I was scarred in grade school when my mother bought Barbie valentines on clearance, and I was left with the task of anonymously dropping those glittery notes of social death into the decorated shoeboxes of my classmates. Shrieks of "Barbieee? Who got Barbieee cards?" echo in my mind every time mid-February rolls around.
For those of you who have been similarly damaged, but who nonetheless optimistically search for that perfect, noncliché Valentine's Day gift each year, I suggest you check out the offerings of Seattle "wine lifestyle" company True Fabrications [1], purveyors of the "What's Your Vine [2]" collection of women's T-shirts.
Choose from a short-sleeve fitted T in red or yellow ($25.99) or a warmer, three-quarter-sleeve fitted lime green shirt ($31.99), emblazoned with clever, wine-inspired slogans such as "All-American Robust, Ages Well," "Tart and Full-Bodied" and "Mysterious, Seductive and Difficult to Manage" proudly emblazoned upon them. Available at the company's Web site [3], these comfy, casual shirts are a cheeky buy for the good-humored women in our lives.
If you prefer to give wine instead of a wine-inspired T-shirt, consider dressing up the bottle with one of True Fabrications' wine bags [4], which happily deviate from the run-of-the-mill plastic-coated paper bags. The Wildflower Ruby [5] bag ($5.99) has dried and pressed pink Himalayan flowers applied to vibrant, red-dyed handmade cotton paper.
As their products illustrate, True Fabrications strives to distance itself from the image of stuffy wine connoisseurs and offers a more playful picture of the modern wine lover. "Our goal is to encourage all different kinds of people to enjoy all the different kinds of wine and have fun with everything that goes with that lifestyle," says owner Nik Patel.
In case you're looking to stock up for next year, all Valentine's Day-related products are currently 15 percent off at the True Fabrications Web site. But if you're shopping for this year, you'll find True Fabrications gifts at Seattle Cellars [5], Pete's of Bellevue [5], The Tasting Room [5], Seattle Wine Co. [5] and select QFC [5] stores.
If you have a shop, sale, event or great product tip you'd like to share, e-mail seattleshopping@nwsource.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
