Gifts for International Women's Day that fit the woman

In a lot of countries 8 March is a day for marches and speeches, and plenty of women would rather have the speech than a present. In Italy, though, every woman gets a sprig of mimosa, and in much of Eastern Europe it is a proper gift day; a Polish colleague will expect flowers and notice if they do not come. If you are going to give something, give something that fits her. The "for her" table at the department store does not know her.

The reliable shortcut is to skip the guessing altogether. Ask her to create a wishlist and you are choosing from things she has already said she wants. If that feels too transactional for the occasion, the groups below are a good place to start.

For the one building a career or a business

If she is running her own company or pushing up through someone else's, the gifts that get used are the ones that make the working day slightly better and look good doing it.

• A leather folio or a proper work bag from a maker like Bellroy, replacing the one from her first job.
• Noise-cancelling headphones for the open-plan office and the train.
• A desk organiser that is not plastic, or a box of personalised notecards.
• A year of a course platform or the industry magazine she reads on her phone.
• A watch that works in a meeting and at dinner afterwards.
• Screen glasses in frames she would actually choose herself, which means asking her.

For the one who looks after everyone but herself

A lot of women spend most of their week on other people. This is the day to send a bit of that back in her direction, without a lecture attached.

• A skincare set from the brand she already uses, in the full sizes she never buys.
• A diffuser and a bottle of lavender or bergamot oil for the bedroom.
• A dressing gown that is actually soft, and slippers with a proper sole.
• A subscription: a monthly tea box, bath products, or a year of the meditation app she keeps meaning to use.
• A good notebook for whatever she wants to write in it.
• A massage voucher for the place near her house. The one across town will never get used.

For the one always learning something

If she picks up a new skill every winter or disappears into a book for a weekend, feed that directly.

• Watercolour paper and a decent set of brushes, or a linocut kit.
• A course in the thing she mentioned: photography, Italian, bread, whatever it was.
• Books by women she has not read yet. Annie Ernaux, Olga Tokarczuk, a biography of Marie Curie.
• A 1000-piece puzzle or a strategy game like Wingspan.
• A gardening set with seeds, a trowel and pots for the balcony.
• A ukulele or a small keyboard, if she has ever said "I always wanted to play".

The personal touches that get kept

The gifts still around in ten years are the ones that show you were listening. They are rarely the most expensive.

• A necklace with her initial, her birthstone or the coordinates of a place that matters.
• A small printed photo book of the last year, or one good photo properly framed.
• A mug, a tote or a phone case with a joke only the two of you get.
• A donation in her name to the charity she mentions more than any other.
• Tickets: a gig in April, a cooking class for the two of you, a night away.

Ask her

The best gift on 8 March comes from knowing what she wants, and the cheapest way to know is to be told. If you would rather not risk the size, the colour or the taste, ask the women you are buying for to create a wishlist a couple of weeks ahead. Then choose from it, and add the mimosa yourself.