with gift packaging.

13. Long a New England tradition, Shreve Crump and Low is once again offering its famous Gurgling Cod jugs. $85 each, in blue, green, or white. A pair of min-cod jugs in green may be found for $45.

14. To bring some color into that necessary but sometimes dreary act of recycling, Etiquetteer suggests a set of four brightly-colored recycling bags from Design Within Reach. $22 for the set.

For the Bookshelf

15. If you feel the need to take the know-it-all on your Christmas list down a peg or two, Etiquetteer heartily recommends The Book of General Ignorance, by John Mitchinson and John Lloyd. List price is $19.95.

16. Jane Austen's Guide to Dating, by Lauren Henderson, brings "Austen's Regency wisdom into a twenty-first century perspective, complete with very modern lists of do's and don'ts." Etiquetteer can't think of a better antidote to Britney Spears! List price is $12.00.

17. David Kamp and Marion Rosenfeld's The Food Snob's Dictionary does not require you to behave snobbishly to learn "a delectable compendium of food facts, terminology, and famous names that gives ordinary folk the wherewithal to take down the Food Snobs--or join their zealous ranks." List price is $12.95.

And for New Year's Eve, eco-friendly confetti to toss at midnight!

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