Christmas windows

I know this post comes incredibly late but I just didn’t find the right time to do it in December, and since I took all these pictures I thought it’s better late than never. Christmas is obviously a very commercial season, so the big stores have to show what they’ve got, right? I had a look at what three of the London biggies did this past Christmas, starting with Selfridges. This store went for a child-like and “play” theme, which they transmitted perfectly. The window displays were full of toys, funky illustrations and fantastical creatures.

These figurines were apparently inspired by the comedian Chris Sievey’s creation, Frank Sidebottom, although the first thing that popped into my head was Betty Boop…

For some reason I find this lady to be  the cutest thing ever, you gotta love the beauty spot, purple lips and little Scottie dog…

This monster family is really something…

I would love to have taken these four creatures (the pink one, mint green one, purple one and dog-like one) home with me…

The toys were all really cute, but had their own cool little twists. I can’t actually say that I loved Selfridges’ window displays – I admire its originality and yes, every display really was a world of its own, with so many things to look at. They were definitely crazy and different, but maybe because they were so child-orientated (the whole point was to “awake the child within”) I just couldn’t get that into it, really.

Next up is Liberty, which I think I liked a little bit more than Selfridges, and I say I think because I’m still slightly freaked out by that baby caterpillar hybrid…

Little mouse on a flying bicycle: cute or creepy?

I just had to photograph this fur collar, isn’t it adorable?

I wouldn’t complain if I had that spider crawling on my bag… I did enjoy the Liberty window displays, it had that ‘magic forest’ feel that always works, and the commercial side of it was good too: all those Manolos, Miu Miu pieces and Mulberry bags looked very appealing amongst the nature-like background. Wouldn’t we all like to find like to find beautiful things amongst the woods? That would certainly be magic…

Finally, I think my favourite display was Harrods. It’s weird because I wouldn’t say it was really original – Peter Pan has been done loads of times, I’m sure – but I guess I’m a simple girl with simple needs, give me a few fairy-like mannequins on clouds and some cute little lit up buildings and I’m happy. I guess that’s why classics get revisited all the time.

If only London still looked this nice…

Whimsical and pretty, what’s not to love about those clouds and old-fashioned city views? Apologies for such a late and rather pointless post, but I just felt the need to share, and it’s not quite February yet anyway. Hopefully I’ll be more disciplined next Christmas – I might even check out Harvey Nichols.To finish off, here’s a photograph of one of the ‘props’ from Marks and Spencer’s Christmas window displays (the one that caught my attention the most). Isn’t it weird but sweet?