
It’s been 111 years since tailors Edwin Goodman and Herman Bergdorf founded their eponymous luxury store in the Garment District. Now located in a grand stone building at former site of the Cornelius Vanderbilt mansion on 58th Street and Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman has been the site of many a flushed, feverish shopping spree over the past century, and continues to be one of the most dangerous places to bring a credit card after a boozy weekend brunch. The retailer will observe its anniversary with a documentary film, Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’s, which features Karl Lagerfeld, Joan Rivers, and Michael Kors; a corresponding book has been written by Sara James Mnookin. See a first look at a timeline of the store’s history here, and click through our slideshow for vintage images of Barbra Streisand, Halston, and more.

Modeling Dior on the main floor, 1962.

Barbra Streisand trying on furs while filming her My Name is Barbra TV special, 1965.

Women window shopping, 1942.

A vintage Chanel sketch.

A vintage Chanel sketch.

A vintage Dior sketch.

Halston fitting a model, 1962.

Gown shopping for a Metropolitan Opera gala, 1951.

Bergdorf’s “Carnival of the Animals”–themed holiday windows, 2011.

Bergdorf ’s “Carnival of the Animals”–themed holiday windows, 2011.