**Bergdorf Goodman 'Brilliant Holiday' Windows 2015- Crystal Rhinestone Art by Sarah Sparkles **

This November marked my 10 year anniversary as a Bergdorf Goodman window dresser, and coincided with one of the sparkliest years of holiday windows to date! The Bergdorf 2015 'Brilliant Holiday' windows were designed in collaboration with Swarovski. An estimated 7 million crystals were used to embellish Bergdorf's scintillating 5^th avenue holiday vitrines. According to window director David Hoey 'These windows have everything to do with 'crystals, gems, and jewels.' The street is lined with fantastical scenes including an Amethyst encrusted cavern, a nautical pearl-laden Poisiden, a regal rhinestone royal court, and a glittering fortune teller scene. The windows have gotten much fabulous press this season including glowing mentions in the NY Times, Architectural Digest, and Vogue. Swarovski also produced a short video that reveals a glimpse behind the scenes of the massive team effort that makes these dream holiday windows come true.

On a hot summer day in late August, two 3 foot tall winged mythic griffins and a large shopping bag full of Swarovski crystals descended upon my studio. From there on, I worked around the clock for three solid months bedazzling custom props for the Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows. 2 griffins, a blue ribbon, an alligator head, a bear head, 2 baby birds, and a partridge in a pear tree… ;) My studio was fondly coined the 'Sarah Sparkles Super Sparkly Swarovski Sweatshop' with shopping bags full of crystals and glittering props covering the room. The two griffins were commissioned for the royal themed 'Crown Jewels' holiday window. They were the most labor intensive project of the season that required an extensive amount of shading and contoured work. We exhausted Swarovski's entire inventory of the SS30 Gold Dorado and Bronze Shade crystal. These glittering beasts are an absolute must see in person!! Special thanks to my trusted assistants at the Sparkles Swarovski Sweatshop; Abby Hertz, Kayla Jo Berley, Contessa Create, and Timothy Wood.

 Knights and crowns by Burke and Pryde, Hair by Mio Guberinic, Griffins by Sarah Sparkles studio.

  Window design by David Hoey, Fashion by Libertine, Bergdorf 'Brilliant Holiday' windows November, 2015

Crystal birds, bear head, and copper leaf rocks 

commissioned by Shane Ruth, visual director of Bergdorf Goodman's Men's store

 for the 'Crystal Cabin' 2015 holiday windows.

As the pair of griffins for the 5th ave 'Crown Jewels' window neared completion, I acquired additional commissions to embellish a large Blue Ribbon and Alligator head for the 5th Avenue shadow boxes at the women's store. At the Sparkle studio, we affectionately called the blue ribbon 'Baby Boy' and the Alligator 'Ali G the Scorpio.' Though he was the last prop to come in sending deadline pressures through the roof, Ali G was my favorite sparkle project of the season :)

                                            Crystal Rhinestone Art by Sarah Sparkles, Sparkledome Studio

                                                                          for Bergdorf Goodman 2015

                                              'Rockstar' Swarovski Alligator by Sarah Sparkles StudioC
                                              Window design by David Hoey, Purses by Judith Leiber
                                              Bergdorf 'Brilliant Holiday' windows, November 2015

Dreams do come true!!! :) I am so deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in this dynamic collaboration with Bergdorf Goodman and one of my favorite sparkle mediums of all time- **Swarovski Crystals.** The Bergdorf 'Brilliant Holiday' windows on 58th street and 5th ave are up thru January 4th, 2016. If you are in NYC, go check them out!!! Wishing you all a happy, sparkling holiday season. <3

LOVE,

Sarah Sparkles

Bergdorf Fashion Week Windows, Christian Dior, Vintage Glamour Accessories @ Liloveve Gallery, and More!

Oh my goodness... So much has happened since my last post. The big news is, that my book layout is 90% finalized in InDesign. I am doing some last fine-tuning of the text while I still can, and have some big decisions to make about the cover design. These days, the majority of books sell over the internet. You have 5 seconds and a 1 inch thumbnail to attract people, so it is of dire importance that it be sharp, exuberant, and iconic... My brain is bending. I am deeply looking forward to taking a (partial) vacation from the computer after my book is done, and to focus more on my beloved tactile pursuits of crystal embellishing, set work, accessories and jewelry design. I recently went to a large bead show and bought a bevy of gorgeous stones and crystals for my upcoming jewelry collections. Spoiler: Agate Druzy. These are reallllly sparkly stones that look like the glistening craters inside of a geode... yeah :)

In the last 2 months it has been really busy in my other realms of creative work. At Bergdorf Goodman we did Fashion Week windows- "Great Moments in Literature" I love the synchronicity in my life. Doing crazy book windows, while completely immersed in my own book obsession.

  

                  

                                                          Fashion Week Windows designed by David Hoey. 
                                                   Installation by Sarah Sparkles and BG team. February 2013


After the fashion week windows came down, the next big round of action at Bergdorf was a Christian Dior extravaganza for the relaunch of the brand. I spent most of my time in the mannequin studio giving the Dior girls the Swarovski crystal cat eye treatment :)

                                Sparkles + Bergdorf+ Dior+ Swarovski = <3 <3 <3 March 2013 

This past month I also worked on windows for the Bergdorf children's boutique Little BG, Chinese New Year, and the Men's Store.

 

Amidst the bevy of Bergdorf windows and the final processes of producing a photography book, my Vintage Glamour Accessory collection was accepted in the Engage show at Liloveve Gallery in Williamsburg from 2/7- 3/5. My new collection was in a gallery show before I could even get it up on my website. Right now I can barely keep up, but am so grateful for this deep well of inspiration :) A smaller collection of Vintage Glamour accessories is currently on sale at Solstice dance studio. 

                                          The designs below represent my dreams for the future.
                                  *  Sparkles, beads, crystals, artistry, transformation and flight*

                                Necklace and crystal butterfly hair clip by Sarah Sparkles 2013