Sapphire set in a blue-enameled ruff edged with diamonds: what Queen Elizabeth I would wear to a New Year’s Eve party if she were alive in 2016, and had the right little black dress. Vhernier.Pearls and diamonds. (Chanel?) The thrill of window-shopping on Madison Avenue is seeing creativity and workmanship that can’t be scaled down to department stores and costume-jewelry boutiques.Love the necklace in progressively darker shades of blue, and those swirl earrings at far left. The weight of those earrings would give me a headache, but since I’m just looking …
More on Madison Avenue
Tasty shoes at Jimmy Choo.Agent Provacateur rings in the New Year. What a great name for a lingerie store!South Park window at Barney’s. They look mind-bogglingly real when they “talk.”
Bergdorf Goodman, Fifth Avenue at 59th
Balmain evening gown at Bergdorf’s.If your purse is shaped like an elephant, will you never forget it?Part of the decoration around the arches inside Bergdorf’s.Fantastic bejeweled Christmas tree, about 12 inches tall. Bergdorf’s, top floor.Winner in the so-bizarre-I-can’t-resist-showing-you category: stuffed deer embellished with needlepoint, and non-deer fur. Bergdorf’s.Enormous tree in Bergdorf’s, gray-painted paper with musical instruments for decoration.The Bergdorf windows are spectacular, but between glare and gawkers, difficult to photograph. This one involves gorillas made out of plants (?!).Chandeliers in Berdorf’s jewelry department – cousins to the Met Opera “sputniks”.
Tiffany, Fifth Avenue at 57th St.
Exterior of Tiffany’s, with the giant “star” at Fifth Avenue and 57th St. at the left. The day I took this, the president-elect was interviewing for cabinet posts in Trump Tower, the glass skyscraper toward the right.Tiffany’s challenge is to catch your eye with small pieces of jewelry rather than full-size mannequins and grass gorillas. In this window (4 feet wide?), each miniature plate displays an exquisite piece of jewelry.Tiffany’s entrance, as shown in one of Tiffany’s windows. There is not actually a towering tree taking up most of the display floor.
Time Warner Center
At this time of year, a dozen or more glowing stars hang in the three-story lobby of the Time Warner Center at Central Park West and 59th Street. They fade from one color to another in time with holiday music.
Rockefeller Center
Swarovski crystal tree topper from a previous year. Behind and to the left is the Rockefeller Center tree, crowned by the current Swarovski crystal topper.Detail of Swarovski tree-topper.Trumpeters around the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Center. They’re always there, and I always love them.Ice skaters, with Prometheus (Paul Manship) and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
Thanks to Iris Bell for her Black Friday tour of the two Ralph Lauren stores at Madison and 72nd Streets and the stroll down Madison Avenue to Bergdorf Goodman. A fun and fascinating day! If you’re interested in the tour, look Iris up on Facebook, or contact me and I’ll put you in touch (DuranteDianne@gmail.com).
All photos copyright (c) 2016 Dianne L. Durante. Ask nicely if you want to use them (DuranteDianne@gmail.com).
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