A Year of Living Fall to Fall…

WHEN CLOSING OUT 2024, the second window, formerly occupied by Victoria’s Secret, was leased! I suppose in an experience economy, more and more places for experiences are cropping up. The mall already has a batting cage training space in one of the anchors and now mixed martial arts (MMA) has turned the lingerie store into a boxing gym. Gone is the pink plaid wallpaper (I asked for a piece for old time’s sake) and up went black paint and lots of mirrors. There is even a boxing ring with early morning classes alongside the ever-present mall walkers (who comment positively on my windows). Even the Outlet Mall in Little Rock has turned several spaces into a giant pickleball club.

I love operations and all the behind-the-scenes work that goes on in malls, usually unseen by the public. The successful workings of visual merchandising look simple to most people, but that duck is paddling madly underwater. “You put some clothes stacked on a table or shelf and dress up some mannequins. That’s it, right?” That’s operations, and sales is the main goal. Why else would you be doing all this work? Pretty is nice, but if it ain’t making you sales, you are doing it wrong, whether you are selling lumber or lingerie!

And what am I selling? Myself, to you, supposedly. My goal was to fill an empty storefront at the mall, and gain exposure for my work. This blog happened. With many, many purchased props later, which I am finally selling in a flea market booth, and I still haven’t reached the intended market or goal: a big city window display job. But is it, though? I’m not what the trickle-down corporate beige creatives are looking for, either. What I want is to collaborate with brands to create one-off window displays and merchandise their departments. Bring some visual excitement to the landscape. But is that out there? The fish aren’t biting. Beige kills sparks of creativity. Even Timothy Oulton has left the U.S. market. Visual merchandising’s pulse is all over the place. I saw this back in the last century when department stores removed their visual display windows, and that scared me into another industry, pushing my dreams further away.

Year-round joyful expression is usually reserved for the swans of the industry, but during the holidays, even the ducks get to play. That’s when you get the budget, large or small, to festoon the halls with cheerful décor, creating memories for everyone walking past windows and into the store. Storytelling is an important tool year-round for both swans and ducks. Last year, my holiday window featured a story about a girl who went from the church choir to stardom. I knew my theme and what the window would look like the moment I saw the dress on super clearance at TJMaxx and said “yes to the dress!” It was covered in shimmering white, silver and burgundy sequins and beading, so that became my color story. A round silver sequin backdrop was behind the mannequin and a burgundy choir robe was at her feet, dropped to reveal her gown, just like in the music video playing in my imagination. The mannequins on either side of her were in burgundy dresses and burgundy choir robes. I tried to find burgundy décor balls, but apparently that was not the color this year, although there was a can of paint… so I hung translucent glass ice cycles from the ceiling, and propped arched doors and a metal angel to enhance the idea.

The red Valentines window that was next to mashup the idea of fashion with housewares. A table set for a romantic dinner with four mannequins dressed in shades of red are milling about. There are a couple of surprises hidden around, including a Buc-ee’s rubber duck (we are scheduled to get one!) and Young-hee, the “red light/green light” doll’s head from the popular Netflix show, “Squid Games”. My painted “Lost and Found” title sign is underneath the table. Love is hard.

A collaboration with Emergent Arts in Hot Springs during Pride Week remembering lost, forgotten or marginalized people.

Being the sole creator of these windows is not always easy. I have plenty of ideas, and sometimes that’s the problem: determining what to edit and when to let the concept evolve. My springtime window is a perfect example of where I had the concept of using all the egg pillows from the “Space Girl” window with a Lulus dress I bought on sale. Too many ideas later, lighted fairy wings and butterfly catchers, I piled the eggs to one side in a giant papier-mâché bowl, added a painting on the back wall, and another mannequin. It was still too much, so I took out most of the eggs and added another mannequin. The window is balanced, and the spring floral theme (groundbreaking!) is very evident.

Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Something new for this year was my collaboration with American Eagle Outfitters, which is across the way from my window, using their apparel with less focus on thrifted clothing, now that the store is closing soon. I used shoes from Shoe Dept. Encore that brought them some sales. (That’s the idea, right? Sales?) I also want to create windows that are just art-filled spaces, like Meow Wolf, and pop-up shops everywhere now. But first an African safari and a trip to Moroccan Nights. That black dress was sexy! I like it when windows evolve and don’t completely change overnight, carrying the theme across several weeks. I didn’t do watermelons or lemons for summer (yellow was the color) or red, white and blue, either. I found this Tommy Hilfiger/Richard Quinn skirt on ThredUp and the window display designed itself. Then I moved directly to the Fall Pumpkin Patch. Stores have their holiday stuff out already. You know who I’m talking about…

Up now? I have this huge Midwestern farm backdrop that I used last fall for my “Farmers and the Party Girls” themed window for this year’s pumpkin patch. My version of a pumpkin patch is some of the white pumpkins (sold most of them) and a plush gray squirrel hidden in the straw. Who is my hippy scarecrow? None other than DJ Marshmello. And the mannequin dressed in black-and-white diagonal stripes is a traffic stopper.

I have to tell you: I don’t know how much longer this mall is going to be here. Rumors and a taken-down YouTube video describing its demise abound. Stores are leaving. Nothing is official yet. But I can still do my windows. The old “what can I do now” idea keeps cropping up. Where can I showcase my window display creativity? Is it even needed? Necessary? Do I even need to think about the 2025 holiday window display? Or just “Sashay Away”?

This blog’s question: are painted-face, multi-color personality mannequins making a comeback? I just painted mine a stone gray color to remove that unnatural “natural makeup” appearance. One day, I will graffiti them all! But that would be crazy, right? Like the end of the “Tonight Show” way back when … Go out with a bang!

Photography: Phil Chwalinski