#BGWindows :: Holiday on Ice

FAO Schwartz - Holiday Decor 2013

It does seem a bit early to be thinking about the holidays but many a store cleared out their Halloween stock and went straight to Christmas goodies.  I guess there is not much of a market for Thanksgiving decorations.  Signs of the season have started to appear in Manhattan -- the star is hanging over the intersection of 57th and 5th and the lines are forming at FAO Schwartz (I wonder if they all know that Toys R' Us now owns that venerable emporium as I reported in Behind the Flagship Store?).  Louis Vuitton has unveiled windows that feature geese.  I am kind of hoping those are just a placeholder and not their holiday windows but the sleigh filled with gifts that the geese are pulling is pretty indicative that these be it.  Sigh.

Reindeer, Reindeer, Goose?

Across the street at Bergdorf Goodman, David Hoey and his holiday elves appear to be hard at work behind the curtains that mask the windows.  As my friends know, I am slightly obsessed with the Bergdorf Windows (Just a Mannequin Sporting a Mohawk, Head Shots, The #BGWindows Follies) and it's not just because I won their #Instagram contest last year (Wow)!

At this time of year,  I love that Bergdorfs hangs curtains on the outside of the building -- allowing for the curious passerby to inspect the progress being made.  There wasn't much to see last weekend (yes, I peeked).  I took some photos anyway -- in the process learning that my new camera (the Olympus OMD EM-5) slips into small places a lot more easily than the old one. 

Peaking Behind the Curtains - #BGWindows

I am most definitely not expecting any progress on having mannequins that look like real people (see That Place Between Youth and Scattered Ashes over on GeriPal) and that makes me a little sad.  It's not like I expect David Hoey to go whole hog but it would be nice if he made a gesture that recognized that women come in all shapes and sizes.  Maybe his gesture was the tiny mannequins that he debuted over the summer in the smaller windows that typically feature accessories and shoes?  Hmm.

Tiny Mannequin

Given the theme, Holiday on Ice, I think we will see a return of the giant polar bear and maybe the walrus will make a showing too.  From what I could see, I am thinking there will be lots of icicles!  Stay tuned.

Building a Winter Wonderland