Vegas Merch
It may come as no huge surprise that one city I love is Las Vegas. I would definitely say that it is in the top 3 places I have visited on holiday. There are very few things which I do not like about the city, and the things I love about it TOTALLY outweigh them. From the huge themed mega-resorts, neon signs, and sheer amount of souvenir shops (which is pretty much everything I love in life haha) Most people go to the world-famous nightclubs, 24-hour casinos, and pool parties, but not me…… I go for the shopping and the themed hotels. The one thing I was most shocked by was the absolute lack of glamour!!!! I was expecting to see ladies in opulent jewellery and sequinned gowns with gloves but it couldn’t be any different. It was more like the dresses from Kat Slater’s market stall. I have an obsession with showgirls and the first time I went to Vegas I’d booked to see the long-serving show ‘Jubilee’ at the underwhelming Bally hotel and resort. The ticket said to wear a shirt and shoes but not many people followed this rule. One visitor was wearing flip-flops and 3/4 length cargo trousers. I wanted Vegas to be the place where everyone lived out their most glamourous fantasy, but instead, it turned out that it was only me LOL.
There is, however, no better place for shopping than Las Vegas, from high end to high street to vintage and the ultimate tack-o-rama; it really does have it all around EVERY corner of EVERY hotel. Louis Vuitton has a store in many of the more grand hotels next door to a Starbucks and tacky hotel gift shop. Now the hotel gift shops are where my money goes! I made it my mission to visit the hotel gift shop of every hotel I went into, mainly to look for a t-shirt. Some of the gift stores got it so right, such as Mirage. Some do get the t-shirts wrong in my eyes (like Caesars Palace) I love a vintage-style t-shirt with a scene, or even just the hotel’s logo in bright colours, but Caesars’ were all themed around The Hangover films. I thought the possibilities were endless with the Ancient Roman theming but I am guessing the tourists were more into the mainstream style. Although the t-shirts were a huge let down the homeware items were the BEST. The first time I visited in 2012 I had seen a white bathrobe with thick gold edging with a Roman meander design that I for some reason did not buy. So two years later I thought “I need to buy this robe”… but I was worried about getting it into my suitcase for the journey home as I had been to Los Angeles before Vegas and naturally called into Disneyland- so the case was already pretty full haha. One of my life’s regrets!
The first time I visited Las Vegas was in September 2012. I had been shopping for the holiday 8 years before I actually booked it so my wardrobe was naturally full of gems for the trip. In 2011 Versace did one of the most INCREDIBLE collaborations with H&M and I wanted EVERY item of the collection. I did manage to do pretty well getting most of the pieces I wanted and these shorts were made for Vegas (the version of Vegas in my mind anyway haha). The first time I wore them was on that holiday so they really do hold a pretty special place in my wardrobe for memories. The Grecian motif down the sides of the shorts is BEAUTIFUL, the shape of the shorts is again BEAUTIFUL and even the length is perfect. I managed to nab these shorts from the H&M website so I was lucky enough to not have to pay over the odds for them, I’m sure they were only £24.99 which is a goddam steal for these beauts!
I love a denim jacket, especially finds like this one from Planet Hollywood. To me, Planet Hollywood is the ultimate in 1990s style themed restaurants and the same goes for their insane 1990s/late 2000s merchandise. I know for a fact I would have wanted nothing more than to visit a themed restaurant like Planet Hollywood when I was younger, but I know why my parents wouldn’t have taken me………… the merch LOL. I sadly didn’t buy this jacket from Las Vegas, I found it on eBay for only £20. It is an XL so the fit is pretty perfect. The one thing places like Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe get right are items like this. Because they are American based companies a denim jacket is a staple and one of the things that would easily appeal to many a tourist. It is strange that I can never remember seeing items like denim jackets in tourist hotspots within the UK, maybe they didn’t do them or maybe I just wasn’t as interested in my younger years. This jacket really is one thing I absolutely ADORE about American merchandise!!!
Another thing I love about American merchandise is the fanny packs! Nothing screams American tourists like a fanny pack!!! I found this one in a shop on Freemont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. One thing I like to do is a lap of all the shops to make sure I am making the right choice with what I buy. I did this with this fanny pack but couldn’t remember where I had seen it. It drove the friends I went with WILD LOL! I am sure it only cost $10 and I mean it isn’t the best quality but I had to have it.
T-shirts are my main love. I can honestly say I have far too many bought from my holidays. The first time I went to Vegas I was spending like there was no tomorrow in the more pricey gift stores on the strip only to find the exact same merch was 1/4 of the price from one of the best gift stores I’ve ever been to, Bonanza Gift Store. The gift store claimed to be the largest in the world. I’m not entirely sure if that is correct but it was pretty huge! The t-shirts they had were just incredible, simple but with the 80s/90s twist and that is where I got this t-shirt from. Not only were the offerings amazing the prices were crazy, $6 a tee……….. so I naturally picked up 12 LOL! I love this t-shirt because it’s white with a fun colourful picture of the most iconic Vegas landmarks.
This Caesars Palace medallion I managed to find on eBay just after I got back from Vegas in 2012. The first trip to Vegas really sparked my interest in American merchandise and eBay answered AALL of my prayers for this! These medallions were handed out to the Caesars Palace croupiers in the 1980s. I did notice when I was staying at Caesars in 2014 that the croupiers were wearing a much “classier” and smaller version around their necks but I would have snapped up a job there for one of these beauties haha. The medallion features a Flintstones version of Caesar being fed grapes by Cleopatra on both sides and in the brashiest shade of gold EVER! It did come from the states so I did pay over the odds for the postage but I am sure I only paid a few dollars for it………… so I naturally bought two LOL!
Pins are yet another love of mine and the Vegas offers were everything I could have ever wanted! The first one I got was the Hard Rock Cafe martini glass pin. This was from the vintage neon collection that is on show Downtown on Freemont Street and this, to me, screams out vintage Las Vegas glamour from the 1960s. The pins I managed to find from Luxor’s clearance store has to have been the find of the holiday! They literally cost $1.95 each (even for the set of 4) and the fact they included a bit of diamante and Ancient Egyptian royalty meant they ticked all the boxes! I was pretty impressed by the merchandise Luxor offered and because it isn’t as new a hotel the prices were incredibly affordable. I did manage to get 2 heavyweight sweatshirts for $20 in 2014 so I was living for this hotel! The hot air balloon pin I found in a gift store at the Paris Hotel and Casino. The hot air balloon is one of the most iconic and recognised landmarks on the Vegas strip so I had to buy it.
Hat/Denim Jacket/Medallion - eBay
T-shirt/Fanny Pack - Las Vegas Souvenir Shop
Necklace/Bag - Moschino
Shorts - Versace X H&M
Socks - New Look
Trainers - Reebok