Here are our top ideas for stylish Mother’s Day presents that she’ll remember for the rest of the year. Or at least until her birthday and Christmas. Whether your mum’s able bodied or not, these should go down a treat this Sunday:
Begin a new Mother’s Day tradition with a Pandora Charm Bracelet. They’re lovely pieces of jewellery which you can tailor however you want. You can start by buying the bracelet itself, along with one or two charms, this year and then, as the years go by, you can add more charms to it, if and when you choose -next Mother’s Day, on birthdays, Christmases or even just as a random act of love and generosity. There are more than 600 different decorative charms, in sterling silver, 14K gold and two tone, to choose from so you can keep adding to it each year.
Pandora bracelets cost between £55 and £275. The charms cost from as little as £15 to as much as £565. The range and variety of charms and prices mean that the whole family can contribute their own individual part to a special Mother’s Day item.
If you’re going to go another way down the jewellery route, why not be bold and go for a statement necklace? These big, flashy necklaces do exactly what they say and make a real statement. They’re popular this year and can make an entire outfit work. Of course, they’re something of a risk to buy for someone else’s tastes, but they’re really in style.
Necklaces can be particularly good for wheelchair users to create a look around as they catch the eye and draw attention to their face. Fashion in a wheelchair can be tricky but this is a good way to make it work. Just make sure that the necklace is not too long (look for about 16 or 18 inches chain length) because longer chains will get in the way and be irritating.
Every mother loves a nice silk scarf and like necklaces, scarves are brilliant for wheelchair users in fashion terms because they draw attention to their face as well as having all the uses that an able bodied person wears scarves for i.e. keeping warm and looking good. They also help to disguise any excess in the stomach area, but you should probably avoid mentioning that to your mum on Sunday.
Rather than a physical present, you could make your mother a Friend of the Royal Academy for a year. Friends of the Academy get free access to all their exhibitions, including the Summer Exhibition. For those who want to spend more time with their mothers or those who are predisposed to bouts of enlightened self interest (and let’s face it, when it comes to buying family presents this has affected most us all at one time or another), take note that Friends of the Royal Academy are also allowed to take a guest for free.
If accessibility is an issue for your mother, there will be nothing to worry about at The Royal Academy and there is also an abundance of cool places to go to eat and drink in the local area. Every new Friend of the Academy is entitled to free cream tea for two in the members only Keeper’s House.
The idea of a nice warm blanket might not scream style but there are loads out there, like this linen one (below) from Zara Home, which look and feel wonderful. This blanket looks fantastic and would come in handy for keeping warm and enjoying summer evenings out in the garden. It would be good for anyone, but particularly for somebody with a disability that effects their circulation and means they get colder, quicker. This one certainly isn’t cheap (£109.99) but it’s high quality and there are plenty of cheaper options out there.
Normally we would not dare to suggest that any kind of kitchen blender or cooking utensils would be met with anything more than a cold shoulder and a sarcastic thank you on Mother’s Day, but with the success of The Great British Bake Off, baking kit could be surprisingly popular. Rather than being seen as signs of treating your mum like a cook, cleaner and servant, baking essentials, mixers and aprons may go down well amongst aspiring bakers and fans of the show. Better yet, you could bake some cupcakes of your own to give her (or, if you’re too lazy, buy some impressive ones from a bakery).
For luxury chocolate treats, to make your mother feel like she’s the Queen for a day, try Charbonnel et Walker products, available in various shops. Charbonnel et Walker are one of the UK’s oldest chocolate producers and they’re endorsed by the Royal Warrant as chocolate manufactures to Her Majesty the Queen. They make all sorts of decadent and delicious chocolates including sea salt caramel truffles, champagne truffles and strawberry truffles. They all come in really elegant packaging and we recommend really splashing out and getting this £60 pink hat box hamper.
We really like this simple but stylish make-up bag from Oliver Bonas. It’s bright and trendy way for your mum to carry around her make-up without losing anything. It comes in coral, cobalt or raspberry and is made of hand stitched leather. It looks good and it’s reasonably priced at £20.
A great twist on one of the most unoriginal Mother’s Day staple gifts are these chocolate flowers from Carluccio’s. They’re ornate handmade models of dragee flowers, made with dark chocolates covered in sugar shell. They cost £21.95 per bunch and they come in a Carluccio’s gift box. So instead of boring flowers, why not get your mother something that looks (and indeed is) good enough to eat?
For ideas about what to do on Mother’s Day check out our post from last year.