I recently had occasion to pop into Tiffany's (Tiffany & Co, to be formal) - not to buy a new bauble unfortunately, but to get a clasp fixed on an Elsa Peretti necklace after many years of daily wear. Tiffany's, of course, is the New York institution standing proudly on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and immortalized in the Audrey Hepburn movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. (You cannot be a Fashion Fiend without loving this movie, by the way!)
If you are in New York, whether you're a longtime resident like me or a visitor, you absolutely must brave the insane crowds and step inside Tiffany's at some point in your life. It seems like a cliché, but these types of things are famous for a reason. First you will find the most handsome of men standing near the entrance, wearing a Tiffany's blue tie, ready to greet you but also keeping an eye peeled to make sure no one steals anything. Then you will notice the jewels winking and sparkling at you from every corner of the grand main room that stands 24 feet high!
After being whisked by elevator to the sixth floor, my experience at Customer Service was equally heavenly, like stepping back to a gentler time when people wore hats and gloves all the time and called each other 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', or 'Miss'. The level of politeness will cause you to raise your grammar game, slow down a bit, and take the time to offer a smile and a sincere THANK YOU (not just a tossed off "eh, thanks") to each and every employee you encounter. It was even a pleasure to return the very next day to pick up my repaired necklace, put it back on, and saunter back out into the melee that is Fifth Avenue nowadays...
