A Window into Dolphin’s Holiday Look

Gail Lowe Maidman graces Manhattan party pages in outré, eye-popping dresses but on the day that she is installing a winter wonderland scene in oversized windows, she's dressed for work in leggings and a subdued top.

Still Maidman's I'm-here-to-work attire is topped by a tangle of necklaces and bracelets. Her heavily ringed fingers are polished in a variety of colors, several of which are emblazoned with a Hamsa's eye, a symbol thought to ward off evil spirits.

With her long dark hair, kohl rimmed eyes and penchant for candy-colored clothing, Maidman appears to be channeling French film goddess Anouck Aimée as attired by that high priestess of high camp Betsy Johnson.

"I'm totally outside the box," Maidman said of her style ethos.

Maidman, the Parsons trained owner of New York-based  specializes in dramatic, theatrical designs for residential and commercial spaces as well as event design. She has trained her highly ornamental and quirky vision squarely on the Dolphin's window displays.

Maidman, a long-time Dolphin customer, decorates the windows on a volunteer basis.

"She'd pop into our old location from time to time," said Dolphin owner Patti Vunk. "And then she literally blew in one day when we had that tornado in the fall and said 'Patti, these windows aren't doing anything for you. I'm going to take them on and decorate them for you free of charge.'"

Fresh off a job outfitting a Manhattan jewelry store with snowscape vignettes interspersed with bracelets, on this particular day Maidman envisions a snowy Nutcracker Suite moment for the bookshop's windows.

To wit, she installed a life-size ballerina cutout and festooned a series of silver-sprayed tree branches with tutus and books on famous skaters, those ballerinas of the ice.

Maidman also arranged for three local sisters, Monika, Erika and Nicole Krajnak, aged 11, nine and seven to paint a mountain peaked, treescape mural as well as cutouts of ice skating girls, one twirling over a mirrored rink. The children's hand-painted artwork, amidst the fake snow and silvered trees, gives the display a dollop of childish charm, which is echoed by the tinsel clad hanging board games.

"Patti has the most astounding stock, the most gorgeous stuff," said Maidman of the store's diverse inventory. "I like to show as much of it as possible to give people ideas of what to buy."

Boggle, Clue, and backgammon all dangle in the store's vast window bank next to an oversize vintage Bingo board, an homage to Maidman's father, a toy manufacturing impresario who popularized the game as well as another classic, Yahtzee.

While Maidman is life-long New Yorker based in Manhattan, she spends weekends in Port Washington in her husband's Sands Point home, which was created by modern design master Richard Meier. Design, both modern and whimsical, informs her style choices. But she says ultimately, "I inspire myself."

Maidman calls window displays an "eye-hook" to entice shoppers. "I hope they'll feel the urge to enter, to see what else we have to offer. It's like a fantasy version of what they have in the store."

"We have an incredible expanse of windows," Vunk said. "And they need to capture people's eye when they drive by in cars but also have enough detail to be interesting for people walking around."

While Maidman's windows are saturated with images, she is careful to allow for breathing room in her designs."When you see everything, you don't look," Maidman pointed out. "It becomes clutter – you need a lot of space, negative space."

Other design dictums: no repeats, think outside the box and create a sense of joyousness.

"I try never to repeat, but I do like things up in the air," Maidman said. "I like cars up in the air, leaves up in the air, floating things. I do interior design and my very favorite thing is tablescapes. I love things that move. Patti has these darling little red flyer wagons and I'm using them for hors d'oeuvres for a party for a child. It's so much more interesting than beautiful plates."

 "When I looked at the windows, I saw a challenge, and when she looked at the windows, she saw potential," said Vunk, as she busily wrapped holiday gifts in the store's signature star paper.

"She has the talent and a real generosity of spirit," Vunk added. "I feel so grateful."