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Kim Kardashian's Skims brand was forced to refund $148 for advent calendars after criticism over the quality.
SeriesNobody Needs This
It's official: Kim Kardashian has ruined Christmas advent calendars
The Skims calendar has sparked outrage over its pricey but low quality contents, but are we all guilty of expecting a little too much from the festive countdown?
In Nobody Needs This, a series for The Journal, Emer McLysaght focuses her eagle eye on the trends, products and notions we can do without. It’s not all giving out, however. She’ll also be keeping up with what’s catching her attention, keeping people interested and, quite frankly, driving her mad.
WHAT, DO WE think, would Patrick Kavanagh make of the furore around Kim Kardashian’s Skim’s advent calendar?
Say if Kavanagh – the revered Irish poet born in 1904 in Monaghan – had spent almost $150 (€140) on the Skims calendar and, unable to contain his excitement, ripped open all 12 doors the very day he received it, would he be disappointed?
Would he be happy with the mishmash of hair ties, keyrings and tat you might find in a Christmas cracker? Or would he think, much like myself, that the items look like a collection of rubbish that had been volleyed under the couch by the cat?
Might he rise from the kitchen table in Inniskeen as his mother came in from the cattle shed, calling Kardashian and Skims a disgrace as he scrolls through TikToks of people with the same opinion?
Kavanagh died in 1967, so it’s likely any sudden exposure to TikTok, modern advent calendars and indeed Kim Kardashian would send him straight into a coma. However, if his poem ‘Advent’ is anything to go by, he would have no truck with the absolute circus that is today’s advent calendar market.
In Advent, he writes, “We have tested and tasted too much, lover. Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder”, berating himself for seeking out too many of life’s pleasures. Advent was first published in 1942 when an orange, a single lipstick or a bar of soap might be considered a frivolous Christmas luxury.
In 2026, you can purchase advent calendars around (but not limited to) the following themes: Pickles, ugly medieval cats, protein powder, rubber ducks, beard oil, fishing lures. I think it’s safe to say the chink has become a cavern.
The calendar craze
We’re only about a decade in to the era of diverse advent calendars. Marks and Spencer led the charge in the mid 2010s with their beauty calendars and the other brands soon followed. I was felled by desire for the M&S offering a few years ago after being accosted by an employee as soon as I walked into the store and invited me to view the display of tiny jars and bottles contained within. I averted my eyes in horror, so as not to spoil the experience for myself and, with an austere restraint that Patrick Kavanagh would have been proud of, I put it away until the first of December.
Most of the calendars on offer promise extreme value for money. They claim that you’re getting €300 worth of product for just €100 or hint at exclusive items. As soon as they hit the shelves or online stores the social media trials begin. Content creators throw themselves on their swords and rip open the doors all in one go to expose the treasures within. Sometimes, the spoils are deemed worthy – a full size hyaluronic serum here, a delicious cinnamon-flavoured craft beer there.
And then there are the swizzes. In 2021 Chanel fell victim to outrage on social media after it was revealed that their advent calendar which cost over $800 (€720) contained items like stickers and magnets. This year it was the turn of Skims. For the $148 (€130) price tag the 12 boxes contained a bafflingly large assortment of basic hair accessories, along with four keyrings and a Christmas ornament.
A spokesperson for Skims, which is a shapewear and clothing brand, said that every customer had been contacted and offered a full refund if the calendar was returned or $150 (€140) in store credit if they decided to keep it.
Now, call me cynical, but this has PR stunt written all over it. Chances are, customers purchased the calendar hoping for at least one item of Skims clothing inside. Instead, they’ve been offered $150 (€140) to spend on Skims, and everyone is talking about the brand.
The number of people who will bother sending the calendar back for a refund is probably minimal. The chink is wide, and Kim Kardashian is grinning through it like a Cheshire cat.
In Advent, Patrick Kavanagh promises that he will return to penance, self-denial and “dry black bread and sugarless tea”.
I don’t think we need to go that far, but is there anything to be said for a return to a simpler era of advent calendars when all that was behind each door was a picture of the Three Wise Men or, if you were lucky, a waxy chocolate? To bolster my case I offer the egregious Manvent Calendar, stocked with beer, protein and “manly cocktails”. Kavanagh is spinning in the grave.
Document this
There are some excellent documentaries on streaming services right now:
- The One with Matthew Perry on Netflix is so much more than a documentary about the guy from friends. It’s a devastating look at the illness of addiction and a beautiful telling of the actor’s story.
- Sperm World on Disney+ is directed by Lance Oppenheim (of You Can See Everything, which hits Irish cinemas next week) and looks into the business of black-market sperm. Oppenheim gets incredible access to several providers and customers.
- A Killer Story and How to Create a Sex Scandal are both three-parters available on NowTV. Both true-crime series focus on cases of potential wrongful convictions.
- Power and Silence, the ITV News documentary about David Walliams is available in full on YouTube. It’s a galling and grim watch.
She’s making a list
Every week between now and 25 December I’m bringing you suggestions for decent gifts for everyone in your life.
For the bookworm: An actually lovely advent calendar of miniature Penguin classics which double as tree ornaments!
For anyone who likes a show: Tickets for both Hadestown and Operation Mincemeat are now on sale for the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin in 2027. It will be the first time either smash hit show has been performed in Ireland.
For a Heated Rivalry fan: A 17 years+ version of Heated Rivalry Monopoly has just been announced. Sadly it isn’t out until June 2027, but you could pre-order it, along with a second pre-order for the final book in the series, also out next year. You can also get a Saint Ilya Rozanov candle to wrap for under the tree.
Something to fight about
Pitchfork, those self-appointed denizens of what’s good about music, have produced a list of the 100 Best Indie Rock Albums of all Time.
Is your favourite there?
Do you agree with the top 10?
And who was left out?
have your say