Insiders' Guide: etiquette.

Insiders' Guide: etiquette

How to get the gift you want

By Dany Levy Levy is the founder of dailycandy.com, a website about style and food. If any of her friends are reading this, tell her boyfriend she wants Eres lingerie. Yes, giving is divine, but let's be honest: Receiving is pretty great, too. You can't ask outright for that delicious cashmere bathrobe, but you can increase your odds passive-aggress we mean, subtly. So hint, baby, hint! * Give verbal cues. Get excited about something or other as you pass a store window, and hope it registers. You could also mope for days and then finally confess to friends that you'll be fine; it's just that you have a major case of shoe lust for a sparkly green pair of Jimmy Choo sandals. * Give visual clues. If you live with your boyfriend or husband, strew travel brochures to, say, Costa Rica around. Keep magazines open to pages of things you want, or place tear-outs near the gift-giver's keys, wallet . * Think out loud. One woman I know employs an "external monologue" approach. She'll remark to her boyfriend how chilly it is and that she really needs a cashmere scarf. Throwing in that last year's wool one is so itchy might help -- men love functional rationalizations for expenditures. * Hold up an example. Tell your boyfriend things like, "Gee, so-and-so's boyfriend got her such-and-such.... Isn't he just fantastic?" Men are competitive. This always works. * Make them pity you. Letting friends know that you may have to give up your personal trainer to afford that new Balenciaga bag could give them the idea to all go in on one for you. * Pass it on. ...