(Photo: Courtesy of Guy Laroche)

After almost 50 years in business, Parisian fashion house Guy Laroche is finally opening a U.S. store on August 21 (47 W. 57th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-935-4747). Laroche is known for simple, wearable haute couture dresses, which are showcased alongside the latest men’s and women’s collections. Hanging on elegant oak, maple, and black lacquer displays are dress shirts with French cuffs ($145), matte jersey evening gowns with smock stitch details ($4,100), and three-quarter cashmere-blend coats ($1,800).

You can literally window-shop 24/7 at the Polo Ralph Lauren store (888 Madison Ave., at 72nd St.; 212-434-8000) through September 10. Just tap on the 67-inch touch-sensitive window installation to browse the clothes inside, swipe your credit card, and wait for delivery. Since this is U.S. Open season, current highlights include ball-boy and -girl uniforms, linesman jackets, and, of course, polo shirts.

At Sicis (470 Broome St., at Greene St.; 212-965-4100), tiles aren’t just for the bathroom floor. The store’s dazzling, if somewhat dizzying, collection of mosaics includes go-to patterns like the sleek, steel Metallismo collection. If you’re feeling more creative, there are life-size mannequins made from tiles, and Sicis can customize a design of your choosing, like a wall-size Bob Marley mosaic.

And the showroom for Damon Dash’s heavily jeweled watch line Tiret (from $18,000) is now open to the public by appointment only (595 Fifth Ave., nr. 48th St., second fl.; 212-921-8848).

Related:

• Archive: “The Storefront: Openings & Closings”
• Articles by Aja Mangum
• Table of Contents: August 28, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!