# Display window

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Type of shop display

For drapery, shades, shutters, etc, see [Window covering](/source/Window_covering). For cover or modification of a window, see [Window treatment](/source/Window_treatment).

Arch-crowned display windows of a heritage listed shop front from 1847 at [Sværtegade 3](/source/Sv%C3%A6rtegade_3) in [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen), Denmark. A [lunette](/source/Lunette) toplight surmounts each ornate [transom](/source/Transom_(architecture)).

A **display window**, also a **shop window** ([British English](/source/British_English)) or **store window** ([American English](/source/American_English)), is a [window](/source/Window) in a [shop](/source/Retailer) displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract [customers](/source/Customer) to the store.[1] Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the front [façade](/source/Fa%C3%A7ade) of the shop.[2]

## History

The first display windows in shops were installed in the late 18th century in [London](/source/London), where levels of [conspicuous consumption](/source/Consumer_revolution) were growing rapidly. Retailer [Francis Place](/source/Francis_Place) was one of the first to experiment with this new retailing method at his tailoring establishment in [Charing Cross](/source/Charing_Cross), where he fitted the shop-front with large [plate glass](/source/Flat_glass) windows. Although this was condemned by many, he defended his practice in his memoirs, claiming that he "sold from the window more goods...than paid journeymen's wages and the expenses of housekeeping.[3] Display windows at [boutiques](/source/Boutique) usually have dressed-up [mannequins](/source/Mannequin) in them.

## Window dressing

Displaying [merchandise](/source/Merchandise) in a store window is known as **window dressing**, which is also used to describe the items displayed themselves. A retail worker that arranges displays of goods is known as a [window dresser](/source/Window_dresser).

As a [figure of speech](/source/Figure_of_speech), window dressing means something done to make a better impression, and sometimes implies something dishonest or [deceptive](/source/Deceptive).[4]

## Window dressers

Window dresser

**Window dressers** are retail workers who arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department stores, independent retailers, airport or hotel shops.

Alone or in consultation with product manufacturers or shop managers they artistically design and arrange the displays and may put clothes on [mannequins](/source/Mannequins)—or use the services of a **mannequin dresser**[5]—and display the prices on the products.

They may hire joiners and lighting engineers to augment their displays. When new displays are required they have to dismantle the existing ones, and they may have to maintain displays during their lifetimes. Some window dressers hold formal display design qualifications.[*[not verified in body](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### Notable window dressers

- [Giorgio Armani](/source/Giorgio_Armani), the fashion designer, once worked as a window dresser.[6]

- [L. Frank Baum](/source/L._Frank_Baum), better known for his novel *[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz](/source/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz)*, published a treatise on the art of window dressing.[7]

- [Karl Bissinger](/source/Karl_Bissinger), [American](/source/United_States) mid-century [photographer](/source/Photographer) of notable artists, was a window-dresser at [Lord & Taylor](/source/Lord_%26_Taylor) earlier in his career.[8]

- [Henry Clarke](/source/Henry_Clarke_(photographer)), a [*Vogue*](/source/Vogue_(magazine)) photographer, first worked in the 1940s as a window dresser for [I. Magnin](/source/I._Magnin), luxury department store in San Francisco before becoming a background and accessorising assistant at the Vogue New York studio, where he learned to photograph by observing the different styles of [Cecil Beaton](/source/Cecil_Beaton), [Irving Penn](/source/Irving_Penn) and [Horst P. Horst](/source/Horst_P._Horst).[9]

- [Salvador Dalí](/source/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD), the surrealist artist, was commissioned by [Bonwitt Teller](/source/Bonwitt_Teller) in 1939 to do a store window installation, which made headlines.[10][7]

- [George Dureau](/source/George_Dureau), an American photographer and artist who inspired [Robert Mapplethorpe](/source/Robert_Mapplethorpe), began his career at [D. H. Holmes](/source/D._H._Holmes) department store[11]

- [Simon Doonan](/source/Simon_Doonan), columnist for *[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))*, dressed windows for [Barneys](/source/Barneys_New_York) department store.[12][7]

- [Lieutenant Hubert Gruber](/source/Lieutenant_Hubert_Gruber), a character from the sitcom *['Allo 'Allo!](/source/'Allo_'Allo!)*, was a window dresser before his spell in the army. This is frequently alluded to, mainly for comedic effect.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- [Roy Halston Frowick](/source/Halston), known simply as Halston, a 1970s American fashion designer, worked as a window dresser while taking a night course at the [School of the Art Institute of Chicago](/source/School_of_the_Art_Institute_of_Chicago).[13]

- [David Hoey](/source/David_Hoey_(window_dresser)) is famed for his work at [Bergdorf Goodman](/source/Bergdorf_Goodman), most notably on their Christmas season spectaculars.[14]

- [Victor Hugo](/source/Victor_Hugo_(artist_and_window_dresser)), a Venezuelan born artist, and one-time assistant to [Andy Warhol](/source/Andy_Warhol), produced window dressings for [Halston](/source/Halston) in the 1970s, becoming the first to transform windows and mannequins into [Pop Art](/source/Pop_Art).[15]

- [Don Imus](/source/Don_Imus), American radio personality once worked as a department store window dresser.[16]

- [Ellen Jose](/source/Ellen_Jose), an Australian indigenous artist and photographer.[17]

- [Alice Lex-Nerlinger](/source/Alice_Lex-Nerlinger), after graduation from art school, worked as a shop window decorator in the department store Tempelhof from 1916 to 1918, an experience which brought her closer to sisters in the labour movement, the subjects of her early photography and montage.[18]

- [Peter Lindbergh](/source/Peter_Lindbergh), German fashion photographer and film director, worked as a window dresser for the [Karstadt and Horten department stores](/source/Horten_AG#Former_Horten_Department_Stores) in [Duisburg](/source/Duisburg).[19]

- [Raymond Loewy](/source/Raymond_Loewy), early in his career, dressed windows for Macy's in New York.[20]

- [Christine McVie](/source/Christine_McVie) worked as a window dresser in London in the 1960s.[21]

- American stage director and film director [Vincente Minnelli](/source/Vincente_Minnelli)'s first job was at [Marshall Field](/source/Marshall_Field's_Wholesale_Store)'s department store in Chicago as a window dresser

- [Gene Moore](/source/Gene_Moore_(window_dresser)) was a leading 20th century window dresser.[22][23]

- Molina, a fictional character, one of the principals of Manuel Puig's novel *[Kiss of the Spider Woman](/source/Kiss_of_the_Spider_Woman_(novel))*, was a window dresser prior to his incarceration.[24]

- [Rhoda Morgenstern](/source/Rhoda_Morgenstern), a fictional character from *[The Mary Tyler Moore Show](/source/The_Mary_Tyler_Moore_Show)* and its [spinoff](/source/Spin-off_(media)) *[Rhoda](/source/Rhoda)*, makes her living as a window dresser in [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis) and [New York City](/source/New_York_City).[25]

- [Marie O'Connor](/source/Marie_O'Connor) worked as a window dresser in two different cities before writing *[Whispers on Main Street](/source/Whispers_on_Main_Street)*.[26]

- [Walter Pfeiffer](/source/Walter_Pfeiffer), Swiss photographer.

- [Terry Richardson](/source/Terry_Richardson), American fashion and portrait photographer, was a [Bloomingdale's](/source/Bloomingdale's) window dresser in the 1950s.[27]

- [Henk Schiffmacher](/source/Henk_Schiffmacher), Dutch tattoo artist, was a window dresser at the [De Bijenkorf](/source/De_Bijenkorf)[28]

- [Joel Schumacher](/source/Joel_Schumacher), the film director, was once a window dresser employed by the store [Henri Bendel](/source/Henri_Bendel).[29]

- [E. C. Segar](/source/E._C._Segar) left his job as a projectionist and worked at decorating jobs including paper hanging, painting and window dressing, before deciding on a career as a cartoonist.[30]

- [Henry Talbot](/source/Henry_Talbot_(photographer)) worked as a department store window-dresser in London in the 1930s before being shipped to Australia on the [*Dunera*](/source/HMT_Dunera), where he became a fashion photographer and partner in business of [Helmut Newton](/source/Helmut_Newton)

- [Hans Hermann Weyer](/source/Hans_Hermann_Weyer), a German seller of fraudulent [nobility](/source/Nobility) and academics titles and flamboyant member of the international jet set who became an honorary consul of [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia) in [Luxembourg](/source/Luxembourg), was in youth an apprentice window dresser.[31]

## See also

- [Christmas window](/source/Christmas_window)

- [Storefront](/source/Storefront)

- [Window shopping](/source/Window_shopping)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["SHOP WINDOW definição e significado | Dicionário Inglês Collins"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/pt/dictionary/english/shop-window).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Holiday window displays can help lure shoppers, study says"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191013112725/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2011-12-02/window-displays/51643926/1). Archived from [the original](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2011-12-02/window-displays/51643926/1) on 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2014-06-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Patrick Robertson (2011). [*Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time*](https://books.google.com/books?id=2TEEaCrPiWsC&q=Robertson%27s+Book+of+Firsts:+Who+Did+What+For+the+First+Time). Bloomsbury Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781608197385](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781608197385). Retrieved 2013-02-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Pearsall, Judy (2002). *Concise Oxford English Dictionary*. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-colosun20191230_5-0)** Carol McKinley (30 December 2019). ["Sculptors at a Lafayette mannequin factory are shaping more realistic body types for stores worldwide"](https://coloradosun.com/2019/12/30/mannequin-sculptors-fusion-specialties-colorado/). *[The Colorado Sun](/source/The_Colorado_Sun)*. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Armstrong, Lisa (9 June 2015). ["Giorgio Armani celebrates 40 years in fashion with Cate and Leo"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/brands/giorgio-armani-40th-anniversary-celebrations/). *The Daily Telegraph*. London.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Art_and_Artists_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Art_and_Artists_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Art_and_Artists_7-2) Mosher, Max; Journal, from Worn Fashion. ["Window Dressing: The Art and Artists - Media - Utne Reader"](https://www.utne.com/media/window-dressing-zm0z12mazsie). *Utne*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NYTObit_8-0)** Grimes, William. ["Karl Bissinger, Portraitist, Dies at 94"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/arts/design/25bissinger.html), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, November 25, 2008. Accessed November 26, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nytimes1996_9-0)** Enid Nemymay (5 May 1996). ["Henry Clarke, 77, Photographer of High Fashion for Magazines - The New York Times"](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/05/nyregion/henry-clarke-77-photographer-of-high-fashion-for-magazines.html). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Lague, Louise; Shopper, Window (12 November 1989). ["THE ULTIMATE MARKETPLACE; It's Not Just Window Dressing"](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/magazine/the-ultimate-marketplace-it-s-not-just-window-dressing.html). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** *The new encyclopedia of Southern culture. Volume 21, Art & architecture*. Bonner, Judith H.,, Pennington, Estill Curtis,, University of Mississippi. Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Chapel Hill. 14 January 2013. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8078-6994-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8078-6994-9). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [825970770](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/825970770).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher)) CS1 maint: others ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_others))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Simon Doonan (1 August 2001). [*Confessions of a Window Dresser: Tales from a Life in Fashion*](https://books.google.com/books?id=AkGPJgAACAAJ). Viking Studio. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-14-100362-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-100362-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Kennedy, Alicia; Stoehrer, Emily Banis, (author.); Calderin, Jay, (author.) (2013), *Fashion design, referenced : a visual guide to the history, language, & practice of fashion*, Rockport Publishers, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59253-677-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59253-677-1) {{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: |author2= has generic name ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#generic_name))CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Matiash, Chelsea (17 November 2014). ["Behind the Scenes: Bergdorf Goodman's Holiday Window Display"](https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-BPB-5886). *The Wall Street Journal*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Kent, Rosemary (24 May 1976). ["Drama Department: Comedy, Sex and Violence In Store Windows"](https://books.google.com/books?id=BOQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85). *New York Magazine*. **9** (21). New York Media, LLC: 85. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0028-7369](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-7369).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Don Imus, Divisive Radio Shock Jock Pioneer, Dead at 79"](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/don-imus-obituary-931797/). *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)*. 28 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Allas, Tess (2011). ["Ellen Jose biography"](https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ellen-jose/). *Design and Art Australia Online*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["LEX-NERLINGER, ALICE - Das Verborgene Museum"](https://www.dasverborgenemuseum.de/artists/lex-nerlinger-alice-en). *www.dasverborgenemuseum.de*. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["The extraordinaire Peter Lindbergh"](https://medium.com/@sunglasscurator/the-extraordinaire-peter-lindbergh-baf9d70f9085). 21 March 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["raymond loewy biography"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151123185236/http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy_bio.html). *designboom.com*. 23 November 2015. Archived from [the original](http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy_bio.html) on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Kevin Hackett (16 January 2014). ["Newsmaker: Christine McVie"](https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/newsmaker-christine-mcvie-1.685828/). *thenational.ae*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140525210944/http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/newsmaker-christine-mcvie) from the original on 25 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Gene Moore, 88, Window Display Artist, Dies"](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/26/nyregion/gene-moore-88-window-display-artist-dies.html). *The New York Times*. 26 November 1998.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Moore, Gene; Goldman, Judith; Eisenstein, Ruth (1980), *Windows at Tiffany's : the art of Gene Moore*, H. N. Abrams, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8109-1655-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8109-1655-5)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Davis, Kimberly Chabot (1 January 2007). [*Postmodern Texts and Emotional Audiences*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YEj9zgRCzcgC). Purdue University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781557534798](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781557534798).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Trager, James (7 September 2010). [*The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present*](https://books.google.com/books?id=xvGhQoNT27IC). Zondervan. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780062018601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780062018601).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Murphy, Judy (February 8, 2024). ["Woman of many roles celebrates debut novel"](https://connachttribune.ie/woman-of-many-roles-celebrates-debut-novel/). *[Connacht Tribune](/source/Connacht_Tribune)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Gross, Michael, 1952- (29 August 2017). *Focus : the secret, sexy, sometimes sordid world of fashion photographers*. New York. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4767-6347-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4767-6347-7). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [930364239](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/930364239).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher)) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["Henk Schiffmacher"](https://kintaro-publishing.com/pages/henk-schiffmacher). *Kintaro Publishing*. Retrieved 31 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Johnston, Sheila (29 May 1993). ["FILM / Damaged goods in the shop window: He's upset America's Hispanics and Koreans, and he's not exactly the toast of Los Angeles. Is Joel Schumacher sorry? Is he hell. Sheila Johnston reports"](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film--damaged-goods-in-the-shop-window-hes-upset-americas-hispanics-and-koreans-and-hes-not-exactly-the-toast-of-los-angeles-is-joel-schumacher-sorry-is-he-hell-sheila-johnston-reports-2316770.html). *The Independent*. London.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Reynolds, Moira Davison (2003), *Comic strip artists in American newspapers, 1945-1980*, McFarland & Co, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7864-1551-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7864-1551-9)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** John Vinocur, ["For German Who ‘Awarded’ Titles, First Gold, Then Bars"](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/16/archives/for-german-who-awarded-titles-first-gold-then-bars-no-folk-hero-but.html), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, 16 March 1978.

## External links

- The dictionary definition of [*display window*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/display_window) at Wiktionary

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