I don’t know what pretentious fashion editor at what high-end fashion mag suddenly decided downtown Binghamton was a secret fashion mecca, but fashion boutiques are popping up downtown like there’s somebody living down there who’s got money to burn.

I haven’t seen those people yet, but we can all keep our fingers crossed and hope they buy stuff.

To get people to buy stuff, all those boutiques have teamed up to put on a fashion show tonight.  What?  Yes, that’s right: a fashion show in Dowtown Binghamton.  In the Metrocenter.

It’s like Bryant Park during fashion week with less Tim Gunn, less Heidi Klum and less cocaine backstage.  (I’ll leave it up to you to decide which of the three you’ll miss.)

Here are the gory details:  Tonight, 6:30 to 9.  Shops involved: M.Y. Boutique, On the Town, Chrysalis, Sassy Boutique, Imagicka, Binghamton Bag Company, and Orion. Food and drinkie from L’avaggio, Fabrizio’s, and Marilyn’s Bake Shoppe.

Fabrizio’s makes a mean cup of tea, btw.

We nabbed super-chic shop owner Stacie Webb from M.Y. Boutique for an interview.  (You can tell she’s super-chic because the name of her boutique has two extra periods for no apparent reason.  So fetch.)  Stacie is the show organizer.

So what KINDS of fashions will we see at tonight’s show.  Super-high end?  Middle of the road?
There’s everything; we have six completely different boutiques.  It’s a very eclectic collection, starting with teenagers and going all the way up in terms of age.

Who’s modeling this stuff.  Are these pros?  Locals?
A lot of them are university students that are interns for the city of Binghamton.  Others are just friends and family or employees of the businesses.  These are not trained models.  They’re the people you see walking down the street.

When you put the outfits together for M.Y. Boutique, I’m thinking you worked with what’s in.  So what IS in right now?
From my store, you’ll see a lot of holiday dresses.  Little splashes of color.  A lot of sequins and a lot of ruffles.  We’re also showing our men’s collection tonight.  A lot of different denim cuts—layering and button downs.

Bing isn’t exactly known for being a fashion mecca.  If there’s one mistake you see the ladies of Binghamton making more often then you’d like, what would it be?
I don’t think anything’s a mistake so long as you’re comfortable with what you’re wearing.

It seems like there are a lot of boutiques opening downtown hoping that more people will move in; so, how’s business?
Business is a rollercoaster, as it is with any new business right now in this economy.  We’ve had strong weeks, and not so strong weeks.  Hopefully, now, things will start to turn around.  I just want to invite everybody down to the show tonight.  We’ve put a lot of effort into it.  I think people will be impressed and shocked about everything downtown has to offer.