This week I spent 72 hours in Las Vegas for work on a press trip with Bucherer, a jewelry brand that also owns and operates Tourneau, the watch retailer. The purpose was to check out the brand’s newly revamped flagship in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. Besides featuring millions of dollars worth of art (Warhol! Hirst!) and furniture, the massive store was also filled with equally as valuable jewelry like the $2.4 million dollar ring Sydney Sweeney wore to the Met Gala as well as the $1 million dollar watch as seen on Rihanna at the Super Bowl. Expect a full breakdown of everything on 10 USA later this week, although I couldn’t help myself and post some of those jewels on my IG stories.
I realized this year that while I used have a fleeting (at best) interest in watches, I somehow have changed my mind completely in the last year or so. It’s not just me either — whether it’s pandemic induced boredom or the rise of crypto, watch industry folks that I’ve talked to have also noticed that interest in timepieces is starting to skew younger, with more women getting into it as well. I don’t think I’ll ever reach the point of being a hardcore enthusiast but I do have a style or two on my wishlist, like the loaner style Bucherer let me wear for the day: a Cartier Tonneau circa 2000. Expect a newsletter on watches soon, once I do some appropriate research and talk with people far more knowledgeable than me!
Anyway, back to Vegas, a city I think I secretly love, at least in small doses? I know, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t gamble, generally avoid the sun, and despise warm weather. But living in Los Angeles during the pandemic changed my mind as I had an overwhelming sense of restlessness that came with being trapped in a city that wasn’t conducive to walking. We’d make drives to Vegas for a variety of reasons and it felt like moments of normalcy as I strolled through the casinos, eating indoors and drinking by the pool with strangers. My time spent in lockdown made me realize that I feel the happiest and calmest surrounded by strangers and bright lights in the middle of the night — always a city rat and never a suburban mouse at heart.
That said, getting dressed for Vegas during pandemic times versus Vegas post-pandemic while on a fashion work trip are two very different things. Besides visiting the Bucherer TimeDome store we had a few evening events, namely casual welcome drinks and a slightly more formal dinner on the second/last night. When you’re on these trips it’s a fine line between dressing appropriately for the occasion but also for the location. This was one of those moments when I didn’t want to be in a blobby jellyfish dress, a rarity, I know. You know the saying, whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? I guess that’s the philosophy behind my wardrobe choices — form fitting, sheer, and crop tops all sounded extremely appealing for once.
For the casual welcome drinks I turned to a brand which has gotten a lot of attention recently and has been featured in a bunch of newsletters: Tory Burch. I’ve gone to many of their shows and attending countless showroom appointments, often requesting their pieces for my stories but I never really wore the brand. It was always too colorful, printed, and preppy for my personal tastes but the new Tory is more minimalist, young, and sleek. It’s genuinely something I want to wear and be seen in. I’ll fully admit that I’m late to the game because one, I’m so set in my ways at times favoring the same brands day-in day-out, and two, I didn’t really have an occasion that warranted any of these pieces — until now.
The wild thing is that these pieces are not even in my usual size! They were too small samples that somehow still fit really well. My body is built straight up and down, with not a lot of curvature but the fabric and ruching managed to both hide and accentuate my midsection in all of the right places. Coupled with the sheer top and my own bralette, it was fitting for a night at Vanderpump in Vegas but still felt true to my style.
A caveat: I had to mash a few pieces to make this look my own, namely add a black ruched miniskirt over their gray and black chiffon skirt because I really wanted a head-to-toe monochromatic look. But somehow the layering of the fabrics did the trick to suck things in without feeling like I was being suffocated. I also skipped their bra in favor of a Richer Poorer bralette layered under the open back top. Yes, I realize the overall effect is still jellyfish-like. I can only stray so far from my preferred silhouette.
Night two we had dinner at Wakuda, a Japanese restaurant at The Venetian, with the rest of the brand team as well as other press who were in town for the various jewelry trade shows. I definitely wanted to err on the side of looking professional so it was a great excuse to finally wear a pair of Dries Van Noten trousers I bought on super sale. The tailor hemmed them an inch too short for my shoes as I find that they look better just skimming the floor so I’m going to take them back to be fixed. But from a comfort perspective, they’re eating friendly — very important because our meal spanned many courses and I am a bottomless pit when it comes to raw fish.
I love the idea of wearing it with a cropped tank and jacket as a riff on suiting, a styling trick that I would use on my clients but rarely wear myself. The blazer is a secondhand CdG find from Tokyo that has a cropped back detail — I can’t not find a way to incorporate Comme into my Vegas outfits somehow. As for the tank, it’s an inexpensive basic from Aritzia that I have in both black and white. It’s made with a swimsuit like fabric that’s lightweight but thick enough that you technically don’t even need nipple covers. For women with larger chests, it allows for a strapless bra underneath, so it’s definitely a good basic to have in the mix.
Being that most of the pieces from outfit two are a bit older, here are a few similar styles that I really like:
Speaking of CdG pieces, see you on Wednesday when in honor of the Dover Street Market Market event, it’ll be all marked down CdG pieces that you can buy online. Also, be sure to also follow along on my Instagram and TikTok as I’ll definitely be doing a breakdown on what’s available for those who are going to the sale.
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