It may not even be Thanksgiving yet, but in the world of department stores, the holiday season is in full swing. In the past few weeks, several of the city’s major department stores have revealed their holiday windows, each with their own unique and captivating theme. Here are some of the stunning displays from this department store holiday windows.
1. Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the first of the city’s department stores to debut their holiday windows, launching on Wednesday, November 13. This year’s windows were inspired by vintage New York City, depicting dancing couples, mothers with their children, romantic gift exchanges and tons of festive décor. Teen girl group Fifth Harmony performed at the launch as well.
2. Henri Bendel
This year, Henri Bendel’s holiday windows, which launched on Thursday, November 14, drew inspiration from famed illustrator Al Hirschfeld, whose drawings of celebrities and Broadway performers ran in the New York Times for more than 70 years. The main window depicts a dinner party at a classic New York City townhouse, with guests such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Woody Allen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Carol Channing, Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli and Bernadette Peters in attendance, all in the form of Hirschfeld drawings. Inside, Charlie Chaplin sits atop a two-story malachite tree.
3. Tiffany & Co
Tiffany’s holiday windows were unveiled this year on Friday, November 15, 2013. The windows depicted scenes of Upper East Side apartments, all with varying shades of blue backgrounds. The apartments show their inhabitants preparing for the 2013 holiday season, with children hanging stockings, parents stealing mistletoe kisses and even a giant Christmas tree.
4. Bloomingdale’s
Bloomingdale’s launched their holiday windows on Tuesday, November 19, revealing a different location theme in each window—China, France, Great Britain, Italy and New York City. Each window features a big box that swivels around to reveal different scenes in each country. Singer/songwriter Josh Groban and the New York Children’s Chorus performed at the reveal as well.
5. Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf’s windows, revealed on Tuesday, November 19, are themed “Holiday on Ice” this year, as they depict re-imaginings of traditional American holidays throughout the year—Fourth of July, Arbor Day, Valentine’s Day and even April Fool’s Day—as a series of snowy frozen dioramas. Bravo TV personality Andy Cohen did the honors of unveiling the windows.
6. Barneys New York
Barneys, which unveiled its windows on Wednesday, November 20, used social media to expand the reach of its holiday windows this year. Its windows were launched exclusively on Barneys’ Instagram channel, @barneysnyofficial, showing a 10-second video clip of each window to highlight the interactive features.
7. Macy’s Herald Square
Macy’s windows will launch this year on Thursday, November 21. As the first department store in NYC to feature Christmas windows, Macy’s is sure to impress again this year, though little information has been revealed as to what they have in store. What is known is that singer Judith Hill will be performing at the reveal.
8. Saks Fifth Avenue
The Saks window won’t be revealed until Monday, November 25, but they’ve already shared this year’s theme as “Snowflake Spectacular,” with a light show that will be projected onto the store. Six animated windows will tell the story of the legendary Saks Yeti, from his “life as an under-appreciated snowmaker in Siberia to his starring role as a true snowflake artist in New York.” Performers at the unveiling will include violinist Joshua Bell, singer Frankie Moreno, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and a performance of “Carol of the Bells” by young dancers from the from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre.