Double Take

I saw something really cool today. I was walking around during my lunch hour, and I passed a designer clothing store with models in the window, the kind of store that's so posh they change the outfits on display almost every single day. Today they had a bride in a kind of shimmery silver-white gown and veil, and two girls wearing cashmere sweaters and skirts, in a faux winter scene with big glittery snowflakes hanging from the ceiling behind them.

The cool thing was that the models were alive. The bride was moving through a series of vaguely artistic-looking poses, draping her arm on the ledge behind her, holding her hands behind her head, pointing a toe and gazing at it reflectively, moving smoothly from one to the next and holding each for about the same amount of time. The two girls were turning their heads to look at things, and resting their hands on each other's shoulders or waists. They really looked like mannequins, too. All three of them had very pale white skin and rosy cheeks, and wavy hair sculpted back in a bun. They looked very beautiful, but like they had never smiled before - not a single line in their porcelain skin. I smiled at them, but their expressions didn't change, like beefeaters. I've never seen live models in a window before, I've never even heard of a store doing that. It certainly was eye-catching.