Someone you know has just got back from Italy. You have seen the photos. You want to give them something that lands, and most Italy gifts do not, because they are the same things the person could have picked up themselves at the airport on the way home.
Here is what actually works, in the order we would try it.
Start with the city, not with Italy
Italy is too big to be a gift. Nobody comes home from Rome and says they went to Italy. They say they went to Rome, and then they tell you about the bus they got wrong, or the queue they skipped, or the place they found on the third night. A present that names the actual city lands. A present that just says Italy does not.
So the first question is not what to buy. It is which few streets they will not stop talking about.
Things that get used up
Good olive oil, a tin of proper anchovies, coffee from the roaster near where they stayed, limoncello if they liked it there rather than because it is Italian. These are warm, low risk and easy to get right. They are also gone in a month. Choose this if you want something small and kind. Do not choose it if you want them to still have it next year.
Things they walked past for a week
Leather from Florence, glass from Murano, ceramics from the Amalfi coast, paper from the Oltrarno. All genuinely good. The problem is that they stood in front of these things for days. If they wanted one, they have one. If they did not, there was a reason. Buying the thing they walked past is a coin flip.
Something with the place on it
This is the category that keeps working, because it is the only one that is about their trip rather than about the country. It also has the most failures in it. Most Italy clothing is a silhouette of the boot, a cartoon Colosseum or the word ITALIA in a serif font, and none of that is about where they actually were.
The test is simple. Can they point at it and find the street their hotel was on? If yes, it is a memento. If no, it is a souvenir, and they already have three.
That is what we make. Every Postmark design is the real street map of one city, drawn from OpenStreetMap data, with the place name, the coordinates and a small tricolore underneath. Rome is Rome, down to the bend in the Tiber. It comes as a circle or a square, on a heavyweight crewneck in Sand, a hoodie in Black or a cotton tee in Forest Green.
If you know where they went
- Rome, for the ones who learned the buses the hard way and would go back tomorrow
- Florence, for the ones who crossed the Ponte Vecchio every single day
- Venice, for the ones who got lost on purpose
- Amalfi, for the ones who came back with the coast road still in their legs
- San Gimignano, for the ones who counted the towers and got a different number every time
Or see every city we draw.
What to skip
- Fridge magnets and keyrings. They have some, from the last stop before the airport.
- Anything with a cartoon landmark on it.
- A framed photo of a view they already have four hundred pictures of.
- A guidebook to a trip that has finished.
- A second pasta maker.
Practical notes
Sizing. All three garments are unisex and true to size. Between sizes, go up for a relaxed fit. There is a size chart on every product page.
Timing. Everything is printed to order by a print partner in Europe, the US or Canada, whichever is nearest you, and arrives in about a week. Allow up to ten days at busy times, so order with a fortnight in hand if it is for a birthday.
Sending it straight to them. Enter their address at checkout. Nothing with a price on it goes in the parcel.
Delivery. Free to the UK. Europe £3.95. US £4.95. Canada £9.95. Rest of world £12.95.
If it arrives wrong. Faulty, damaged or not what you ordered, tell us within 30 days of delivery and we will replace it or refund you.
The short answer
Find out which city, then give them that city. Anything that could have come from any of the twenty places they visited will be treated like it came from any of them.