Christmas Window Wonderland

I love Window Shopping... I remember when I was a kid, one reason why I enjoy Christmas is looking at window displays in malls... Many of you guys don't live here in Manila so you are not familiar with the so-called COD... It was a mall during the 70's (I have no idea if it still exists) and they were the first ones to construct Christmas Themed moving dolls and statues at the mall facade, and all Filipinos gathered together to watch the scene... It was really crowded, and my dad had to carry me up his shoulders just to get a glimpse. Of course during those days, we all found it techy, unique, and very beautiful... Now, that COD theme has transferred to another location (Greenhills Shopping Center) and has attracted thousands of Filipinos too...

Here are some Christmas Window Displays from different malls all over the world...
Courtesy of Forbes.

Selfridges - London

This year, the Oxford Street retailer went glam rock, with windows featuring mannequins dressed in jewel colors and wearing "rock royalty" crowns. One window contains 11 looks from designer Matthew Williamson's legendary 1997 "electric angels" collection, in association with the Matthew Williamson exhibition at the Design Museum in London. Another features a car studded in Swarovski crystals.

Mitsukoshi - Tokyo, Japan

Although Christmas Day is not an observed holiday in Japan, retail stores tend to take full advantage of the season, playing Christmas carols in English and decking the aisles with garland, lights and other festive accoutrements. Major department store Mitsukoshi draws in the masses with a billboard that features a huge Christmas tree made entirely of lights. Here, in one of its many windows, the retailer displays festive plaid ties with a mirrored background and hundreds of gold bulbs strewn around.

Macy's - Chicago, USA

Formerly the location of the beloved Marshall Fields department store, this Macy's flagship does as much to its windows as its New York City location. This year, the retailer chose "The Nutcracker" as its theme, with each window depicting a different scene, from the dance of the sugar plum fairies to Mother Ginger and her polichinelles.

Harvey Nichols - London

Stroll past luxury retailer Harvey Nichols and you'll see an icy wonderland display with mannequins strewn about in designer dresses. The one-shouldered charcoal gray Donna Karan gown shown here retails for 1150 pounds, or about $2,300.

Bergdorf Goodman - USA

This year, senior director of window merchandising David Hoey created windows based on the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and light. "Earth" is filled with plants, animals, insects and flowers, along with dozens of paper-mache animal figurines. "Air" depicts a whimsical garden and a giant flying elephant. "Fire" features a fire-breathing dragon, while "Light" (pictured) places the sun, moon and stars front and center with lots of gold and glitter.

Barneys New York - USA

Visit the retailer's Madison Avenue location this month and you'll be told to "Have a Green Holiday." The Simon Doonan-conceived windows feature a Rudolph the Recycling Reindeer (with a green nose), elves sitting under "certified organic" mushrooms and a tree decorated with Christmas bulbs depicting "heroes of green," including Al Gore, George Clooney and Bono. Although they don't feature actual products in the windows, Doonan believes that the displays are the company's most effective marketing effort during the holidays.

Galleries La Fayette - Paris

Holiday lights coat the exterior of this Parisian department store, but its windows are more subdued. Instead of using mannequins, the retailer's creative team designed story board-like backgrounds for each window, framing them with streamers. Each features sketches of purple- and blue-toned snow scenes with polar bears and penguins.

Harrods - London

For a "Russian Winter's Tale," visual window manager Sarah Southgate was inspired by the large number of Russian tourists and immigrants that visit Harrods in search of Faberge and Baccarat. Each window is an image inspired by Czarist Russia; some depict scenes from ballets like "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty." The window shown features a replica of candelabra designed originally for Czar Nicholas II.

And lastly, my favorite...

Lord and Taylor - NY

America's oldest department store features windows with no products. Created by Manoel Renha, this year's theme is "Christmas is the Moment." Each window is framed in antique maps of the world, displaying images of different Christmas scenes, including a Russian ball and a French bakery. The scene shown depicts a Viennese mansion filled with musicians playing in a room covered in garlands and bows.