You know it's coming. You can't avoid it.
Or can you?
I am talking about "it" -- the chaos of crowds, the stress of finding "the perfect gift," and the inevitable spending over budget during the first day of Holiday Shopping hell, and you most certainly
can avoid it by shopping
online. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can't buy online. Heck, if you can afford to buy someone a house for Christmas, you could get that online, too. Though we've already
pointed you to some online stores before, here are seven places that have gift guides so you can not only avoid traffic jams, but let someone else provide your gifting inspiration. These will get you started, and of course, keep checking back to Styledash, as we'll have Gift Guides of our own over the next few weeks.
Sunday - Like every other department store that has an online presence,
Neiman Marcus got their Holiday gift shopping guides up before we even had Halloween costumes on. However, we have ignored them until now, only because we couldn't bear the thought of Holiday shopping being "so over" by November. Neiman Marcus's guides are luxurious, no doubt, but they're smartly organized by unique recipients.
Monday -
Gifts.com is perhaps the most interesting, and accurate way to shop for your friends and family. The site, which is not a store, but a guide, walks you through a series of quick questions in order to narrow down your recipient by gender, age, personality type, and interests, then comes back with a list of suggested gifts.
Tuesday -
PersonalShopper.com is another site similar to Gifts.com in that it isn't a store. You select the recipient, and they list the gifts, e.g. For Your Soulmate, For The Perfect Hostess, and For the Sports Nut.
Wednesday -
Men.style.com's Holiday Gift Guide isn't filled with gifts for men. It's for men to use as they shop for their girlfriends, wives, sisters, mothers, and others. The main list has 85 items, but there are shorter lists of bargains, as well as "
25 Items That Should be on Your List."
Thursday - We definitely like those sites that aren't stores because we don't feel like we're "being sold." ThisNext.com has put together
a place for users of its social shopping community to put together their own lists and share them with others. That way, you know the gifts are things that are useful to real people.
Friday - The fairy Godmother of all gifting sties,
Red Envelope doesn't
have gift guides because it
is a gift guide. Enough said.
Saturday -
Stylebakery's Gift Guides are a quick hit for the gifting gal. Their lists are broken down into "50 Under $50" (that's one that I like), The Lust List (the one I like even more), and one each For Him and For Babies.
We here at Styledash know that Christmas sweaters can get pretty old, pretty fast, even for your favorite clotheshorse Friends, so we're putting together some gift lists that go beyond the closet. We've covered those 
Every year, you tell yourself you're going to start your holiday shopping early. How could you not, when stores and malls start decorating with tinsel and lights as early as...well, early October? You think I'm kidding? I went to the Beverly Center a few weeks ago and they had already begun the trappings of their "Winter Wonderland."
