Every year, I enjoy browsing the various Christmas window displays around London. I have only included a selection of window displays from the larger department stores: Harrods, Selfridges, Hamley's, John Lewis, and this year I even stopped at Choccywoccydoodah to view their Christmas chocolate display.
Harrods department store is the probably the most famous and one that springs to mind for those who do not live in London. Their window displays are always fascinating, and their windows had various Christmas themes featuring woodlands. One popular window featured a carousel with unicorns. The most popular window was one featuring Santa in his sleigh with a team of reindeer. This window was extremely popular with children and adults, so it was impossible to get a good photograph of it without someone in the picture and window reflections of people. Check it out if you're in the Knightsbridge area.
Harrods
Selfridges department store on Oxford Street is always one of my favourites to visit. This year, they had a variety of Christmas themes. In one, mannequins modelled lingere and dresses with white paper wolves in a woodland scene. Another showed a golden goose with eggs surrounded by food and wine. Another was a gingerbread house. The largest window on the corner featured jars of marmalade, a golden Hackney cab, and a Paddington statue from the Paddington Trail, which I will be posting photographs of later this month. The Paddington film is out, and Selfridges has a shop dedicated to the bear.
Selfridges
I had a quick browse at the windows at Hamleys toy store on Regent Street, which is always busy and gathers crowds outside. One of the windows was decorated to look like the interior of a house decorated for Christmas with several stuffed toys and a Santa inside. Hamleys is always popular.
Hamleys
John Lewis, who had a popular Christmas advertisement last year with their touching 'Hare and Bear' commercial featuring the song 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Lily Allen (originally by Keane), had a similar response to their Christmas advertisement this year. This year, the commercial featured a little boy and his penguin friend, Monty. The 'Monty the Penguin' commerical was highly anticipated, and after it was broadcast in November, it gave everyone the opportunity to start to think about the holidays. Tom Odell sang 'Real Love', a song that John Lennon had written in the 1970s, and this song is still in the charts. Consequentally, the shop windows of John Lewis feature cute penguins amongst the merchandise. The photographs taken below are of the Peter Jones shop in Sloane Square. The John Lewis on Oxford Street has the same displays.
Peter Jones / John Lewis
John Lewis' 2013 'Hare and Bear'
John Lewis' 2014 'Monty the Penguin'
Choccywoccydoodah is a chocolate shop. It has a shop in Brighton and one in London; the London shop is located off Carnaby Street. The popular chocolate shop also has its own reality television show. The shop always features wonderful chocolate creations, such as the Christmas creations below.
Choccywoccydoodah
I hope that everyone is managing to have a nice holiday season. So far, it has been extremely busy for me and I have struggled to fit in everything that I would like to do before the big day.
Below are window displays from the past years:
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