“My perfect cozy afternoon?” Addison Rae muses over the phone with ELLE.com. “Probably hot chocolate with a lot of marshmallows and a really good rom-com. Maybe an older rom-com…any Jennifer Aniston romcom, really. That is my perfect afternoon with lots of blankets and maybe no makeup, just lounging.”
Rae is TikTok’s sweetheart. Not too sweet, though—she admitted that her top Spotify song of 2021 was Lykke Li’s “sex money feelings die.” “I’m a very repetitive listener,” she says. “When I like something, I listen to it a trillion times. I just love that song.” Beyond her eclectic music tastes, the ultra-relatable star has proven herself to be more than well-rehearsed choreography. With 85 million followers and counting, a Netflix rom-com under her belt, a thriving partnership with American Eagle that generates millions of dollars with every post, and her very own beauty line, the marketable influencer, actress, and businesswoman knows a thing or two about what people want. So naturally, we asked about her 2021 gifting strategy.
Read on to see what Rae is giving and hoping to get this holiday season, here.
American Eagle’s winter shop has a bunch of cozy items. Do you have any that you’re really attached to that you plan to gift to everyone this year?
They have really, really supersoft sweatshirts that I get oversized, which is exactly what I would wear at any moment that I want to be super comfortable and also look cute at the same time. So probably those. My favorite thing right now is [wearing] a waffle layering tee, an oversized sweatshirt, and comfortable socks. The tee is really cute to wear under a T-shirt or a flannel. And there are so many different colors and cool patterns.
With the holidays coming up, do you have any family traditions around gift-giving?
My family is pretty sporadic when it comes to holiday traditions. We kind of just adjust them every year. I have two little brothers, so it’s their way or…you know.
What is the best gift you’ve ever received?
When I was maybe 10 years old, my mom got me tickets to a Hannah Montana concert. She dressed up a Hannah Montana doll and the tickets were taped to the back of it. That was probably my best Christmas gift. It was insane. I, for sure, freaked out forever.
Are you willing to spill what you’re going to be giving your mom this year?
I’m going home to see her, so hopefully at that time I’ll reveal what it is, but I don’t know [yet]. My mom’s love language doesn’t start at gifts. She likes acts of service a lot. So I think something more centered around that. I feel like acts of service can also be a gift, but more in the moment or physical.
How about for your brothers?
My brothers are very particular with what they like. My middle brother loves Legos and my younger brother loves shirts. I could probably get them from American Eagle, to be honest.
What’s the #1 thing that’s on your personal wish list?
Spending time with people that I love and care about and celebrating together. I don’t really have much on my wish list. I’ve been lucky enough to be super blessed with a lot of things that I’ve wanted and dreamed of. So I don’t really ask for much…just quality time.
I assume quality time is your love language then?
My love language is every single one of them at number one. I love them all. Just always, constantly give me love.
What’s the best gift that’s not a physical object?
Probably a road trip. I feel like road trips are really nice to do with your friends just to kind carve out time for that and go on an experience together. Or I always think a handwritten note is really nice. I love to scrapbook, so even doing something a little similar to that, maybe cutting and printing out photos and putting them in picture frames or putting them together on a paper is always really sweet and different than a physical gift.
If you only had a budget of, say, $20, what’s a good gift to give your best friend?
Maybe a beanie or jewelry.
Is there anything you discovered on TikTok that you bought and was really good, so you want to tell everybody about it?
Honestly, so many things. I’ve found a lot of self-care things from TikTok that are really good. More like methods, I guess you could say. So, “love yourself more” or “how to feel confident” and things like that. I think those are all things that I really learned from TikTok, but also styling-wise I’ve learned a lot too—people that layer or mix patterns or different things like that. There are so many things to learn from the perspective of someone else. And so being able to watch that on TikTok is super accessible and gives you perspective from so many other people’s sense of style and minds, which is really nice.
