Ghosts of the Bathhouse

The New Yorker brings us this fascinating dispatch on the Loehmann's that just opened up on Manhattan's Upper West Side. It's on the site of the old Continental Baths, "where Bette Midler got her start (clothed), singing torch songs poolside, accompanied by Barry Manilow, to an audience of men wearing white towels."

So how does the new discount clothing shop measure up?

"The new branch has more than twenty private dressing rooms, but it has kept a communal room, too. Fred Forcellati, the store's advertising and creative director, says, 'The older customer prefers the shared experience.'"