Greene St. (West Side, between West Broadway and Prince St.)

I had to be out of my apartment all afternoon on February 17 while it was being cleaned, so I went to see the movie Doubt (quite fabulous and affecting), and then headed back downtown to take pictures. My goal was to attempt to photograph windows just past dusk, when the storefronts would be fully illuminated, but before the stores started closing their protective metal grates. I figured maybe I could eliminate most of the reflections in the window glass if I relied on the displays' lights after the sun had set. Results were mixed, as my photography skills are still disappointingly lacking, but I did manage to add to my repertoire of effects.

These were all taken on the west side of Greene St., heading downtown from West Broadway to Prince St.

At 137 Greene St. is Babette, with some hot librarian outfits in their northern window. I like how the clothes represent so many dichotomies: sexy/dowdy; revealing/demure; modern/historical; American/European; casual/classy; schoolgirl/biddy.

Babette's southern window. Great colors on the right mannequin: a lovely yellow blouse with a nice black placket over a cute, grass-colored shirt, all atop a warm, crinkled-linen long skirt. Both schoolmarmish and approachable. I like the touch of surprise in the right mannequin's pose, too -- she's may lose her shoe! But the silhouette of the outfit on the left seems too fussy, and looks as though both the pants and top have been put on backward.

The Pomegranate Gallery is located at 133 Greene St., and is dedicated to introducing Americans to Middle Eastern art. Is that grid illustrating "Iraqi Art Today" supposed to reference the PC game Minesweeper?

It's an avalanche sale at Cite (131 Greene St.)! Has anyone heard that term before, avalanche sale? I get what they're going for, a really big, out-of-control sale, but I'm not sure I'm down with this expansion of the word avalanche. It's not a reference to a specific designer's furniture -- I checked. Anyway, I usually like Cite's chunky square furniture, but that chair looks awkward and uncomfortable, and I really dislike the burgundy color. And ugh, what is that furry pillow? It looks like diseased coral. Yuck.

Zebras! Baby zebras! I have trouble looking away from the stuffed animals in the window of Kisan (125 Greene St.) in order to pay attention to those smocky black-and-white outfits. The red bag is cool, anyway . . . although the whole display starts to remind of the old joke, What's black and white and red all over? An embarrassed zebra!

Nice, simple, sophisticated shoes in pleasant colors in the Glory Chen shop at 121 Greene St.

The economy's got to be hitting the chunky-marble-sideboard and big-hunk-of-driftwood market pretty hard, right? These objects in the Andrianna Shamaris (121 Greene St.) window remind me of the art and decor in the country house in Beetlejuice, after Catherine O'Hara takes over with her "city" taste.

The huge Replay store at 109 Prince St. has seven windows on its Greene St. side alone! The clothes are aimed at such a classic casual American aesthetic that I had no idea that Replay was actually an Italian company. Starting from the northernmost window, we get basic kids' clothes with some nice pocket details on the pants. I really like the gentle flare of the longer trouser. Plus I adore that wooden hedgehog cutout lurking in the bottom left corner!

That's an adorable white-and-blue spring dress on the creepy wire-headed child mannequin in this Replay window. The other outfits don't differ much from what you might find at Old Navy. The wooden bunny silhouettes on the bottom are cute enough, but the naked pressboard of the big flower is a bit distracting.

Okay, the kids' clothes are passably cute in this Replay window, but those wire-headed mannequins are now reminding me of Giacometti sculptures, which in turn have always struck me as frighteningly post-nuclear. That bear in the bag with the schmatta on its head just looks miserable.

More Replay. I'm glad lighter jeans are coming back in . . . I was so sick of the dark, dirty-looking ones in the heavy, distressed denim.

Despite the cute nipped waist on the cropped jacket, that bland beige-on-white outfit in this Replay window washes even that mannequin out. She's quite the messy painter, no? Why is she painting in slime-green anyway?

I love that sweater in this Replay window. The leather gym bag with the strap is quite chic, too. But why are the mannequin's hands a different color than his head? If those are supposed to be leather gloves worn only with a sweater, I don't think I can support that.

Basic collegiate clothing in the southernmost Replay window on Greene St. On the mannequin on the left, that bag is too purse-like to really accent that outfit's nerdy masculinity. For the mannequin on the right, let me just say that I refuse to wear any item of clothing with a label as obvious as that. If I'm going to be a walking billboard for a brand, they'd better cut me a big check.