Five of the best Etsy shops for fashion and jewellery Christmas gifts

Even if you haven’t visited it before, you’ve probably heard of Etsy. It’s like a handmade and vintage market, only online – a rich and ever-changing emporium where people from around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods.

Anyone can open their own Etsy shop to sell handmade goods, vintage items or craft supplies, but the site’s overarching searching and browsing tools make it easy to navigate Etsy as if it were one giant, quirky department store.

In fact, there’s so much there it’s easy to just end up browsing the site for hours, marvelling at the beautiful, the brilliant and – it’s true – the occasionally bizarre. So, with December now upon us, and Christmas just around the corner, we thought we’d tell you about five of our favourite fashion and jewellery shops on Etsy, all of which offer great ideas for Christmas gifts that the recipients can’t help but love.

CJ’s Handknits

Based in Bath, CJ’s Handknits makes bespoke hand-knitted children’s clothes using beautiful Italian-spun cashmere, merino and silk blends – and the results really are lovely.

We’re a sucker for the too-cute three-piece pink bolero cardigan, beret and shoes set (£40), which is currently available in size 0-6 months but can – like many things on Etsy – be custom ordered in other sizes (though not in time for Christmas – after all, it is handmade). You can follow CJ’s Handknits on Twitter at @CJsHandknits.

Culture Cross

If vintage jewellery is your thing, then visiting Etsy can be downright dangerous – as the place is truly awash with it.

One such Etsy shop that we particularly like is Culture Cross (@Culture_Cross on Twitter), where its owners Ben Chaffee and Alex Zinn have travelled the world collecting unique, handmade tribal treasures and cultural jewellery – all the result of moving to South East Asia in 2010 to find jobs as English teachers, and then discovering amazing art and artefacts along the way.

It’s nice to have a shop where the owners’ passion for the products and their stories shines through, with Ben and Alex still hand-selecting all the items that Culture Cross stocks. Items are shipped worldwide, and there are some beautiful pieces – at just £9.78, these tribal-inspired turquoise earrings are a bargain, as well as a lovely potential Christmas gift.

Genuine Gemstone Jewellery

Shipping worldwide from Warrington, you don’t have to have exceptional detective skills to work out what Genuine Gemstone Jewellery (@GGJewelleryshop on Twitter) sells on Etsy.

Offering a mix of vintage and handmade pieces, Genuine Gemstone Jewellery’s range includes rings, bracelets, pendants and charms, including this pretty sterling silver snowflake charm – handmade to order, and the perfect present for just £9.99.

Jenny and Pearl

Based in the USA but shipping worldwide, Jenny and Pearl (@JennyandPearl on Twitter) is a vintage clothing shop that claims to be “obsessed with the colours, the patterns and the fun of vintage California fashion.”

We have to confess that it’s the shop’s male model who caught our eye here, looking variously bemused, excited and horrified as he sports a succession of incredible Christmas jumpers. We did struggle a bit to pick out just one, but this vintage number bedecked with Christmas trees (£18.58) is among the most spectacular.

And if Christmas knitwear isn’t your bag, don’t fear – a 1980s pink ski suit or a 1960s metallic shift dress could also be yours.

Qmuro

Based in Maribor in Slovenia, Qmuro (@Qmurocom on Twitter) is a recent addition to Etsy that offers handmade, faux-leather mini-handbags as well as a pretty collection of handmade gold jewellery.

We love the flamboyant swirl handle of the mini-handbags, and the cute detailing of the zipper and gold-leaf logo. The purple one is a particularly vibrant colour, too, and at an affordable £36.66 you could either give one away as a gift or just keep it for yourself and team it with that LBD at the Christmas party. After all, we all sneak in the odd gift for ourselves while doing the Christmas shopping, don’t we?

Do you have a favourite Etsy shop? Share it with us in the comments section below.

All prices and availability checked on 1 December 2014.