Maria Haymandou’s newest blog post!
New York is a special place around the holiday season. Gift shopping may be physically, emotionally and financially draining, especially if you’re going down Fifth Avenue. Yet navigating these crowded streets offers a reward as well: exciting, ornate window displays and Christmas lights. Here are some of the places you should see, taken from an article I read in Timeout:
Saks Fifth Avenue: The name of the game here is candy, and lots of it. Tying in with the candy theme, Saks’ animated center features six windows along Fifth Avenue titled “The Nutcracker Sweet”, that takes the classic ballet and adds in candy. Be sure not to miss a multicolored ten-story tall light show, which plays daily from 5 to 11pm every ten minutes for the rest of the month.
Macy’s: While Macy’s is most famous for their Thanksgiving parades, that’s not to discredit their December decorations. Their window display this year is titled “Believe”, and encourages spectators to once again believe in Santa. Each of the six windows portray iconic holiday scenes.
Barneys: The display at Barneys has nothing about snow or the North Pole. Rather, the five windows offer various interpretations of their theme this year of “Love, Peace and Joy”. Various artists, ranging from South Park co-creators to Nick Cave, contributed to the decorations. If you take a picture of yourself making either a heart or peace sign or jumping for joy in front of these displays, then post it online with the #lovepeacejoyproject hashtag, then Barneys will donate $5 per photo to various charity causes.
Bloomingdale’s: This season, Bloomingdale’s teamed up with various artists to create chandeliers based around the word “light”. There are eight windows in total, and the chandeliers will be auctioned off for charity at the end of the season. So if you’ve got some money lying around (opening bids start at $2,000), you can take them home with you!
Lord & Taylor: Lord & Taylor’s “Enchanted Forest” displays various winter-themed vignettes, with 34 hand-sculpted animals and more than 350 square feet of LED walls.
Tiffany & Co: Even though post-election protests have distracted from Tiffany’s display, they’re fighting back with a large display that promises to “Make the World Sparkle”, and they’re making good on it.
Bergdorf Goodman: The “Destination Extraordinary” display from Bergdorf Goodman depicts various scenes of lush gardens, meant to be remakes of the dioramas in natural history museums. There are five different displays, each one unique and extremely green.
Henri Bendel: Henri Bendel’s four-story display, inspired by the Bleeding Hearts mural, is a lot less “traditional” than most 5th Avenue displays. While you get a great view of it outside, it looks even better inside the store.
Maria Haymandou 