Holiday Windows with a Sense of Humor

By Kendra Gilbert on December 11th, 2009

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‘Tis the season for posh department stores to have a sense of humor. Up and down the streets of Manhattan pop culture icons, cartoon characters and magical creatures beckon shoppers to stop and stare, and hopefully shop. I bet the fanciful and cheeky window displays of otherwise uppity department stores have the bellies of New Yorkers shaking like bowls full of jelly. Sure makes window shopping a lot more fun.

Barneys New York is the hippest (or hipster-est) of all the grand old department stores. So, of course Simon Doonan had to fill the store’s windows with papier-mâché characters celebrating the 35th anniversary of ”Saturday Night Live.” The classics and contemporaries are all there. Mango? Check. Roseanne Roseannadanna? Check. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin? Check. Wayne and Garth? double check. There’s even an entire window dedicated to the Coneheads family.

The other stores’ windows don’t disappoint either. Although, they don’t quite touch people in the way the “SNL” windows do. Bergdorf Goodman re-created the magic of Lewis Carroll’s stories and poems with giant roaring bears and rearing horse topiaries. Over at Bloomingdale’s there was a huge line of kooky characters waiting to see Santa. At the front of the line: the President with first lady Michelle Obama. Taking up the rear were Batman and Robin.

But where are all the clothes? They’re in there somewhere. But, honestly, who cares. When there are plaid ostriches playing bagpipes, like there are at Bergdorf Goodman, clothes can’t compare. Okay, that was a bit of a stretch. But there’s just something about the magic of Christmas window displays that puts consumerism on the back burner. Just what the department stores want to hear, I’m sure.