Holiday Dressing With New York City Department Stores
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
There is no finer place to celebrate the holidays than in the heart of New York City. Not only does the winter chill and the skating rinks in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center raise your holiday spirits, but, the decorations creatively jog the imagination in childlike ways. The towering Christmas tree right outside the door of NBC Studios with all of its brilliantly lit bulbs, the night sky creating a rainbow of colors with the skyscrapers serving as the backdrop, the exquisite beauty of Madison Avenue; these are all of the various attractions that draw you ever so closer to New York City during the holiday.
There is also one more extra added bonus. It has been a longtime tradition for department stores to dress up their windows this time of year, each store sharing a specific theme. Every large department store in New York City brings a surreal theme to life in huge picture windows, enchanting all that pass them by.
Bloomingdale’s , located at 1000 Third Avenue, decided to display mirrored sculptures and some of the most lovely floral presentations brought to Bloomingdales by one of the most world-renowned florists, Jeff Leatham.
One of the most crowded stores on 34th Street is a children and adult favorite and sponsor of the Thanksgiving Day parade, Macy’s. This year just happens to mark the 50th anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and Macy’s is honoring Charles Schultz’s characters as a tribute to those lovable cartoon kids. Passerby shoppers can gaze at each of the six windows, depicting a different holiday adventure with each one that you pass. All the Peanuts crew can be seen, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Pig Pen, Lucy. This theme is one that all can easily relate to for all generations.
Always exquisite, always unique, Bergdorf Goodman, located at 754 5th Avenue, has a very lavish outlook on the holidays. For 2015, the department store chose Swarovski to celebrate the crystal maker’s 120th anniversary. Each window is beautifully adorned with all kinds of crystals, bringing the totals used to 7 million brilliant crystals. A birthday ballroom sparkles with cake and gifts coated in crystal. See the prismatic cave, life-sized lions, and dazzling suits of armor. Behold beauty at its finest.
Henri Bendel chooses to live larger than life, located at 712 5th Avenue. It is evident that the department store enjoyed getting carried away with a Parisian theme, extending from the display picture windows all the way throughout the entire store. Glistening lights reach up to 40 feet high in the main window. Enter the store and admire the huge two-story Christmas tree, Henri Bendel style, covered with colossal holiday ornaments. Artist Izak Zenou, a consistent collaborator with Bendel, has drawings posted all over the walls of the department store.
Saks Fifth Avenue, located at 611 5th Avenue, takes imagination to soaring heights. Some of the greatest natural and man-made wonders fill the windows. Behold an icy colosseum, an ice mermaid sitting atop the frozen Great Barrier Reef, the snow-covered Wall of China are what you have to look forward to when visiting Saks Fifth Avenue. The most enticing part of all is the very front of the store which has been transformed into a palatial entry with crystal spires and a light show with more than 225,000 illuminated elements.
Lord & Taylor takes to philanthropy to celebrate their holiday season. Right next to all the others at 424 5th Avenue, Lord & Taylor shines with animated displays, declaring their newest partnership with Habitat for Humanity New York City. From adorable penguins surrounded by cupcakes to a snowy cuckoo clock to a gingerbread house surrounded by hundreds of up-in-arms gingerbread men, you can see why Lord & Taylor loves the holidays.
Every woman’s dream and desire is to visit Tiffany, 727 5th Avenue, where she can feel like the center of the universe in a dream world of jewels and diamonds. With all kinds of tantalizing jewelry giving off that energetic holiday glow, the decorations in the windows are only an additional bonus. This year, Tiffany takes us back to the 19th century with porcelain animals and people, a bow bridge, a tree just covered in Tiffany designs and a gift-laden mantelpiece. Shoppers are welcomed in by the Tiffany diamonds recreation of the 1939 World’s Fair display.
Whichever department store you decide to walk by or even if you decide to pass by all the stores, the displays continue to delight tourists and New Yorkers alike from mid-November all the way through the first week of January 2016. No wonder Christmas is the favorite time of the year.
Photo credit Craig Barritt (Getty Images for Henri Bendel)
