A present can be chosen for the person receiving it or for the image of the person giving it.

Some presents are addressed to the giver’s self-image. The item that shows taste, or thoughtfulness, or worldliness, chosen partly to be seen choosing it, is a different thing from something picked because the recipient would actually use it. Both are common and only one of them has the person in mind.

Before you buy, ask what they would choose for themselves rather than what would represent you well. It usually means something plainer. And if you receive something that seems to be about the giver, the warmth behind it is still real even if the aim was off.