Quiet as a burglar in my cornflower-sprigged bathrobe, I crept to the edge of the parapet. The parapet reached almost to my shoulders, so I dragged a folding chair from the stack against the wall, opened it, and climbed onto the precarious seat.

A stiff breeze lifted the hair from my head.  At my feat, the city doused its lights in sleep, its buildings blackened, as if for a funeral.

It was my last night.

I grasped the bundle I carried and pulled at a pale tail.  A strapless elasticized slip which, in the course of wear, had lost its elasticity, slumped into my hand.  I waved it, like a flag of truce, once, twice…. The breeze caught it, and I let go.

A white snow flake floated out into the night, and began its slow descent.  I wondered on what street or rooftop it would come to rest.

I tugged at the bundle again.

The wind made an effort, but failed, and a batlike shadow sank toward the roof garden of the penthouse opposite.

Piece by piece, I fed my wardrobe to the night wind, and flutteringly, like a loved one’s ashes, the gray scraps were ferried off, to settle here, there, exactly where I would never know, in the dark heart of New York.

High schoolers discover the free boutique for the first time, ah to be young again!

Jessie remembers the top she donated and considers taking it back!

Caroline goes shopping and finds a present!

Caroline and her sister Kathy!

Piper discovers the power/glory sweater dress and rises to the challenge!

Also, just in case you missed this gem:

more mahvelous pictures after the jump…

and here’s a preview of the outfit that the super secret gogo dancer (not noah, of course) will be performing at the tit-wrench benefit this saturday at the Glob (3551 Brighton Blvd)…