…but you can on its accessories,or so it has been said. With Valentine’s Day round the corner, out come those wonderful gifts that the shops are desperate for us to buy and for some reason, we do. Gone are the days when Valentine’s Day was about spending time with your loved one, now corrected to spending money on your loved one. So why is it that we splash our cash on Valentine’s Day? And should our cash be spent on those ridiculous presents we find in shops, or stretched further to a gift your loved one actually wants. The dilemma is – get your Valentine’s Day gift right and you will be, for a short moment at least, in your other halves very good books. Get it wrong and the consequences could be bad… and forever remembered.
Hubpages.com rated chocolate to be in the top 10 most romantic gifts to give on Valentine’s Day to a woman, along with roses, diamonds (of course) and dinner. Although these standard gifts are what most would expect on Valentine’s Day… recent shops have seemed to go that one step further. Walking into any stockist of valentines gifts in town, there is plenty of heart-shaped stuff to choose from. Heart shaped boxes with chocolates, heart shaped key-rings with ‘I love you’ written on it, heart shaped balloons and even socks with hearts on them. In Thornton’s they have cutesy kissing birds, or plaques to write your own words on. After Valentine’s Day each year, many are then left with either huge teddies saying ‘you are the one’, and have no place to go at home or an empty box of chocolates. Along with the males who, on no other day would be happy with receiving a teddy bear saying ‘best boyfriend’; but on Valentine’s Day – it seems to be accepted. Does that really say I love you?
Recent revelations from last year showed that the price of Valentine’s Day seems to be rocketing. Obviously the price we can put on accessories is rising. Daily Mail’s femail section advised women to drop hints on possible Valentine’s Day gifts – pampering, expensive perfume that we wouldn’t buy ourselves, Clinique make up, a dozen roses and toiletries. The possible gifts they suggest for males include Dolce and Gabbana scent, Clinique grooming set and a men’s essential skin care set. It seems that Valentine’s Day is either those useless presents – plushy toys or fancy chocolates which you might expect every year; or for girls, a chance to hint to their loved one of an expensive gift, a chance to get spoilt with useful presents.
So where is the balance? Between those awful teddies and expensive jewellery? It’s been suggested that those ‘special’ gifts are ones with thought – personalised gifts, cooking their favourite meal (searching for unlikely food items linked with love) or romantic getaways, which can never be negatively received. So although we might laugh at the ridiculous gifts that shops are promoting in the months coming up to Valentine’s Day; these are probably the gifts that we end up buying. You can’t go wrong with something red and heart shaped, nor can you with a fancy box of chocolates. Both of those will guarantee you to stay in your boyfriend/girlfriends good books for at least a week. I’d say it’s worth it.
