Holiday Windows 2012: The Unofficial Tour

6:00 PM, December 18 2012

By John Jannuzzi

Ahhh the holidays, a time to give, a time to receive and a time to elbow through endless crowds gawking at store windows around Manhattan and across the pond in London. Indeed, it truly is the most joyful time of year. For however annoying those tourists who stop mid-stroll are, you can't blame them. When you have some of the most creative people in the world fashioning displays out of shiny things, it's not easy to ignore. To that end, we've gathered a few of our favorites here so you won't have to face the crowd. Enjoy.

Whoa, nice tree.

Henri Bendel

What's she thinking of? Probably her lover, who left her for another department store. She is alone. The holidays are sad.

Nice touch with the trademark stripe.

Whoa, somebody's on Santa's nice list.

Windows that show short-length animation features are our favorite.

It's Carine, Naomi and that cat.

Perhaps the most famous windows in town.

Is that Linda Fargo?

So much to take in, a holiday feast for ye eyes!

Poodles!

The most luxurious kaliedescope in the world!

It's snowing on your chalk TV.

Snowball fight?

Snowman has been up in the gym just workin' on his fitness—perfect shape.

Dude is watching a trippy TV show.

I love pop-up books.

Once, I had a desk with a shelf just like that. It had a Nightmare Before Christmas snowglobe on it. Somebody, who shall remain nameless, knocked the whole thing down and it ruined my Christmas. These are really nice though.