California Apparel News

Las Vegas fashion isn’t all it’s been “tacked out” to be in the past, according to retailers at the new Desert Passage shops in the Aladdin Resort and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas strip.

Gone are all the stereotypical gold lameacute; jumpsuits and puffy painted rhinestoned sweaters associated with the glamorous Vegas fashionista. These days her buying habits are mirroring the most current Spring fashion trends observed from New York to Los Angeles.

Bright, spring colors are doing big business, with emphasis on key-lime green and a tangy, more modern coral coloring fashion. More muted colors, such as, leafy greens and tan are also hot. Bottoms are big, with pants and skirts being equally important. Sparkle is kept to a minimum and usually used as an accessory, such as a rhinestone belt buckle—this is after all, the Wild West.

Here’s a rundown of what else is checking with tourists and locals atDesert Passage. Mint green, lemon yellow and apricot were the hottest colors at Bebe’s store, according to staffers there. The colors were found on everything from lightly rhinestoned and fitted tanks, T-shirts and flowy dresses to slightly flare-legged pants and jeans, “very big for spring,” according to a sales associate.

Rhinestone-encrusted belt buckles and squared gold bangle bracelets were also checking.

“Tons of girls buy these for day and night,” said a staffer demonstrating how customers wear the buckle over a low-waisted pant loosely. Stacy Palmer, a sales associate at the MaxStudio.com store confirmed the brights were hot, though flash is not.

“That is such a wrong stereotype that people have of how people here dress,” she said. “We have too many good stores, there’s no excuse for tackiness now.”

Palmer said tight tops with three-quarter length sleeves and deep V-necks were also doing well. The company’s better selling items were mid-length skirts and handkerchief tops in brown, bright red and camelmicro-suede.

Light greens and other spring colors were hot with the entire higher-end Voyage, Versace and Versus merchandise customers found checking at the Melwani’s boutique, according to staffers Mike and Lisa.

“Our customer is definitely more fashion-forward, so we try to keep a little bit of everything in stock,” said Lisa. “They come from all over the globehellip;Mexico, Asia, Europe...all very fashion-forward, but different in taste because of where they’re coming from.”

Prints were checking, especially in geometrics and snake prints, the sales team added.Dimpled tops in the aforementioned colors were checking at Cache, according to assistant manager Elvia Vasquez.

Asymmetrically-cut tops with heat-transferred sequins over blue and tan, and green and tan crocodile- and snake-print tops were also checking well. Slim pants, in basic solids or prints, such as snake or big florals, were checking, as were rhinestone and chain belts. Fashions had a more ethnic touch at the high-end Ventilo store, which is part of the France-based retail chain.

Long-length and mid-length skirts were checking with young and old, according to store supervisor Jennifer Federico. Sari-like dresses in traditional bright colors and pants and tops in similar fabrics were blowing out the door. Lightweight cashmere sweaters with deep V-necks in pastels were also checking.

A clear bright leaf green and electric aqua were the strong colors at the BCBG Max Azria store. This color story, alone or combined, was popular for halter dresses, fitted pants, pencil skirts, tanks, sweaters, even evening dresses, said assistant manager Maria Castro.

The store, a regular pit stop for visiting celebrites (from “Dawson’s Creek” actress Katie Holmes to “Wheel of Fortune” hostess Vanna White), does well with its local higher-end clientele. Those locals were not to blame for the “Vegas Lady” stereotype, according to Castro and sales associate Erika Harper, who credited the “fuzzy leopard cowboy hat-wearing tourist” with any breach in fashion seen on the streets.

“The local women are as fashionable as, if not more than, other cities’,” said Harper. “It’s the tourists who make you go, “what is wrong with these people?” People go crazy here and just wear what they think you’re supposed to wear because it’s Vegas.”