Holiday Windows in NYC

The first day of the year usually finds my husband and I walking the streets of New York City looking at the holiday windows and tree. This year was no exception as the weather was dry (no doing this trip in the rain!) although cold and quite breezy. We parked the car and walked the quieter route from Second Avenue, up to Madison and then along 59th Street to Fifth Avenue and the start of our annual wanderings.

Bergdorf Goodman is where we always start our windows walk and this year the theme was the arts. Each window display celebrated something different: painting; cinema; sculpture; dance; literature; architecture; photography. All very lavish and creative, but the one that really caught my eye was the literature window.

This window was an all red theme and there were portraits of authors along with stacks of books and a typwriter-but what made this window special was tha fact that all the portraits were hand stitched! There was crewelwork, needlepoint, cross stitch and embroidery. The typewriter was constructed from felt as were many of the books. Bergdorf Goodman Senoir Art Director David Hoey said it is the most labour intensive window they have ever created!

 

 

The other windows were fun too. Everything in the architure window was constructed from paper and the model is meant to be the artitect looking at her work-her beautiful evening gown was embroidered using a tambour technique.

     

 

A couple of these little guys were in other windows and caught my eye-made from needlepoint.

 

 

David Hoey reported that he wanted the windows to be a lesson in art appreciation and more than 100 artists contributed to the items in the windows, using a revival of old school techniques.

I hope we see more of this revival and see smocking come into its own in 2015!