It’s not quite the scene that Petula Clark sang about — yet. But downtown Dallas is starting to pop. Retailers are joining the ranks of restaurants, bars and developers to make the downtown scene a place to be seen. Make an afternoon of shopping and see for yourself what the buzz is about.

Skirtitude

The Plaza of the Americas

700 N. Pearl St., Suite H109, 469-855-8269

Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, by appointment only

The vibe: Stop ’n’ shop. From flip-flops to skirts, it’s all about convenience.

Who shops here: Downtowners on their lunch hour, the convention crowd from nearby hotels

What’s on the floor: Skirts, long and short; skirts in faux silk and terrycloth; skirts in linen blend. Shoes, all priced at $18 or $20, except for flip-flops, which are $3. Also check out the jewelry — necklaces and earrings of coral, turquoise, agate and tiger’s-eye — all made by the shop’s owner, Sharon Briggs.

Don’t miss: The $38, wear-it-10-ways skirt for sizes 0 to 18-20, also designed by Ms. Briggs, who loves to demonstrate the twist-and-tie ways to wrap one piece of otherwise unassuming fabric. “It’s a one-stop shop for casual wear to evening wear,” says Ms. Briggs. “One skirt, one size, you never outgrow it.” Which is why we love shoes, too.

Crimson in the City

514 Commerce St., 214-655-2811

Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to whenever

The vibe: Urban LA chic

Who shops here: Lots of downtown loft dwellers and people who wander across the street after hitting neighboring Neiman Marcus

What’s on the floor: For women, indie labels Lilith, Parameter, Jet Lag, Bishop of 7th and Donna Locca shoes. For men, Island Soft shirts, Fire Flite, Kowboys tees and Monarchy tees. And for everyone, a great collection of vintage cowboy boots and the sunglasses of the celebs, Blinde.

“My intention was to be on top of the fashion trends that we see first in LA, New York, London and Milan,” says owner Stefani Shultz. “I wanted to bring the kind of shopping I like to do to Dallas.”

What’s cool about it: There’s a living room in the middle of the store, where Crimson’s personal shoppers will bring clothes to you, while you sip a margarita.

Don’t miss: Tees by Natalie Hines, a.k.a. Macy Gray ($50)

Benji’s Collezioni

1511 Main St., 469-547-0223

Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, by appointment only

The vibe: Donatella does Dallas

Who shops here: Cedric the Entertainer stopped by when he was in town; otherwise, shoppers here are looking for flash. They dress to be noticed.

What’s on the floor: Mostly Italian ready-to-wear, for women and men: Versace, Gucci. And also Donna Locca, a Brazilian shoe line.

What’s cool about it: MaryAnn Woods-Osifo (who owns the shop with her husband, Benji) oozes chic in her ripped jeans, high heels and short hair. She decided to move Benji’s Collezioni to downtown Dallas after three years at Willow Bend because she wanted to join the revitalization. “I wanted to be part of the new era,” she says.

Don’t miss: The over-the-top custom-designed (by MaryAnn) men’s and women’s shoes, made in Italy. Boxy, square-toed loafers for men ($150 to $575); pointy mules ($175) for women.

Tropical Day Spa

1322 Elm St., 214-742-2881

Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The vibe: Grass skirts and total tiki. Where’s my mai tai?

Who’s here: Downtown office workers, neighborhood types, and anyone who’s freaked out about pedicures after seeing recent news reports. The spa says all the instruments here are sterilized twice.

What’s on the floor: What looks like a wall of wooden lounge chairs, with tropical print fabric, for pedicures; otherwise, the shop feels very Trader Vic’s. “We wanted to create something relaxing, but not where you’d have to wear a robe,” says co-owner Benoit LeComte.

Don’t miss: Healing Cucumber Pedicure ($42), or any of the mani-pedi combos, for that matter.

What’s cool about it: No whirlpool tubs in this ultraclean salon; every client gets her own buffer and nail file, and they’re kept in a box and used again on return visits.

Retailers’ picks on restaurants to hit while shopping the city:

Chez Max (Plaza of the Americas, 214-871-0707): “I love the baked chicken with spinach salad at Chez Max, or for a sit-down place, Treebeards [214-871-7477], which serves Cajun food,” says Sharon Briggs.

Fuse (1512 Commerce St., 214-742-3873): “I love the beef tenderloin plate and the Hawaiian snapper,” says Stefani Shultz. “My 10-year-old daughter loves it, too.”

Iron Cactus (1520 Main St., 214-749-4766): “I love the different levels of patios at Iron Cactus, especially in the spring,” says Benoit LeComte. “I like their chicken fajita salads, and margaritas in the evenings.”

Porta di Roma (1623 Main St., 214-752-0855): “We love that place. I usually get the Mediterranean linguini pasta with seafood,” says MaryAnn Woods-Osifo.