Cheap Chic!

City Paper's 2008 Holiday Gift Guide


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Published: Dec 3, 2008

Illustration By: Evan M. Lopez

Maybe you just bought a house. Maybe you had a few bucks in the stock market. Maybe you intern at an alt-weekly. Point is, recession or no recession, plenty of us are having cash-flow problems this holiday season.

That doesn't mean people won't be expecting gifts.

But before you hit the Web and start looking for the cheapest presents in the biggest boxes, consider shopping locally and keeping those holiday dollars here in Philly. (You might have heard, but we're having some budget issues.)

This doesn't have to mean dropping hundreds on a vase in some uptight Rittenhouse gallery. We hit the streets and got together plenty of local gifts for everyone on the list that come in at $50 or less. We found cute totes for the girlfriend and one-of-a-kind ties for the boy. We've got retro spacemen for the kids and plenty of good reads for your favorite bookworms. (For even more giftable books, check out the Book Quarterly in our Arts section. For giftable DVDs, hit our Movies section.) And, because mom's rule still applies even when money is tight, we have your hostess gifts covered.

Of course, sometimes you need to step it up. Check out our "Break the Bank" section for gorgeous gifts from some of our favorite Philly-fashion-forward stores.

Santa baby, if you're reading, you'll notice we just supported Earth-friendly shopping that encourages local jobs and economic growth. Now hand over those Pour La Victoire boots.