Haute 5 Holiday Windows: A Very Merry Manhattan

From skating in Bryant Park to the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller center, New York is full of holiday traditions. None is perhaps as delightful as the magical transformation that occurs in the city’s best department store windows. All within a 10-block radius, our haute 5 Christmas windows are smart, silly, decadent and full (and I mean full) of glitter. We recommend starting at Barney’s at 60^th and working your way down to Saks, at 50^th. When you’re done, stop by Dean and Deluca’s on 49^th for a hot chocolate, where you can admire Rockefeller Center in all its holiday glory (from the warm indoors). So put on your hat and scarf, grab your friends or family, and get walking!

Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Avenue

Hands down, the season’s most beautiful and opulent window displays can be found at Bergdorf Goodman, just south of Central Park. This year, Bergdorf’s Visual Presentation Director, David Hoey, took his inspiration from stories of Lewis Carroll (including Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) to compose “A Compendium of Curiosities.” And what a compendium it is!

Decked out in lush Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs, the Queen of Hearts and her court hold a lavish black and red tea party. The characters hang perpendicular on a wall, allowing us to see the scene from a bird’s eye view. Alice meets the Cheshire cat in a pastel fairyland in one window while “The Walrus and The Carpenter” window features the most dapper walrus and couture carpenter you have ever seen. In yet another window, an elegant woman in dark Isaac Mizrahi furs is flanked by two very regal, life-size polar bears.

In the most breath-taking window, which is filled entirely of mirrors, Alice (in a shimmering Pamela Rowland gown) looks through about a million looking glasses. What makes Bergdorf rise above the rest is the amazing attention to detail. A corner of the looking glass room features silver picture frames, a monkey statue, a unicorn head, a silver crab and an antique clock- all with reflecting surfaces.

A page in an oversized antique typewriter quotes Through the Looking Glass: “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast.” The Bergdorf windows feature about 600 impossible things, all brought together with decadent detail and a fanciful sense of humor that should not be missed.

Barney’s, 660 Madison Avenue

This year, Barney’s windows (along with the backing of NBC) celebrate Saturday Night Live’s thirty-firth birthday with the theme “Have a witty holiday.” The windows feature the playful, oversized–almost surreal– floating paper mache heads of famous SNL characters. One window, dedicated to the women of SNL features Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin, Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher, and the infamous “Pat” (should she really be in the girls’ window?).

The Barney’s windows have a pop-arty feel to them. In one window a giant “35” and the entire floor are covered with a giant collage of SNL cast members. The collage includes pictures of everyone from Gilda Radner to Kristin Whig and Christ Farley to Will Ferrel. An inexplicably inordinate amount of space is dedicated to Jimmy Fallon’s face.

The background of each window is filled with glitter, sparkles and what looks to be left-over wrapping paper. One window is devoted entirely to the Dan Aykrod Conehead’s sketch of the seventies. The Coneheads’ monstrous green foreheads are the unfortunate canvases for “Live from New York It’s Saturday Night” scrawled across.

Barney’s holiday cheer extends beyond comedy to charity too. One window displays the art of students who go to the East Harlem School. All the proceeds of the pieces sold ($250 each) will go directly to the students’ school. Call 212-876-8775 ext.305 to purchase one of the bright, colorful one-of-a-kind pieces.

Bloomingdales, 59^th and Lexington

Bloomingdales’ windows have a family-friendly, wholesome classic Christmas charm. They may also feature the most glitter of any of the stores, which is quite a feat. With no unifying theme per se, each window creates a different world. Our personal favorite is the “Dynamic Duos” window, where famous couples wait to greet Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The couples chosen include the Obamas and Anthony and Cleopatra. In an uncomfortable 21st century compromise, Batman and Robin get to participate, but must be separated by a sign.

There is a very sparkly shoe-themed room and a room made up of sparkly teddy bears reading books, riding motorcycles, dancing and even quietly sitting on shelves. There is a shiny new years party full of humans and the much weirder “Smile-o-Matic” window which features giant glitter models of mouths and mirrors that let passersby see their own smiles.

One of the glitter bears reads a book, in which it is written, “Once upon a time there were 3 bears that lived in the magical world of Bloomindales…” I might expand that to say: once upon a time there lived a lot of interesting characters that lived in the fun-house world of Bloomingdales. Or maybe they just live in the magical, fun-house world that is New York.

Henri Bendel 712 Fifth Avenue

Bendel’s display is much smaller than that of the other stores – but don’t let the size dissuade you. The windows, which feature Swarovski crystals, are filled with some very sparkly gossip-girls. One plays a bass, one swings from the ceilings (sparkly champagne in hand) one shops (at Bendel’s of course!) and one sips crystal martinis while looking at Facebook on a crystal-encrusted laptop. However, you would be remiss to glance at the glitter girls and move on, with out bending down to see what is happening below, almost at street level.

In between the floor boards and only a few inches high, is the intricate, detailed world of some very sassy mice. A bride and groom mouse help themselves to a human-sized bottle of champagne; some hip-hop mice hold a mini-boom box; there is even a full-on mouse disco party and a pirate mouse (complete with most exotic glitter booty from the world above – lipstick, tear and perfume, naturally).

Elegant, cheeky and fun, this display is great for grow-ups, teens and children who can spend hours finding surprises in the mouse world. Careful though, a trip to Bendel’s could land “pet mouse” on some unfortunate letters to Santa.

Saks 5^th Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue

At the time of writing, Saks’ display was the only one to already have a roped off line of eager viewers. This year, the store’s signature mechanical dolls narrate the original story of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Flake” written by Mike Reiss.

Each window follows an episode in the adventures of a snowflake named Twinkle who goes on a sort of Manhattan holiday shopping adventure. Twinkle travels past flying cows, ice skating penguins and a colorful group of New Yorkers (Where did that cowboy come from? Williamsburg?) but I won’t say anymore lest I ruin the story’s dramatic conclusion.

“Twinkle, Twinkle…” is narrated on audio track as well, which is quite difficult to hear among the crowds and traffic. But the elegant storybook quality of Saks’ windows featureas a unique simplicity, not found in the other windows (though there was still a more restrained dose of the requisite glitter). A group of Upper East Side parents who came to see the windows seemed more excited than their preschool-aged children. But who can blame them? They have dancing frog princesses and rats that make crème brûlée– what’s so cool about a mechanical snowflake?