If there's one thing that's almost as predictable as retailers rolling out the Christmas cheer, usually in the shape of a few lights and some streamers, it has to be the article detailing their efforts. And yet, there is always something curiously uplifting if you happen to wander through London's West End at this time of year, as long as it's post 4.30pm, because the only time to do this is after dark.
Cycling at speed down Regent Street is actually not a bad way to assess the displays on offer. If anything catches your eye as you try to avoid death by number 12 bus or motorcyle courier in a hurry to make the next drop, then it must be pretty good. On which reckoning, Habitat and the National Geographic store merited a quick pull on the brakes. Zara, Austin Reed and Nokia, among many others, did not.
The same exercise conducted on Oxford Street the previous night revealed only one highlight - Selfridges, where a somewhat camp intepretation of various fairy tales was eyebrow raising. It was the same story in Piccadilly, where Fortnum & Mason put on its usual display of baroque festive magnificence, including a reference to the Michael Clark interpretation of Swan Lake with male tu-tu clad dancers.
And finally, at the top end of Ken High Street, it was hard not stifle a yawn at the endless Warholesque repetition of the Wholefoods Markets windows - quite simply the dullest Yuletide iteration in town.
What was remarkable was how relatively few retailers were decking the halls. Many seemed not to have bothered at all. We may still be in recession, but this is definitely disappointing.
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