When I was very young, I remember my grandmother gave me a sugared egg for Easter. It was seamed with scrollwork of royal piped icing. It was cut slightly away on one side, and when you peered inside, there was a tiny tableau, a Victorian hare with a blue bow tie skipping merrily in daffodils with a straw basket. He was glued in place by tiny pink candy flowers and so dear as to be precious. Hours I spent gazing inside the egg, half expecting it to animate itself. It was magic. We only took it out on Easter, and each Easter evening it was packed carefully back in tissue, and set aside until next spring. I had it for years, but like so many delicate things, it began over time to discinigrate. One year is was nothing more than granulated dust. The egg is now gone forever, but the memory lingers.
To me the store window is a little bit like a candied egg, full of beauty, whimsy and promise. Store windows provide a little story, a little magic. I still expect mannequins to animate themselves, some day soon they might. Window displays are temporal, they disappear too, but their memories sometimes linger.
Here are a few recent photos that captured my attention.
Macy’s handsome men look apprehensive as they study 34th Street. The black canopy creates a compressive void over their towering heads. If you enlarge the image you will catch the reflection of men just under the end of coral colored scarf, who seen it be magically running up under the scarf.
Ralph Lauren’s lifestyle windows are always remarkable. Every note is right, the mannequin’s faceted chandelier earrings matches the chandelier, and Rococo beveled mirror. The elegance and sharpness of the females profile follows the same serpentine lines as the mirror. The window is harmonious and perfectly balanced. It is a glimpse into a luxurious world where women primp all day long. Gracious, Lauren's mannequins even have a summer tan.
I am usually not a hot pink kind of guy; still I was compelled to stop repeatedly at this Dolce and Gabbana window on Madison Avenue. I have never needed an interlaced grosgrain tuxedo, but this tuxedo was so hot, so aspirational, that I wish I were invited to a party given by Elton John or Mark Jacobs wedding where this would be perfect! Now if only I could afford it.
The emerald green of Graff Jewelers and the unexpected whimsy of the hot pink scaffolding next door could not have been planned better. Two colors directly opposite one another on the color spectrum. Shot on Madison Avenue, which is traditionally sober and sedate, the pops of intensified color forced me to abandon the bus I was on, in order to grab some snaps of this streetscape. If I saw this in a movie or a stage play, I would say no one would really paint their façade this color. I would be wrong. Color is inspirational.
This white stallion is menacing as it runs out of the Hermes shop. Its muscular physique is so realistic that it looks like it could crash through the pane of glass. It is of course just an illustration that reiterates the brands iconic horse motif/logo. Captured in the reflection are a blue sky and townhouse, which are really across the street, it is a successful, if not inadvertent collage.
While passing time at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Square, I wondered who could resist stopping to see this limited edition photo of Audrey Hepburn, and white dove, taken in St. Marks Square in Rome. The white beachcomber cap is stylish in a way that only Audrey could manage. This pensive contemplative photo is amplified by the reflection of the TV screen from CNN (directly opposite the installation) which is ideally superimposed on Ms. Hepburn’s forehead, maybe poetically telling us what she is pondering.
This exotic cosmetic window in Macy’s is broken up into two cells of refracted light. Across the street, we see the defunct A.S. Beck’s, and the new Sephora encroaching on 34th Street. Exotic imagery, and strange poignant reflections, captured traffic and street activity seem to add to the dizzying display. I note the "For Sale" sign" hovering just over this beauties right eye.
Face facts, even drag queens need a decent place to shop. This store on West 8th Street caters to a demographic that appreciates good boobs, tall hair, rhinestones and blankets of silk roses. Is it crass? Is Seargents “Madame X?”
My Cardboard Lover: Kenneth Cole’s paper mannequin may be out of place on toney Fifth Avenue. However, I do like his scruffy beard, his safire colored eyes, loosed up necktie, and way that he seems actually engaged in surveying Fifth Avenue. He seems wary, almost uncertain, maybe a little bit intimidated. I feel that he might need my help. Multiple views of Saks filter in here and there. I wish I hung out with guys that look like this. Strange the men inside of Cole's looked nothing like this.
Saks Men’s windows are always beautifully dressed. If I only had the money, or supported by someone who did, someone who would love to spoil me. The white background and the white mannequin force the clothing to rise in prominence and stature. There was so much light that I caught a nasty bit of reflection on the lower right hand side of the photo, creating a kind of magical nova.
Butterflies are free, or at least seem to be set free as they magically flutter on this vari-vue background, creating an induced phrenetic kind of movement as you pass by the windows at D & G on West Broadway in SoHo. This mannequin is so attractive that I wish like in the film “A Touch of Venus” I could bring him to life. I am not really a leather jacket king of person, but I have to give it up to D & G. This casual jacket is smart, tailored, butter soft, masculine and artfully designed as an Italian automobile. I can dream. Unfortunately, D & G unlike butterflies, are not free!
Donna Karan at Saks is a study in draping. There is no one better at it than Ms. Karan. That being said, the use of the fun house mirror, the iconic yellow taxicab and a splendid blue sky all work in concert to create a quintessential New York tableau.
This Prada female is dressed to the nine’s, and while she appears to be walking in the direction of the Episcopal Church, it is doubtful that this décolleté dress, sans bra, is appropriate bible study material. In a stange twist, I noted that her oversized round sunglasses are the same shape as the rose window. The pink background, inserts itself between the mannequin and the cathedral. The pink, the red dress, followed by the buff silver of her skin, which is identical in value and hue to the Church, is perfect, harmonious, serrendipitious, everthing a great window should be.
ZARA, what are you doing to me looking so good. You used to be so easy to make fun of, and dismiss. The beautifully executed art pieces of gunmetal, polished mirror chrome and charcoal black that are layered behind the mannequin are the perfect prop to convey what you are doing with your color palate and styling. The dence grey chrome of the mannequin is ideal. ZARA way to go!
It doesn’t need to cost a lot, Bergdorf Goodman’s strung every scissor they had in house on black ribbon, to created a fun display were paper and clothing is shredded to pieces, where the shadows of the scissors create and ever moving flow, a kind of dance. It pays to be smart.
An oversized graphic for Tara Lempicka hangs in Christie’s window in Rockefeller Center. The scale is almost tromp l’oil, as she seems to be superimposed and like a muse protecting the building and the street below.
Last, but never least is Anthropologie. The ingenious use of shredded cardboard, painted in orange, yellow and white is gorgeous to look at, it speaks to recycling, and is overwhelming with abundance. It creates a kind of wonderful excitement.
It may still be the dog days of August, but Easter is always just around the corner when it comes to window shopping.
