Fancy Free.(stores in New York, New York)

"It's sort of very Westernized, but, like, really Eastern, too!" says the spiky-haired salesman at the new JEAN PAUL GAULTIER shop (759 Madison Ave.; 249-0235), describing the store's ambitious interior. The place does, in fact, look like the boudoir of a successful courtesan in nineteen-thirties Marrakech: it has padded pale-pink taffeta walls, bevelled-mirror columns, arched cabinets, and a huge screen made of orange and olive cut-glass panels. Philippe Starck designed everything down to the last crystal vitrine knob, and the result makes a perfect foil for the merchandise, a collection of items that only Gaultier, a sort of Gallic Peck's bad boy, could get away with. A leather clutch bag seems, at first, suitable for an evening at the Met, but closer inspection reveals that the handle is made from brass knuckles ($1,200). A sheer, clinging tattoo-print shirt is decorated with a fat heart, a serpent, and a twisted ribbon that says "Safe Sex Forever." There's even a Teddy bear that, with its blue eyes, plaid kilt, striped matelot shirt, and pierced nose and ear, looks more than a little like the designer himself.

The clothes at MARNI (161 Mercer St.; 343-3912) are up to the curious task of outfitting a well-heeled Cinderella for both scrubbing and dancing. A deliberately wrinkled tulip-print dress has a homely air, though at $620 it's clearly not meant to be confined to the scullery; a $1,190 coat with roughly sewn flowers and a hem made of striped fabric offers a similar sartorial mixed metaphor. Marni's designer, Consuelo Castiglioni, who is based in Milan, may favor gingham, calico, and mattress ticking, but the shop's decor, ...