Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 394 November 21, 2018

BY IAN-MICHAEL BERGERON
@ianmichaelinwonderland
Build Me Like One of Your
French Windows
When I read the headline,
I could have cried: Henri
Bendel, the New York luxury
retailer on Fifth Avenue, is
going out of business.
My friend V broke the news,
simply sending me an article
from The New York Times
about Bendel’s demise.
They’ll be closing all of
their stores—including,
naturally, their Fifth
Avenue Flagship—by
mid-January.
V and I decided to make
a few final shopping trips
there, the most recent
quest accompanied by
my boyfriend, J. There’s
something so special
about Henri Bendel’s: not
just the product on the
shelves, but the shelves
themselves.
We walked in through
two large, gold-framed
doors, matching many of
the gold displays inside.
To our left was a beautiful
chandelier, dozens of
lampshades done in
Bendel’s iconic signature
brown and white stripes.
We ascended a grand spiral
staircase to the second—
now, top—floor. Before I
moved to New York, one
could shop all four floors
of 712 Fifth Avenue. Now,
the store is restricted to two
sales floors—and soon, none
at all.
The second floor was
stocked mostly with
clearance items. (Not that
I’m sticking my nose up at
that—I tried on a rose
gold, floral metal headband
that I couldn’t live without.
Especially at 60% off.) Just
past the sales floor, you
can look over a banister
at the first floor and up at
the dark rooms of the third
and fourth floor. Just in
view, the third floor had a
room with a beautiful glass
chandelier. I wonder the last
time someone was able to
really marvel at it. I wonder
if, when the third floor was
open, many people noticed
it at all.
My favorite part about Henri
Bendel is the windows—
designed by Rene Jules
Lalique in 1912, they depict
vines, covered in flowers,
weaving in and out of each
other up the front of the
building. On the second
floor, you can get right up
next to them, really see
every unique detail. Steve
Brennan, a photographer
I work regularly with, once
bought me a four-tiered
jewelry box, painted with
Henri Bendel’s façade—
windows included.
Who else loves these
windows? I wondered. How
many people overlook the
beautiful architecture for a
semi-annual sale?
And, most
importantly, what
will happen to the
building, and its
windows, when
Bendel’s finally and
officially closes its
doors?
Bendel’s is where I
went to get J and I
matching bracelets,
when I knew we
wanted Cartier Love
Bracelets but couldn’t
afford them. We still
wear them almost
every day—mine a
silver bangle with
gold screws on it, his
a gold bangle with
silver screws.
I watched J, wearing his
gold Henri Bendel bangle,
staring at the vines etched
in glass. Everything changes:
even New York staples fade
away. Maybe nothing lasts
forever.
Will J and I be able to build
something so beautiful that
it will never be torn down?
Then again, maybe the
building will stay intact—
despite whatever it becomes
next. I hold onto hope.