Five fashionable Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the lady in your life

It’s only five days to go until Valentine’s Day – that annual occasion when we keep the card shops happy at the same time as reminding our other half just how much we love them.

Unless you’re planning to pick up a bunch of flowers from the garage on your way home from work – probably not the best idea if you want to escape the weekend alive – chances are you’ll be spending some time this week choosing the perfect gift for that lovely lady in your life.

It won’t have escaped your notice that we are the Fashion & Style Directory – so it’s not really our place to get embroiled in discussion of chocolates and roses. Besides, you’re probably capable of choosing a suitably edible or floral gift without our help.

But if you’re prepared to be a bit braver, you can surprise your better half with a fashion-related gift that is not only lovely, but demonstrates exceptional and unexpected taste. So, from bags to jewels and perfume to shoes, here are five of our favourite ladies’ Valentine’s Day gift ideas. Just don’t tell her that we helped you…

The bag

One of life’s certainties is that a woman can never have too many bags. Especially expensive bags.

Tote bags are really popular this season, and we especially like this lovely ‘passion pink’ Delaney one from Guess at Tucci (£108). It features some cute details – including logo-embossed winged side panels and a pretty silver charm – but, most importantly, it can hold a lot of stuff. There’s even a zip compartment and slit pockets.

Even better, Tucci’s standard delivery (£5) is via Yodel, with orders typically arriving within one to three working days – so you’re still good on the time front.

The perfume

We don’t need to tell you how much we like Annick Goutal’s Eau d’Hadrien Eau de Parfum from Liberty (£78 for 50ml), given that it’s been all over our website and social media for the last fortnight – and it’s certainly a Mediterranean-inspired fragrance to warm any woman’s heart. Liberty’s next-working-day delivery option (£10) also makes it a good choice if you’ve left your decision-making a bit late.

If your budget won’t quite stretch that far, there’s been a real buzz in the last couple of weeks around Rosie for Autograph, the first fragrance from British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and which is exclusive to M&S.

A beautiful floral scent, blended with rose centifolia, Rosie for Autograph not only looks and smells lovely, but at £28 for 75ml won’t break the bank either. Choose the next-day delivery option (£3.99) to make sure you receive your order in good time, or, even better, get free next-day delivery to store when you order by 5pm.

The jewellery

If a woman can never have too many bags, the same certainly applies to jewellery – especially as you need enough necklace and earring options to always find the perfect match for all those fabulous bags.

To really impress, choose your Valentine an item of jewellery that you know will work a treat with one of her favourite outfits – and that you can’t just buy from every high-street store. One of our favourite shops for such pieces – both online and on Stockton-on-Tees’ lovely High Street – is Made by Marianne, where Norwegian-born Marianne Robson sells her unique gemstone jewellery, all handmade on Teesside.

As well as doing commissions – for people who have a particular design or stone in mind – Marianne’s Etsy shop and online store stock a lovely range of ready-to-buy items, usually posted out on the same or the following day (for £1.99).

We particularly like Marianne’s twist on the classic pearl necklace (£31.99) – featuring an unusual mix of large and small pearls, finished off with a silver-plated copper toggle clasp – with the option to add a matching bracelet and earrings if you’re looking to really push the boat out.

The shoes

That point we made about never having too many bags and necklaces? Yep, the same rule applies on the shoe front.

Assuming that you know your lady’s shoe size (and we would hope that you do) we reckon most women would be thrilled to receive a pair of fabulous shoes on Valentine’s Day – just as long as they’re something glitzy with a wow factor. Flat, practical shoes have their place, but perhaps not as a symbol of your undying love.

Offering a modern take on a vintage shape, we adore Boden’s Alice High Heels (£119), available in vibrant contrast colours, two fabulous spot options, or a classy black and grey combination (pictured). And with next-day, express delivery available for £8, getting hold of them in time is no problem.

The flowers (sort of)

You know we said that flowers were outside our remit? Well, we lied… kind of.

Once a presence all over Britain’s high streets, airports and railway stations, ’80s icon SockShop has reinvented itself as an online flagship store offering what it says is “the world’s largest sock selection”. By now, you might be starting to think we’ve gone mad, visualising the reaction you’ll get if you buy your wife or girlfriend socks, of all things, for Valentine’s Day. But bear with us!

Believe it or not, SockShop has come up with a cotton-rich twist on the traditional floral bouquet, which is fun, thoughtful, quirky and thorn-free – the Colour Burst Socks Bouquet.

Giving off the illusion of a beautiful arrangement of roses, we were amazed that socks could be made to look so lovely and convincingly floral – and it’s a novelty that appeals to our sense of fun as well. At just £30, including free special delivery, it also ticks the ‘great value’ box.

In fact, it’s such good value, why not pair a SockShop bouquet with a bottle of Rosie for Autograph, to create the ultimate rose-inspired Valentine’s gift?

Just drizzle a mist of Rosie over the sock bouquet for added authenticity 😉

Prices checked on 9 February 2015. All quoted delivery charges are for shipping to the UK. Check the websites for delivery costs and times for overseas destinations, to make sure that your order will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day.