Happiness doesn’t have a true definition. What means happiness for one, doesn’t necessary means happiness for others. There are many ways we can feel happiness in our lives. We could acquire happiness from both - internal and external factors. For example, when it comes to internal factors; a smile, feeling loved, reaching a career goal, becoming a parent, and being healthy could bring happiness. When it comes to external factors, buying our first car, or acquiring the financial status we always wanted could make us happy. The truth is, happiness isn’t forever. We are all surrounded by happy moments, some last more than others, but they all fade eventually. Every day, we try to accomplish goals that would make us happy, some are more difficult than others and could bring a lot of frustration, but ones we reach them, the satisfaction and happiness is more significant.
Social media tends to portrait happiness based on material objects and fame. It wants us to believe that in order to be happy we should focus on the external - on our physical appearance and materialistic things. Magazines, movies, television, and clothing stores make us believe that physical appearance and materialistic things would make us happy. Although materialistic things could bring us happiness, eventually it fades away leaving nothing else but emptiness. Happiness tends to remain for a longer period when it comes from the internal, such as an accomplishment, or the expression of love of someone we care about.
In the documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf we can see happiness reflected in different forms. For people who love fashion, going to Bergdorf Goodman department store and purchasing expensive garments make them very happy because it provokes an “obsessional desire to create an emotional experience through clothes.” For designers, having their clothes at Bergdorf Goodman is considered the American dream. Many fashion designers try hard to get their clothing line in there. They know once they make it there, they will become successful and well known.
Throughout the documentary, they are some of the top designers sharing their experience and success. I can see how happy they feel to accomplish the challenge of finally reaching that goal of having their clothing line at Bergdorf Goodman because as Isaac Mizrahi stated, “if your clothes are not in our place, there is no future.” Fashion director Linda Fargo knows this as well. She carefully chooses whose clothing line should be brought to the store, and frequently turns down new fashion designers in a “friendly tone” saying...maybe later. From my personal view, it almost feels like she enjoys the power that she posses, and somehow turning people down provokes happiness for her.
For the employees, working at Bergdorf Goodman is a great accomplishment. They feel happy to be surrounded by high fashion designers, and glamorous people, to the point that they feel part of it. Being surrounded by celebrities and important people provides a sense of happiness to them. Betty Halbreich is considered one of the top personal shoppers and shares her story of some of the experiences she has gone through, such as helping very sophisticated clients to choose their outfits. She feels happy there and doesn’t see herself doing anything else. She has devoted most of her life working at Bergdorf Goodman, and she feels happy and proud of it
For me, David Hoey is the most interesting personality in the documentary. He seems very passionate about what he does. For him, the windows displays are the primary focus, because they represent the department store as a whole. An external factor that drags people inside. A provocative stimulation for whoever walked by. He considers the window displays the eyes of the Bergdorf Goodman. He states that more than a fashion department store, Bergdorf Goodman is a Metropolitan Museum of Art”. Hoey indicates that when he creates the window displays, he keeps in mind all kinds of people. His goal is to create pieces of art for people of all ages. He wants people to see the window displays, and to stare at them again and again. Although we can see in him a lot of stress and frustration throughout the documentary; at the end, while he is outside staring at one of the window’s display, we can see a sense of calm, a sense of relief, a sense of happiness.
Happiness is acquired in different forms. For high fashion designers, having their clothing line at Bergdorf Goodman is a significant accomplishment - the American dream. For retail associates, being part of the Bergdorf's community is also a significant accomplishment and somehow it brings happiness into their lives. For fashion director Linda Fargo, having the power of welcoming and turning down new designers brings her a sense of happiness. For costume designer David Hoey, having thousands of people looking at the window displays bring lots of satisfaction and happiness. For me, happiness is a feeling that comes from within and can be acquired by either internal or external factors. But I believe that the most meaningful happiness is the one money can’t buy.
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