Five small gifts for the person who has mentally put summer away already.
Some people spend August trying to stretch summer. Others have already noticed the darker 8pm sky, moved a cardigan back to the front of the wardrobe and started waiting for the first morning that needs a proper hot drink. This edit is for the second group. Nothing here requires pumpkins on the doorstep or leaves artfully scattered across a table. It is simply a collection of small things that make the turn toward autumn feel rather good: wool, wooded candlelight, a short book worth rereading, apples, spice and the return of cups held in both hands.
The first scarf of the season
John Lewis Wool Blend Fringe Scarf, Navy
£29 · John Lewis
A scarf bought in August feels optimistic rather than urgent, which is part of the charm. This navy wool-blend version is simple enough to live by the front door all season and generous enough at 70 by 180cm to actually be useful. It is made in India, finished with a soft fringe and costs less than the first serious coat conversation of the year.
Light this before the clocks change
Evermore Grove Candle, 145g
£32.40 · Liberty
Evermore's Grove smells like the first walk after rain rather than a department-store idea of autumn. Pine needle, eucalyptus and silver fir sit over cedarwood and moss, giving it a cool, green quality before the warmer base appears. The 145g candle burns for around 30 hours. Light it while the windows are still slightly open.
A small book for longer evenings
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
£10.99 · Penguin
Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry is only 128 pages, which makes it exactly the sort of book you can give without assigning homework. Her meditation on reciprocity, abundance and what the natural world might teach us about value feels particularly right as the year starts tilting inward. The paperback appeared this May, so there is a decent chance even the serious reader in your life has not acquired it yet.
Apple, without the orchard cliché
Fortnum & Mason Toffee Apple Tea, 20 Silky Tea Bags
£14.95 · Fortnum & Mason
Toffee apple can become carnival-sweet very quickly. Fortnum's seasonal tea is the more civilised version, pairing apple with a rounded caramel-like nuttiness and putting the whole thing in a tin that looks ready for a kitchen shelf rather than a fairground. It is playful enough to announce autumn, but still very much tea. Excellent for the friend who changes what they drink according to the weather forecast.
The chai that admits summer is ending
Ghar Ki Chai Pumpkin Spice Chai
£8 · Ghar Ki Chai
Pumpkin spice has been through enough irony to simply become enjoyable again. Ghar Ki Chai's version keeps the appeal where it belongs, in a properly warming cup rather than a scented novelty. At £8, it is an easy small present to add to a book or scarf, particularly for the person who starts saying “it's basically autumn” as soon as August evenings require sleeves.
The season will arrive when it arrives. These are simply a few convincing reasons not to mind when it does.
