My name was always on everything I owned as a kid. On family day outs I remember the disappointment that I felt when I saw my name not on any of the rotating displays in gift shops, including keyrings, pencil cases, and named mugs.
It was my desire to be called Clare, Rachel, or Emily and not Esther.
As a teenager I loved personalization so I decided to go to decorate-your-own pottery shops and make a personalized mug or bowl.
Now, however, it is clear that these things are getting too extreme. Personalization of everything this Christmas has turned into a vainglorious obsession.
As the ‘personalisation market’ is now worth £1 billion a year in Britain alone, Esther Walker argues having name, image or initials on everything has gone too far
Good Housekeeping has ranked it as a top-trend for this festive season and suggests readers get a monogrammed linen tablecloth for every guest at the dinner party.
The ‘personalisation market’ is now worth £1 billion a year in Britain alone, and from dressing gowns to water bottles, you cannot move, on the literal or virtual High Street, without stores offering to embroider, inscribe or print the recipient’s name on a gift.
At Marks & Spencer, a survey found more than half of all customers searched for items that could be personalised.
So the store now offers the service for 55 items, including pyjamas, stockings, Harry Potter hoodies and (on every parent’s pester-power hit list) Percy Pig cushions.
This madness must stop! As if adults indulging in this fad aren’t bad enough, we are fast creating a generation of egomaniac children who expect — no, demand — to see their name, image or initials on everything they touch. And a mountain of landfill that can’t be easily handed down thanks to the names splashed across it all.
Of course, we buy these things with good intentions — we think it shows more thought than something bought mindlessly online. Personalization makes it less clinical.
It also means that retailers can’t help but laugh at the expense of their customers. There is a significant markup in the cost of personalizing an item. They are also not returnable. . . Profitable side-hustle for retailers trying to convince us we still require more.
Yes, your husband is wearing a gown but what about his initials? Your dad definitely needs a keyring saying ‘Alan’s keys’, and your sister-in-law must have an apron saying ‘Mrs Jones is in charge’.
Esther said retailers are laughing all the way to the bank – not only is there a mark-up on the process of personalising an item, but they are also non-returnable
Why not let the Christmas tree be all about you? Not On The High Street is an online retailer that offers a wide range of personalized items you may not have known you needed. This has led to a spike in the demand for personalized tree baubles.
Children’s toys take it further. Wonderbly specializes in children’s books.
There are a range of titles such as Bedtime For Emma, Christmas Wishes For Charlotte, or, slightly terrifyingly, Ten Little Adams (replaced with your own child’s name). So that your main character can be a little like you, the illustrated books let you pick the hairstyle and skin color of your child.
What a world away it seems from my days working at Bond Street jeweller, Tiffany & Co, 20 years ago. Engraving items back then was difficult and everyone feared the customer asking.
You had to carefully print out the text and add a hand-drawn indication as to where it should be placed on the item. After that, it was sent to the engraving company. It took several weeks before it was returned. It took weeks for it to be returned. I was afraid that the form might have been erroneous.
Customers can now fill in a request on the Tiffany website. Machine engraving takes five days.
Of course, deciding to personalise an engagement ring is different to the ‘me, me, me’ knick-knacks we are flogged today.
Esther questions if the personalisation craze is creating a generation who think the world revolves around them
Although my children now age eight and ten respectively, when they were little, I spent more on personalizing things for them. Even personalised comics featuring my children were made for me.
He didn’t really get it. However, I was excited. It was the one thing that I had always wanted, and they were denied it because of me.
But then it occurred to me that, if I didn’t stop quickly, I might one day realise I’d turned my children’s rooms into a shrine to their very existence.
What does it do to a child’s brain when everything has their name on it? Does the personalisation trend lead to a generation that believes the whole world revolves around themselves?
It must make sharing a nightmare: ‘No, that’s my towel/pencil/mug.’ Even worse, none of it can be given to charity. I have no snobbery about buying from charity shops — my favourite coat is from Oxfam — but would I have bought it if it had someone else’s name on? No.
A few years ago, I spent a year as an ‘influencer’ on social media, and I was invited to parties hosted by brands and product launches. A personalized gift was something that almost everyone received as a Christmas present.
Nearly everything that I had accumulated over the years was given away. However, the personal items such as a hat and silk sleep-masks, nightshirts, bracelets, straw baskets, and make-up bags are still there. A tin of Quality Street, renamed ‘Esther Street’, could be recycled, although I felt bad about it.
This began to feel like a cautionary tale. My name would have been on everything as a child. It was now on every item. Take it from me, that’s not a good idea.