Best of: Holiday Window Displays

Students may not have much money to spare during the holidays, but that is the beauty of window-shopping—it only costs as much as the subway fare to get there. These department store greats offer some of this year’s most creatively festive displays.

Bergdorf Goodman
Take a walk on the wild side with Bergdorf Goodman’s (754 Fifth Ave., between 57th and 58th streets) “Carnival of the Animals.” Each of the store’s five main Fifth Avenue windows portrays fantastical worlds of fauna and flora. “Testing the Waters” makes a splash with glimmering blue-green mosaic sea creatures that swirl around an ethereal mannequin clothed in a stunning Alexander McQueen seashell dress. At 10 months in the making, it’s the most labor-intensive window display in Bergdorf history. Next, peer into a metallic tropical forest where brass and steel birds reign and take a peek at a sculptor’s workshop teeming with wood and leather folk-art animals. Those who make it away from the window alive can proceed to strike a pose with plushy polar bears and wolves in an Arctic garden party. Lastly, marvel at monochromatic zebras and pandas crafted out of paper.

Bloomingdale's
’Tis the season for Big Brown Bags. As a nod to its rich heritage, Bloomingdale’s (at Lexington Avenue and 59th Street) puts its iconic shopping bag in the spotlight by featuring magical scenes inspired by the item’s transformation through the years. Behold a gift-bearing Santa flying in a silver spacesuit, an adorable Santa-reindeer duo listening to their iPods and ice-skating hand-in-hand, and a gigantic penguin with sunglasses tenderly watching over a prized gift package and newly hatched baby penguins. These sculpted animations are enclosed in oversized vintage shopping bags trimmed with tufted blue velvet, which open and spin to reveal what’s inside. And don’t forget to put on a holiday grin! A special camera captures window-shoppers and posts the shots on Bloomingdale’s Facebook page.

Macy's
The world’s largest department store (151 W. 34th St., between Seventh Avenue and Avenue of the Americas) proves that dreams can come true with this year’s Make-A-Wish-themed holiday windows. Part of the installation is devoted to depicting real wishes made by children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Enhanced with 3-D screens and celebrity ornaments designed by the likes of Kenneth Cole and Sean John, the animated windows display a rocket ship speeding through a wish factory toward the North Star to decorate a tree of wishes. In a winter wonderland sprinkled with festive ornaments and massive gears and cogs, exquisite marionettes steal the show. With ruby red lips and turquoise eye shadow, these fashionable steam-punk and Victorian era-inspired dolls don feathered headgear and white bejeweled dresses, complete with glistening fairy wings. Nothing is too elaborate for these celestial creatures—after all, they make wishes come true.

Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (611 Fifth Ave., at 49th Street) attempts to answer the titular question of its exclusive children’s book “Who Makes the Snow?” through its extensive 12-window holiday display, which revolves around the theme of snowflakes and bubbles. Mannequins shine in this bubble-making factory, but the real stars are the limited-edition dresses designed by Nina Ricci, Proenza Schouler, and other fashion power players. One mannequin poses beside a bubble well in a lavish Alexander McQueen burgundy gown designed by Sarah Burton and worn by Kate Moss on Vogue’s September 2011 cover. Another models a dazzling Olivier Theyskens silk dress hand-embroidered with pearly paillettes as she turns a wheel that churns bubbles out of pipes. If only these fashion-forward mannequin darlings really did have a hand in making snow.