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Christmas Windows For Children NYC Fairy Tale Themes

12/192014

I went to see Macy’s windows and Bergdorf’s Christmas windows. So far my favorite windows geared towards children were still the ones at Saks Fifth Avenue. All of their windows were beautiful! Their Big Bad Wolf one was great, Sleeping Beauty was truly beautiful, and then some of them were slightly odd or thought provoking, such as Rapunzel looking as if she is ready to do acrobatics while hanging from her braided hair. Rumpelstiltskin was portrayed as a spinning instructor with an evil eye and grumpy look that actually made me tense for a second. The colors were wild and exciting.

I also included some pictures of the area around Rockefeller Center in this post and the decorations there. A huge Drummer stood to the side of the skating rink area and angels, as usual, lined the area between the skating rink and leading up to the crosswalk to get to Saks Fifth Avenue.

Macy’s had some windows geared towards little ones with a story about a young girl named Virginia and her letter to Santa Claus. They also had a Build a Bear window and SpongeBob. Their windows were bright and colorful as well.

Lord and Taylor’s had some lovely fairy windows. The small fairies, inside capsules lit up and moved around. They also had a bunch of mice theme going on with mice scurrying about and playing amongst the Christmas decorations.

I passed Kikkerland in the West Village and they had a lovely toy monkey scene in their window. Their window was rather small but they made it bright and cheery.

There are lots of pretty windows to see around town. I think some of the loveliest decorations are hanging outside restaurants, or on door ways of old brownstones. If you have children and want to take them somewhere with an indoor Christmas scene set up, Macy’s has one. I didn’t venture inside since I wasn’t up for all that but I am sure it is fun for children!!

 

Christmas windws for children NYC Fairy Tales

 

 

Pictures for blog shop windows 030

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Red Slip

12/162014

Several weeks ago one Sunday I took the L train out to Green Village on Starr Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY.     It is a large warehouse thrift shop loaded with a mix of thrift and vintage goods. I am a bit claustrophobic so it is rather amazing that I managed to stay in the store about an hour. There was a lot to see. The racks of clothing in the front are so tightly packed and full that this is the part of the store that is really cramped. The nicest vintage or dressy gowns hang up on the walls around the front of the shop, and against the wall were boxes of vintage scarves, costumes, and a real mix of items.   Further back was a wall lined with handbags and boxes of belts and suspenders, ties, knickknacks, you name it. The variety of items is large and they also had some bins of clothing by the pound. I was content to rummage through the scarves and belts. I found one item on the clothing racks that caught my eye and I decided to buy.

It was this little red slip that was literally falling apart at the seams where the lacey, pleated part attached to the body of the slip. Someone previously had done a botched job of sewing this part with a color of thread that did not match. It still looked adorably cute and worth saving. This is the type of slip one wants to stick out of her skirt! I might pin up my skirt so that part of it shows or let it hang out longer than the skirt above. Either way I am glad I found this little ruby, red number. We had a very rainy day today and I had the day off, so I repaired it. I ended up paying $5.00 for the slip.

I also found a few scarves, a pretty vintage handkerchief and a little thin black belt. It was worth the trip out to Bushwick, Brooklyn to visit the warehouse. Lots of things did not have prices on them. The man at the front told me how much everything was before he rang up my sale. Earlier that day I had fun roaming around Junk in Willamsburg, Brooklyn prior to heading over to Green Village.

I hope you are enjoying your holidays where ever you are!!

vintage red slip

Outfit: Thrifted tank top Jill Stuart (I think it is vintage inspired, I have one similar from the sixties). MNG Suits thrifted black skirt.

Thrifted Kenneth Cole shoes.  ( I can’t walk on the city streets in these thanks to arthritis!) Vintage red slip.

Outfit: Thrifted Banana Republic polka dot dress.  Vintage red slip.

vintage red slip

Art Deco Vintage Inspired Christmas Windows in NYC, at Saks Fifth Avenue

12/102014

During the Christmas holidays the area around Rockefeller Center is even more crowded than usual. Years ago when I worked at Liberty of London as a sales lady, I worked at Rockefeller Center. It is very beautiful at night with the tree and lights. I remember my friend and I used to take our children ice skating at Rockefeller Center on occasion and I tried to teach the kids to skate holding them up with a scarf wrapped around them.

Anyway normally I don’t enjoy going into the busiest areas of New York anymore, particularly at the busiest time of day, right around 5pm. I really wanted to see the windows at Saks Fifth Avenue though and take pictures so that any readers of this blog from out of town could enjoy seeing the windows! New York does have some lovely windows during the holidays. It is always a treat to enjoy them.

Saks really did a wonderful collection of Art Deco windows. I am thrilled to be able to share this with others. I took so many photos I think first I will post the Art Deco ones from Saks. They also had several windows with fairy tale themes geared towards young ones. I will save those to combine with other fairy tale theme windows I see later on. I also saw some lovely windows at smaller stores in Soho or the West Village. Next week I am going to go to the 59th Street area and take photos of the windows at some shops up there. Saks had a wonderful light show going on on the front of the building. After an hour of being amidst the crowds I was eager to go downtown to my favorite stomping ground and relax a bit! I do want to go back and focus on seeing that light show since the few seconds I focused on it I noticed it was quite shimmering and exciting.

I wanted to walk over to Anthropologie and see their windows while I was there as well. I found the jeweler’s shop Louis Martin and took a picture of pearls for the last post before I went to the train. There were numerous decorations all around the area and it was fun to act like a tourist for just a bit. Walking and enjoying the free sights is one of the more economically sound ways to entertain one’s self while living in NY. There are always a zillion sites to see and things to experience so that is one of the best things about New York City.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will take more soon and share them as well!

 

Art Deco Vintage inspired christmas windows NYC

 

 

 

 

 

All material written and photos taken by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2014.  “All Rights Reserved.”

Pearls, Darling Pearls!

12/062014

 Pearls are a timeless classic. They look beautiful whether they are the real thing or fake. That is what makes pearls so fabulous. Even modest ladies who don’t like to wear too much sparkle can wear pearls.

Their luster is subtle yet undeniably chic. When I used to have a jewelry business where I sold a lot of earrings I could always count on pearls for a classic look that sold time and time again. I could mix them with crystal beads or rhinestone roundels, or even with little plastic colorful beads for children’s bracelets. Pearls have also been inspiration for buttons that look like pearls. Costumed pearls have been adorned within delicate patterns and been attached to veils and various clothing garments.

Real pearls are a natural organic material that comes from calcium carbonate. It is a good idea to protect your pearls from perfume, lotions, etc. It is best to put them on after you have applied these things and to not wear perfume right where your pearls will lay. The acids in perfume can effects the luster of the pearls. Also pearls can get scratch marks so it is best to store them in their original case or a soft fabric bag.

 

I chose some photos, from Flickr, for this post with Grace Kelly wearing pearls. I don’t think anyone can look more elegant in pearls than Grace Kelly did.

In the movie Flawless Demi Moore plays a manager in a Diamond Corporation in the 1960’s. She wears a triple layer grey pearl necklace set with earrings in the movie. After I saw that I really wanted a grey set of pearls. I got lucky and found my own grey costume pearls at a Pretty Girl discount store for a mere $3.99. I have received many compliments on the necklace every time I wear it.

I have pink pearls that were gifts. My mother gave me some pink pearls and a friend gave me a lovely fresh water pink pearl necklace. I also took a picture here of an antique pearl necklace with rose quartz that I found at a vintage market. I think pink pearls match my skin better than white or off white ones. I do enjoy all the various colors of pearls, especially in earrings. They never go out of style, so I wear them for years and years!

vintage and pearls

      This sweater with the little pearl colored buttons was my great grandmother’s.

 

 

This pink pearl necklace I found at a flea market.  I bought it from a vintage seller.  Pearl earring a gift from my mother.  They are from Claus Vollrath Designers.

Pearls and vintage jewelry from Louis Martin Jewelers at 54 West 50th Street, Rockefeller Center, NY.

 pearls

These pink pearls were a gift from a friend.

 

 All material written by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”