Bird Ladies

The holiday windows of New York's Bergdorf Goodman are always an astonishing blend of fantasy, chic and technical wizardry. With other windows featuring snowy party scenes and models floating amidst glittering fish, most viewers would not choose the Bird Ladies as their favorites. I cannot stop thinking about them. They are undeniably creepy. Their big heads and sharp beaks make me uneasy. They pose so perfectly in gowns spun from feathers, chiffon, crystals and air, each gown deliciously appropriate for a bird lady. Art often includes an element of ugliness, discord or discomfort, something that takes it out of the realm of simple prettiness, something that makes you think. The Bird Ladies have that complicated kind of beauty.