An Inside Look at Oprah's Favorite Things Through the Years
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From 1996 until 2010, Oprah's Favorite Things was one of the most highly-anticipated segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, one that has lived on yearly as a franchise in the December issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. In the 24-year history of the celebrated list, a total of 1,175 items have been featured.
To mark the 20th anniversary of O, The Oprah Magazine, O’s Creative Director, Adam Glassman opened up about how Favorite Things got started, how it has evolved in current times, and how the list comes together each year.
It all began with a pair of pajamas...
When a senior producer on the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show gave the talk show host a pair of Karen Neuburger pajamas in the fall of 1996, Oprah instantly fell in love—and wanted to share the joy.
“She loved them so much, she bought them for the whole staff,” Glassman says. “And then she decided she wanted to gift them to her entire audience.”
So on November 27, 1996, Oprah came onstage in her red-and-white checkered Karen Neuburger pajamas, dancing to "My Favorite Things," the tune from The Sound of Music. She professed how much she loved the PJs and revealed that everyone in the audience would be going home with a free pair. Her viewers went crazy.
At the time, Glassman says, “TV audiences were not used to getting anything from anyone; they were just thrilled to be at the show in the first place.”
Oprah became so inspired by the enormous excitement that she immediately wanted to do more. So she and her producers came up with the idea to create an entire show based around her favorite things, just in time for the holidays. It would serve as a way to share products that she felt were noteworthy and would make great gifts. They named it Oprah’s Favorite Things, and the annual holiday spectacular was born.
“Oprah’s love of gift giving is infectious, and she believes in choosing gifts for others based on what she personally loves,” says Glassman. “There’s always been real authenticity when it comes to the things Oprah shares, and I think that’s why her list is still so relevant today.”
Referred to as “The Oprah Effect,” placement on her annual Favorite Things list has since become known to turn a struggling company into a commercial phenomenon. Once Oprah puts her stamp of approval on something, Glassman has seen the outsize effect it can have on brands both established and emerging.
“UGG, Tory Burch, and Spanx were all very small businesses that Oprah helped put on the map,” Glassman says.
December 2010 was the last date Oprah's Favorite Things appeared as a televised event on her show. The following year, Glassman and the team at O stepped in to carry on its legacy. Since then, year after year, they work tirelessly to bring the Favorite Things list to life.
“It's really turned into the ultimate gift guide, for everyone and anyone,” Glassman says. “We believe many people begin their holiday shopping by first seeing what’s on Oprah’s Favorite Things.”
“I really am a hunter and gatherer by trade,” Glassman says. “I love to find and discover, and follow the whole path of how things end up from market, to stores, to people’s homes.”
The O team begins the Favorite Things selection process by attending trade shows in January each year, traveling to Dallas and Atlanta for gift show exhibitions.
“We are looking for items all year round, and it’s important to travel outside of New York for the shows, because our brand is really speaking to women everywhere,” says Glassman. “There is not a rock or a stone unturned to find product.”
Next, everything that the editors choose is sent to the office for review, and the many rounds of editing (not to mention unloading, unpacking, and repacking) ensue.
Imagine hundreds of packages arriving to be unboxed, small enough to hold a pair of earrings and large enough for an at-home movie screen. Picture conference rooms piled high with product for review—plush pajamas, kitchen gadgets, personalized jewelry, dog beds, specialty foods, fitness equipment, bottles of wine, body creams, and shades of nail polish in every color of the rainbow.
“It’s a very all-hands-on-deck process, and Oprah herself is involved the entire time,” Glassman explains. “Through it all, she's sending me stuff that she likes, and we have a continual back and forth sharing our findings. This year, Oprah sent the new Tina Turner book, and was like, ‘This is incredible; let's put this in!’”
No surprise there, as Glassman adds, “She's wild about Tina Turner. A loyal fan and friend.”
The list has to touch on gifts to suit everyone—mom, grandma, baby, teachers, colleagues, companions, and four-legged friends alike. Each item gets considered for many factors including quality, price point, size inclusivity, and relevance to what’s happening in the world. But the curation is key, and there are a few ways the team starts editing.
For one, “the story behind the products is always interesting to Oprah,” Glassman says.
When discussing this year's list, for instance, Oprah was impressed by the story of Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller of Mented cosmetics, who met at Harvard business school and became the 15th and 16th African American women to ever raise 1 million in venture capital. Once she tried their lipsticks, she not only loved the colors, but also that they solve the real problem of creating the perfectly pigmented nude for all skin tones, from light to dark.
Additionally, “packaging and presentation is really key to Oprah. She believes ‘love is in the details,’ and she appreciates when a product is delivered in a beautiful manner,” says Glassman.
For example, Glassman says that the Tory Burch face masks and the Cookie Society gift crate on this year’s list were two items that Oprah noted for having particularly pretty packaging.
Traditionally, Oprah would always travel to the magazine's headquarters in New York City, to see everything in person and make final selections.
“I’d have it orchestrated almost like a mini movie,” says Glassman. “We’d bring in chefs for the taste testings, and prop stylists to make each item look nice.”
Glassman would have tables of product and stations woven around to walk through with Oprah (and Gayle, too, of course) to evaluate each contender—sampling, touching, tasting, reviewing—one by one—the softest pajamas, the tastiest truffles, and the most innovative and charming products of the season. Truly a labor of love, the annual run-through was a marathon session lasting many hours—often with staff members lurking in close proximity hoping for leftovers!
In addition to 2020 marking the magazine’s 20th anniversary, the year understandably brought a slew of new considerations to the making of Oprah’s Favorite Things.
“Because of the pandemic, we really took a look at the fact that small businesses were hurting greatly,” Glassman says. “All businesses were, for sure, but small companies in particular needed a boost, and because we have always been a champion for small businesses, we thought, we have to pay attention.”
Additionally, Glassman explains that the team approached this year's list as an opportunity to celebrate Black lives and take a stand for the movement at large, with most of the products selected from Black-owned or -led companies. Oprah felt particularly inspired by brands such as The Fresh Dolls, with a mission for inclusivity.
With stay-at-home orders in effect across much of the country, the usual way of executing Oprah’s Favorite Things was turned on its head.
Glassman’s home in upstate New York became a satellite office. “My home basement and garage were transformed into the fashion closet,” he laughs. “I’m now on a first name basis with UPS and FedEx drivers, who would deliver anywhere from 20 -70 packages daily.”
The team gathered for daily Zoom meetings to look at product, and by late August, as the deadline to finalize the list neared, a very small team came together at Glassman’s home, forming their own little pod and working mostly outside. Glassman explains, “It’s very isolated here, so we had a safety factor. We wore masks and proper PPE to get it all done.”
With elaborately-styled presentations not an option this year, the team worked through final approvals with Oprah virtually. Glassman sent certain items ahead to her home in Santa Barbara, as well as to Gayle's apartment in NYC, and “the pod” went through every item one-by-one via Zoom. The virtual run-through with Oprah took about a week to complete, and just before Labor Day, the 2020 list—of 72 items total—was finalized.
Indeed, Oprah’s Favorite Things is an unstoppable force. Glassman reflects, “Despite all the challenges, and living in our current ‘new normal,’ the show must go on, and we are all so proud of the curation of gifts we presented this year to help support brands that have not yet had the possibility to be seen in such a global way. ”
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