I used to be unreservedly grumpy about all those signs of Christmas that appeared as soon as we passed Halloween. Now, of course, they begin even earlier — this year I saw trees being decorated (albeit for a local fundraiser) the week before the ghosts and goblins came out. But the last few years, my attitude has changed a bit, and I’ve begun to welcome any kind of lights once the time change hits and festive, sparkly decor seems a sensible way to combat the darkness of these short days and long nights.
And if there were any grump left, she’d surely be won over by a window like this one at Printemps in Paris, photographed by Geraldine Dormoy as part of a wonderful post showing the window-dressing in progress on Blvd. Haussmann. I’ve left her a comment hoping it’s okay to “borrow” her photo, and until she lets me know otherwise, I’ll leave it up here for you to enjoy, but you really need to go have a peek at her post. Yes, it’s en français but the photos are bilingual! This little marionette above, just fixed in place by Jean-Claude Dehix, Dormoy tells us (and she includes a wonderful post of him at work in the window), was dressed by Chanel especially for her window appearance. Dormoy notes that the theme being Russian, the marionette wears an adaptation of an outfit from the 2009 Paris-Moscow collection. You really need to check out her leather leggings, really! Indeed, I don’t know why you’re still here, reading, when you could be there looking. Go now. You can come back to thank me for bringing pleasure to your day.
Googling Jean-Claude Dehix, I’ve just found that there’s a blog called Le Journal des Vitrines,yes there is!! It’s en français so I’ll only be reading it when I have extra time, but I love the concept, and there’s a post on this same window display, featuring some of the other poupées. Again, you’re welcome! Only here to make you happy . . .
Oh, to be in Paris . . .
Being somewhat xenophobic, "give me London" Selfridges windows are especially devine each year, but Liberty and Fortnum & Mason do some lovely ones too, as well as all the smaller retailers. I much prefer seeing them fresh. Photographs hopefully by next week.
I remember when I first came to London the shock of seeing all the SALE windows before Christmas had even arrived!
I will check out the other blog though, yet another excuse to avoid my K2 of a marking pile!
I for one am here reading because I like how you write, but I will go and check that site out.
I have been very grumpy about Christmas for the last 5 years or so for reasons I will spare you. That said, I have decided to put my ho-hum holiday spirit behind me and really try to embrace the holidays this year. Well, the fact that I am already growing tired of Christmas music and that decorations are already up at retailers is making my commitment to a Christmas spirit a bit of a challenge. However, French Christmas can come as early as it likes. Thanks for sharing the lovely links with us.
Thank you for the link to the windows blog, that arbre de Pierre Hermé is fantastic. Wonderful to see these extraordinary displays. I like Christmas, even fruitcake.
I love Christmas, although I was dismayed to see decorations going on the racks (for sale) on 1 September this year! Gorgeous windows, those – thanks for sharing. I am going to take my little one into the city one day soon to peer at the Christmas windows of David Jones, our best department store.
Alison: One of the things I regret about my job is that I can't ever go off on a pre-Christmas jaunt to check out fabulous windows — London would be on my list and Paris too! I could fit that into a lovely little mid-winter visit, don't you think? Something to look forward to in retirement. . .
Angie: Thank you! And I hope you enjoy Geraldine's writing as well (I know you'll love her photos!)
LBR: I doubt that LA needs the lights and sparkle the way we do here — it's been so gloom and dark and stormy and grey that I can't mind even the tackiest sparklies.
Duchesse: My dinner tonight is a great cup of tea with the season's first slice of fruitcake (and possibly the second . . .) — bought, not made, but of good quality and a piece of Caprino cheese. I'm a fruitcake fan as well.
Tiffany: Oh, I love the magic of watching those windows reflected in a little one's eyes — I look forward to taking Nola, maybe even next year.
I am still a bit grumpy about the christmas displays that go up before the pumpkins and black cats come down. However, I'm working in retail, and I've been listening to holiday music since Nov 6th. Mercifully, the holiday music is still mixed in with "regular" music in our store, but I think the ratio will be changing in the coming weeks.
I have to admit, Gina, I can't be as accepting of the music as I've become of the lights and decoration. I guess that makes sense 'cause the lights are a nice contrast to the dark time of year, but there's no gloomy silence here for the music to enliven — if anything, I find the world too noisy and would prefer to be able to turn the volume down! Plus the obvious problem is that there is just not enough good Christmas music to keep the rotation fresh.