On the Racked: Inside Armani, Unruly Preppies Invade J.Crew

The latest from Racked, covering shopping and retail from the sidewalks up.

1) Midtown: Though we can't actually afford anything in the 43,000-square-foot, four-floor store, we'll never get tired of staring at that sculptural spiraling staircase that is the centerpiece of the new Armani/5th Avenue flagship. Futuriffic!

2) Garment District: Don't want to fight through the throngs of drunken St. Patrkc's revelers to get to the J.Crew sample sale? Let Racked paint the picture for you: "By the time we left, a mustachioed guard had taken to yelling 'NO TRYING THINGS ON! What part of NO TRYING THINGS ON do you not understand?'"

3) Lower East Side: One Ludlow Street question mark?the long vacant storefront next to Piano's on the block's long stretch of bars?is a mystery no longer. The space is now Stella Filante, a boutique carrying the garments of upstart designers. At least it's not another bar, right neighbors?

4) Soho: Some morning in the near future, a crowd of minimalism-favoring fashionistas will claw each others' faces off in the mad scramble for the Jil Sander for Uniqlo line. And what a sight it will be!

· Racked [racked.com]