Our fail-safe guide to feigning joy when you are given an unwanted present.

Yes, giving is wonderful, how magical, etc. But it can also go wrong. And there are few situations more awkward. Sometimes it’s even rather dramatic – certain members of The Daily team have been known to fling unwanted gifts across the room in their youth. Unfortunately, the bad gift is an inevitable part of the holiday season, unless your friends and family have been struck by lightning and granted psychic powers and an enormous endowment of MR PORTER gift cards. The grown-up thing to do? Develop a nuanced coping strategy, as advised by something you’ve read on the internet. Oh, what a coincidence! Here’s just the thing. Given our general raision d’être, this is largely focused on clothing. When it comes to other gifts, we’re afraid, you’re on your own. But a big smile is always a nice touch, no? Here goes.

If you’re gifted an item of clothing that is not exactly, how to say it, your bag, you should nevertheless make a visible display of trying it out, and on, to show your appreciation for the thought and effort that the gift giver has made in choosing and buying it. If it’s not right, it’s not right, but hopefully, upon witnessing how the deep burgundy brings out the porky colour in your cheeks (for example), they will be able to see that for themselves, and the whole gift-rejection ritual will become more of a team effort.

The point of a good gift is that it’s thoughtful and, to a certain extent, insightful. A gift giver wants to feel like they’ve both appreciated and understood the recipient. So it’s only polite to give them that impression, even if it’s not the case. A good way of doing this for a truly inappropriate gift is to say something along the lines of “It’s perfect! So much so, that I already have one exactly the same.” You can then embark on a discussion about whether, perhaps, it might be better to exchange it for something else that isn’t a duplicate. Smooth.

If you do end up returning and/or exchanging your gift, it’s a nice gesture to swap it for something in the same category, or at least ball park, so the giver feels like they have made a minor slip-up rather than misjudged the situation completely. If it’s a sweater, you can stretch to a cardigan, but try and get some kind of knitwear. If it’s Derbies, don’t swap them for sneakers. Making a minor adjustment of this sort to the gift is the equivalent of constructive feedback. And don’t we all love constructive feedback?