Stefon-like Club To Open in Vegas, Offer Something Outside the Box

Bill Hader's Stefon has become a breakout SNL character in the last few seasons, for good reason. While the joke remains pretty much the same every time Hader plays the character, his effete reading of outrageous attractions at "New York's hottest clubs" somehow hits the mark every time. The segments, in which Stefon recommends "Eurotrash Utopias" with names like Pssh and Spicy! that "opened in 2017," are located in unpredictable venues like "a crashing blimp," run by proprietors such as "beatnik doctor Soul Patch Adams" or "Jew Diamond Philips," and feature attractions like "Muppets in disguise" "that one fat Hawaiian guy that no one invited," and "Human Fire Hydrants," are some of the most reliably side-splitting bits in the current era of the long-running sketch comedy warhorse. Hader himself often breaks down in fits of giggles during the character's Weekend Update segments (possibly because the writers add some of the most outrageous descriptions at the last minute), which he's seamlessly integrated into his performance as one of the oddball character's many tics.

While a 2 year old ultimate fighter named Drooly Lips Jackson with "fists like little empanadas" (who just happens to be Stefon's "best friend"), "seven level courses in adult education," "Teddy Ruxpin in mascara," and "Black George Washington" seem like outlandish exaggerations of reality, they're actually not that far off from some of the details of the real-life New York club scene.

Stefon would certainly feel at home at The Box, a nightclub/ variety theater (or as their website cheekily/ pretentiously puts it, "theater of varieties") created by Simon Hammerstein (grandson of the legendary Oscar Hammerstein) that tried to attract a mix of young and artsy party-monsters in a "Moulin Rouge theater of the extreme" featuring edgy shows starring fringe-dwelling (and often nude) artists. The nightlife review sight BestClubsIn.Com describes the diverse group of performers onstage in the beautiful two-level club as "fire-eaters, cross-dressing midgets, contortionists, burlesque performers" and various other members of "the artistic underworld" getting on stage and "baring their souls (among other things)." Just the term "cross-dressing midgets" makes me question whether this place is real or exists only in the "visions a dying gay man would have if he was under too many blankets" or as the "nightmares of a Crystal Meth addict" as Seth Meyers has described Stefon's recommendations, but The Box is very, very real... and a version of it is coming very soon to Las Vegas.

The club was a sensation when it firs opened, attracting the young and hip along with celebrities and a second location opened in London just a year after the New York version debuted. Not a city to miss out on a successful nightlife property, Las Vegas will soon have their own version of the place. Anthony Curtis Las Vegas Advisor has confirmed rumors that the creators of The Box are opening a new venue in Sin City called The Act. Construction is already underway for a planned Fall opening in The Shoppes at Palazzo at a venue which will be "part cabaret, part Vaudevillian showcase, with exotic performances set between interludes of roaring music," offering further proof that Las Vegas is the most bizarre place on the planet as it's surely the only town where a theater featuring cross-dressing midgets (I can't stop mentioning it because I can scarcely believe they're featured in a real nightclub and not one in a David Lynch fever-dream) and other fringe artists would open in a shopping mall.

While the acts described at The Act don't sound like they're that much more outlandish than some of the weirder performance art aspects in Absinthe or even some of the more out there Cirque stars, the combination of crazy fringe performers with the Vegas nightlife scene is an intriguing proposal. I've made no secret of the fact that I can't really stand the standard Vegas nightlife scene (and have offered advice on how it can be improved even though nightclubs are bringing in unimaginable truckloads of money and the people who run them really don't need my input), I'm intrigued by the concept of The Act. The place sounds a bit pretentious... but pretentious is fine in this context, because at least the creators of the club intend to do something (anything, please!) different from what every other club in Las Vegas is doing. Anything even a little bit outside the box (pun fully intended) is a welcome addition to The Strip nightlife scene (even if it's in a giant shopping mall).


The Box in NYC was conceived as an edgy antidote to the usual New York club scene, and of course a New York Times piece ran less than a year after it opened in 2007 that asked the question if the place had already lost its edge and added that despite the owners' intentions of creating edgy and dangerous nightly shows, The Box had "settled into its role as a purveyor of kitschy, Las Vegas style exotica and extremely pricey drinks." So maybe the new club won't stand out all that much, but it's nice to imagine that it will bring something at least a little different to The Strip's over-saturated club scene.  Hopefully Stefon will be there opening night, rolling with his best friend Drooly Lips Jackson and dancing onstage with those cross-dressing midgets.

So Dumb It's Brilliant: Oscar's Beef, Booze, and Broads

During Oscar Goodman's 12 year run as Mayor of Las Vegas, he was brash, colorful, controversial, outspoken, and rarely seen in public without minimally-clothed showgirls. Basically, he was the perfect public face for Sin City, a politician who could have not have been elected in any other city but thrived for over a decade and only left office due to term limit laws. So popular was Goodman as mayor that his wife was elected to succeed him. Described as "the happiest mayor" in the country, he clearly enjoyed the eff out of every moment of his tenure.


So what's a former mayor who once defended mobsters in court and openly supported legalization of prostitution to do as his next act? Open a steakhouse, of course. The most ridiculous and Las Vegas-y Steakhouse I've ever been to.

I've been chronicling the recent classing-up of Downtown Las Vegas, but Oscar's Beef, Booze, and Broads at The Plaza on Fremont Street seems to be a conscious attempt to create a business that's the complete opposite of the trend in the neighborhood, as Goodman has masterminded a place so transcendentally stupid it's borderline heroic.

Located in The Plaza's famous glass dome, the restaurant features excellent views of the bright and flashy video canopy of The Fremont Street Experience. Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and blue leather booths give the place some extra color. Photographs of the famous owner line the walls, depicting the former mayor glad-handing with celebrities and politicians. No one has ever accused Mr. Goodman of having a small ego, and no one would want it any other way.

Behind the bar (where mixologists mix a helluva classic Martini) is Goodman's office, where he may or may not actually visit. But Goodman's desk did feature a stuffed horse's head, an unapologetic nod to the days he spent getting mob goons out of legal trouble. Live jazz musicians add to the vibe.


The Steaks are really good. The menu leans towards classic Steakhouse fare over nouveau trendy. No Truffle-oil here, and I like that just fine. The meat was cooked perfectly in their 600 degree grill. Their glass Wine Cellar was filled with good choices.

All of that is normal and pretty boilerplate at this point, I know. So what makes Oscar's so completely ridiculously silly? The "Broads," of course.

As I said at the top, Mayor Goodman loves the ladies, and the restaurant is as about showcasing beautiful women as anything else. The restaurant employs a group of classy ladies to mingle with the guests, in the spirit of Japanese hostess bars. The women are trained to talk to patrons about politics, wine, sports, Las Vegas history, etc. Patrons pay for the privilege of spending time with these ladies, usually in booze and food. Liking steak must be a requirement for the job.

The whole concept is very strange, and because I'm not a lonely old man I wasn't interested in paying to have a lady sit and talk to me. I probably would have started making up confessions for fake crimes just to make things interesting if I had, but that's just me. I observed the "broads" doing an admirable job pretending to flirt and act interested in the things that rich older gentlemen paying them for their time had to say. The spectacle provided some of the most epic people watching I've ever had the joy to experience.

Oscar's Beef, Booze, and Broads is insanely stupid, in name and execution, and antiquated in its attitude towards gender in the middle of a neighborhood that grows more progressive every day. And I kind of love it. Just like former Mayor Goodman himself, the restaurant is a brash, silly, and unsubtle oddity that could only thrive in a city as strange as Las Vegas, and that makes it worth a visit.

A Geeks Guide to Las Vegas

Okay, it's time to admit something deep and true about myself: I am a geek.
There, I said it. And I feel so much more free.

Then again, being a geek isn't exactly the social burden it once was. The internet has made it possible for fellow geeks to communicate their obsessions with each other on a mass scale. Geek-centric properties like The Avengers and Game of Thrones are basically the most popular things on the planet right now. Comic-Con is now a cultural even covered by almost every media outlet that actual wants hits. Even Doctor Who has gone from a weird British cult show that American nerds watch on bootleg VHS tapes in their parent's basements to a genuine cultural phenomenon with merchandise taking up endcap space at Barnes and Noble, lavish New York City premieres, and an endless variety of Pinterestable memes comparing Matt Smith and David Tennant's take on The Doctor.

As much as I want to make this post a laundry list that provides the definitive answer in the endless Tennent/ Smith battle, I guess I should probably make this article about Las Vegas on some level since that's what this blog is ostensibly (and definitely) about. Unless Emperor Moffat has the Tardis land in Sin City in a future adventure (and why not? He could team up with Dennis Quaid's Sheriff from Vegas, the upcoming period drama about the rough and tumble history of the town) then I can't really find a good motivation to write about the last Timelord and his bow-tied adventures. But what I can do is recommend the most geek friendly Las Vegas bars, restaurants, attractions, and resorts. And despite the fact the Star Trek Experience and Quark's Bar at the old Las Vegas Hilton (recently regenerated as The LVH) closed a few years back and the full scale USS Enterprise never opened on Fremont Street, Vegas is actually a pretty good place to be a geek, if you know the right places to look.

Insert Coins
512 Fremont St
Las Vegas, NV 89101

A few of these places I've already mentioned, but they're awesomely geeky and IT'S MY BLOG SO GET OFF MY BACK. Plus I know some people haven't read each and every post I've ever written (though if you haven't, get on it if you really want to prove your completist nerd credentials), which is why I'm totally fine with bringing up this amazing geek paradise again even though it was already the subject of one of my early posts. An awesome option for gamers looking to party Vegas-style, this Downtown hotspot is a cocktail that mixes the best elements of an arcade and a nightclub. And their (much cheaper than your average club) bottle service fee gets you a couch and an old school console rental. You can also dance to some better than average music if you're the kind of geek who isn't afraid to show off some killer moves without the aid of DDR. They've also got a well executed blog that understands their audience perfectly. Basically this place is the best.

Aria
CityCenter

The crown jewel in the massive CityCenter complex is another place I've blogged about in a previous reality, but it's worth mentioning again due to the fact that the rooms in this futuristic hotel are incredibly tech savvy. A remote controls everything, including the window curtains, air conditioning, light level, and even the television! You can also use the remote to set your room to green-friendly mode by closing the shades and setting the air to an environmentally friendly level in the first LEED Certified hotel in the city.


i-Bar
Rio

This lounge in the middle of Rio's bustling casino floor stands out because it was the first place on Planet Earth to install Microsoft Surface in an entertainment venue. The consoles are a prototype for Microsoft's highly anticipated aspirational iPad-killer tablets, and the bar features a group of the 360 degree view touchscreens that you and your friends can gather around to play a large selection of games. The machines are also social and can communicate with the other Surface consoles in the bar, so you can challenge strangers to a friendly game, send them photos, or even flirt with them. If you actually have the cojones to hit on someone using a touchscreen computer, go for it.

The National Atomic Testing Museu/ Area 51 Exhibit
755 East Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Another place I've mentioned before, in a very recent post about quirky museums in Las Vegas. This place will appeal to your inner science and history nerd, with recreations of underground test facilities and the dummy-filled homes that were used in the tests of these awe inspiring weapons that the government used to test in the desert outside of Las Vegas. In that post, I advised people to avoid the attached Area 51 museum, which costs an extra fee. I haven't been back to the Atomic Testing Museum since the new exhibit opened but I haven't heard great things... but then again,  as a geek, it's kind of our duty to waste $10 on a half-assed alien museum, isn't it? (Bonus! The museum is a quick drive to the Dennis Hof's planned Sci-Fi themed brothel. If you're into that kind of thing. Ick.)

Pinball Hall of Fame
1610 East Tropicana Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89119

 Another one from my recent list of oddball museums, but it would be a crime to write a post about geek-centric things to do in Las Vegas and fail to mention a place that gathered some of the best pinball machines from the golden age of the game under one roof. This place is old school geek nirvana.

MaximuM Comics
5130 South Fort Apache Road #285
Las Vegas, NV
 Probably the best comic book store in Las Vegas, it's a bit of a drive from The Strip but worth it for their excellent selection. If you're in Las Vegas on Wednesday, you'll be able to find every title from your pull list here, as well as a great selection of back issues and trades as well as super hero and general geek related merch. Just because you're an "adult" doesn't mean you have to stop buying Spider-Man T-shirts. (Note: this advice will always never get you laid.)

Sci Fi Center
900 E Karen Ave, Suite D202
Las Vegas, NV 89109
 
This place is a friggin' gem. The front of the Sci Fi Center is a little comic book shop with a decent selection, but the coolest part is their "underground screening room" where they show a wide variety of cult, genre, horror, sci-fi and generally geeky films and TV shows. They recently ran a classic Doctor Who marathon and they're known to show Rocky Horror at midnights as well. They also have a monthly live show featuring magic, vaudeville style performers, standup comedy, and more. If I could move into this hidden temple of pure cult nerdom, I'd do it in a heartbeat.


Zombie Apocalypse Store
3420 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89102
  This place is both amazing and nutty. While the owners really follow through on their geek-baiting theme and sell zombie related merchandise, they also really do offer "everything you'd need to survive a zombie apocalypse." Their mission statement says that "zombies" are a metaphor for everything, from tornadoes to earthquakes to "The Government," which means the place is basically a superstore for survivalists and promise keepers. You can also rent and shoot real machine guns at the property, and buy knives, swords, gas masks, stun guns, and "exploding targets." Which means you might run into some wing-nuts who think Barack Obama is turning America into a fascist socialist Muslim dystopia... but that's all part of the fun. You're not gonna actually meet a zombie at the store, but you can snap a great Instagram pic of you posing with a real life paranoid revolutionary!

28Go: The Restaurant
4632 S Maryland Pkwy, Suite 12
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Named after a Japanese manga from the 50's that introduced the concept of giant robots duking it out, this place features excellent Ramen and Asian Fusion food served in a setting designed with geeks in mind. Pictures of robots and mechs line the walls, sci-fi movies play on the TVs, and the entire place has a sleek future Tokyo vibe. Their stuffed Waffles and their Ramen are delicious, while drinks served from their "Space Bar" include Sake Fizz Cocktails made with fresh fruit infusions.

Bodies: The Exhibition
The Luxor

There was a time where I resented the existence of Bodies: The Exhibition because I thought it was a ripoff of Bodyworlds, the original touring show that features real human bodies preserved in polymer. But Bodies has survived for a long time at this point that it's earned my respect, with the Vegas version going strong for nearly a decade. If you're a science nerd, getting up close and personal, 3-dimensional views of what we look like on the inside is worth seeing. A lot of the bodies are arranged in crazy poses, which makes seeing the show while taking advantage of the liberal open container laws in Las Vegas even more fun.

Bonus Gulity Pleasure Pick: Tournament of Kings
Excalibur

Yes, The Excalibur's dinner and show is basically a blatant ripoff of Medieval Times. But so what? You get to cheer on knights in an epic jousting tournament while you scarf down mediocre food and drink crappy beer out of mugs. Unless you hate fun, what's not to love?

Escape from Douchebaggery, Part 27: Rio Wine Cellar and Tasting Room

Despite the fact that if you drink enough of it, it will get you just as messed up any other beverage out there, wine has been romanticized as the classiest, most worldly, most gosh-darned civilized of all alcoholic substances.

Critically acclaimed and Oscar winning movies like Sideways (which is essentially about a sad and pathetic drunk) keep the perception that wine is for smart and informed drinkers going strong. Knowing a lot about wine makes you sophisticated, as opposed to a pretentious alcoholic.

This, by the way, is not a criticism of wine or the way it's perceived. I just find the perception interesting. But I love a good Red and I enjoy wine tasting at lovely vineyards in the beautiful Napa or Santa Barbara Valleys. I'll admit to swishing the wine glass around and smelling it before sipping even though I don't really know what I'm talking about. We're all "that guy" sometimes.

The best place to be "that guy" in Las Vegas is in Rio's Wine Cellar and Tasting Room, a hidden mecca for Oenophiles. I'd heard that the off-Strip resort historically had a great reputation with wine lovers as one of the first Las Vegas hotels to stockpile an impressive wine cellar in the 90's. But I'd also heard that reputation came from the days when the Marnell family (who now run the boutique M Resort south of The Strip) owned the place, before selling it off to Harrah's in 1999.

But I was tipped off by a recent piece in one of my favorite Sin City travel sites, VegasChatter, that the resort's semi-secret Wine Cellar was worth a visit. And as is often the case with the snarky but never mean blog, the recommendation was right on the money.

The place pulls off the look and feel of a real old timey cellar perfectly, with cave-like stone walls, wood paneling, and leather seats to sink into as you sip on offerings on hand. And offerings they have aplenty, as the Cellar and tasting room carries over 50,000 bottles valued at a total of $10 million. Some of these bottles are hundreds of years old and costs tens of thousands of dollars. They even feature a Madeira owned from 1800 owned by Thomas Jefferson (which leads me to question why T.J. never popped the cork and drank it, but I digress, as is my style), valued at... a lot more money than you can afford. So don't knock it over if you don't want to be sentenced to 40 years hard labor washing dishes in the back of The Rio.

While all of these fancy schmancy bottles sound intimidating, they also sell plenty of great varieties for $10 or less. The place offers reasonably priced tastings where you can sample some interesting vintages from all over the globe, which can be paired with cheese and cured meat platters if you're feeling fancy (and trying to impress a girl, which I may or may not have been during my visit). Their selection was deep, as I found a few bottles from Napa wineries I love like Duckhorn and Artesa . (I'm not name-dropping to show off my Wine knowledge. The fact that they had Wines I recognized is a testament to their depth of selection, not to my depth of knowledge. I don't know much about how to choose a wine beyond the "this tastes good in my mouth" test.)

The extremely friendly staff also pours over 100 wines by the glass, so you can enjoy a full serving of anything that really blows your mind. The girl who poured our drinks was knowledgeable without being pretentious and made us feel welcome, where I've felt intimidated in some tasting rooms in the past. I basically considered her to be my wing-lady and tipped her generously.

There are a whole lot of nooks and crannies in the place where you can get lost and have a deep conversation with a special someone before browsing the aisles of bottles you'll never be able to afford. But you can joke about coming back one day to buy a $30,000 Cabernet once you're married and have made your millions. Believe me, it's a good strategy. Call it wine porn.

If you're looking to find a hidden and romantic spot off the beaten Strip path, Rio's Wine Cellar and Tasting Room is a classy choice. Even if you get wasted there. Just try not to break Thomas Jefferson's 200 year old Wine when you do.

A Little More on the "H Word"

I touched on what defining the word "hipster" a bit on my post a couple days ago, which was ostensibly about indie-centric shopping in Las Vegas but (as is my way) started with a bit of digressive a rant about the dreaded H word. Because it's still on my mind, I wanted to expand my ideas on the subject of hipsterdom a lil' bit. This post isn't strictly Vegas related, but it does related to anyone in Sin City who might be filed under H for hipster, a population that's growing every day as Downtown grows cooler, quirkier, indier, and uniquer.

So this will most likely be semi-incoherent, but I've had a desire to get my thoughts out on the subject for awhile, to at least start a discussion. Even though I've branded my blog as the Vegas site for hipsters, I've grown incredibly wary of the "H" word as of late. It's become incredibly over-determined and contradictory in meaning at this particular point in history, to a point that all of those hipster everyone loathes are really a straw-men that largely don't exist.

Just this week, a friend asked me which Beach Boys album is my all time favorite. When I enthusiastically endorsed Pet Sounds, he said that I had chosen the "hipster answer" because it's the "obvious one for people who don't really know the band's entire disocgraphy." His choice was Smile (which I'm completely obsessed with as well, having listened to bootleg versions over the years, the remake version Brian Wilson and a new band made a few years ago, and every track of the recording sessions included in recent definitive release that finally came out less than a year ago), which in itself seemed to be a hipster attitude in the opposite side of the spectrum. Choosing an album so experimental and ahead of its time that it was shelved for over 40 years is the kind of thing an obscurity obsessed hipster would cling on to in order to prove their cred points. Because as amazing and revolutionary as Smile is, few pop records can approach the beauty of Wilson's "teenage symphony to God" that is Pet Sounds. Sometimes the most obvious answer is obvious because it's the right one.

And again, I tumble down a pit of digression. What unites these two contradictory definition of hipsterdom is that they seem to both define a person who is obsessed with the image they are projecting first and foremost, making their music choices to show off their knowledge (whether it be real or faked) to reflect a personal brand. People who operate in this way do, in fact, suck. And yes, we've all met many of them. But I submit to you, dear reader, that I personally haeven't met that many hipsters who live their lives this way. Even the ones who I initially think are just into strange and obscure music just to be different have turned out to be genuine in their love and have even opened my eyes to cool new stuff I wouldn't have explored otherwise. And I really don't know that many people who fake their knowledge of music just to show off. Sure, we're all insecure and want to fit in. That's human. But most people love what they love for good reasons that they can easily defend.

My point is that, to me, hipster has become an unwieldy and almost undefinable term that people throw around at others derisively and in judgement. Yes, there are a few hipster signifiers like fashion and facial hair, but most of the people who rock these looks have a lot more to them than what first meet's the eye... which is, you know, the whole point of not being prejudiced against any group (please don't read this as me equating hipster with persecuted minorities, though I'm sure there is a funny web video that could be produced on that subject).

While the idea of a person living their lives in a perpetual phony cool pose is dispiriting, most people are just into what they're into. That doesn't mean that they have to be into what you're into, and judging their motivations for liking something different from what you like is exactly what made people hate "hipsters" in the first place. You see how quickly this thing becomes "the snake eating its tail" (or "totes meta," as the hipsters like to say)? Sometimes I think that the hipster label says more about the person doing the labeling than the person being labeled.

At this point I think a "hipster" can be defined as a young person (usually living in a city) with an interest in things that are cool, interesting, different, and outside of the mainstream (and I'm not talking about elitism above anything that is mainstream. Non-evil hipsters can un-ironically acknowledge the indisputable pure pop pleasure of Call Me Maybe while grooving on a limited edition boxset of obscure Krautrock tracks from the 70s at the same time), so why is it so often used as a pejorative? Enjoying good things over mediocre things is a bad thing now? Yes, there are hipsters who are assholes. But there are also assholes in every type of group that people can define themselves in.

Maybe I'm just not that deep in the "scene." I'm not cool enough to be photographed by The Cobra Snake, wearing too skinny jeans and doing blow in the bathroom every ten minutes at a local band's record release party while we all fret about our relevance and hope Julian Casablancas or Ariel Pink will show up. But I don't encounter people like that who live their lives that way all that often. They exist, but they're not actually a factor in my life.

It's time to retake the word from the jaws of negativity and don the label proudly. Stand up and be proud of your plaid shirts, thick glasses, asymmetrical haircuts, penchant for craft IPAS, and vinyl collection, if that's what you truly love. But do it because it's the world you truly and honestly identify with. I think the real hatred of hipsters comes from the fact that people feel they're posing as something they're not... which is equally ironic, because the stereotypical hipster hates anything that's not authentic. Don't be a cartoon easily parodied by Hipster Runoff, chasing some trendy image. Be your true self, and if your true self is a hipster, then own it and mean it with your heart.

Love things not because you're supposed to do so in deference to defining your "personal brand." Love what you love for the only reason that anything (or anyone) deserves to be loved: because it's great and worth loving.

Hipster Shopping in Las Vegas

I'll be honest; I don't really know what the term hipster means anymore. The word has become an over-determined and silly catchall that's ceased to have any real meaning.
There is definitely a stereotypical hipster look, one that's basically become a uniform of the indie-inclined. Many people choose to "dress the part" in the undying human quest to fit in, adopting the vintage fashion and over sized glasses that have become ubiquitous from Los Feliz to Brooklyn. I can't say I'm really above it... I do have a closet full of plaid and American Apparel shirts with band logos screen-printed on them. Plus, I also rock a mighty beard and sport thick black glasses (though I've had them since I was in high school and before they were trendy, but I guess voicing that protest is about as hipstery as one can get).

If you really want to fully embody the hipster style, whether to infiltrate a suspicious cell of ironic terrorists who want to overthrow the government based on the philosophy of Vice Magazine or you just want to put together a killer Halloween costume, it's easy to find the perfect retail outlets for hipster essentials in any major city.

Including Las Vegas, of course. Below is a listing of the indiest and most hipsterific retail options in Sin City. Visit them ironically if you like, shop at them because you're insecure and desperately want to fit in to a social group, or spend your money at these spots because they're cool and sell unique things that you like.

BUFFALO EXCHANGE
4110 S. Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89119
 

Buy, sell, and trade clothes at this hip vintage shop, which works as a locally sourced fashion exchange. Because the people who shop and trade in their old clothes at the store (a link in an extremely popular national chain) are generally extremely hip and in the know, you can usually find some really great clothes at hugely discounted rates from their original retail prices.

ELECTRIC LEMONADE  
220 E. Charleston Blvd.

A curated store catering to women, this place carries a mix of hip fashion labels and smartly selected vintage clothing. If you're looking for classic concert T-Shirts that will make people think you went to see The Dead or Janis Joplin in the 70's (even though you were born in the mid 80's), this is the place for you (though be prepared to pay handsomely to partake in their excellent selection).

BETTIE PAGE CLOTHING
Planet Hollywood Resort and Caesars Palace
  The classic look of the curvy pinup star is all the rage with cute hipster girls these days, and they can find clothes designed to capture her timeless style at these two specialty retail outlets on The Strip.


RETROSPECS & CO.
The Cosmpolitan

Designer eye wear with a vintage slant that can give you the perfect cool nerd look. Shop here even if you technically don't actually need glasses; you can be like those NBA guys chatting in their post-game press conferences with sporting the "big frames and no lenses" look! Or don't do that, because it's kind of stupid.

THE ART OF SHAVING
Mandalay Place and Canal Shoppes at The Venetian

If you've never paid for a professional shave, it's totally awesome bros. Get your lumberjack beard or killer stache shaped by a style assasin. And enjoy the hot towels. After you experience the faux old timey barbershop situation at The Art of Shaving, you'll never want to live in a world without hot towels again.

ZIA RECORD EXCHANGE

4503 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas NV 89102
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – MIDNIGHT


4225 S. Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas NV 89119
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – MIDNIGHT
 Neither Zia Exchange Shop location in Las Vegas is as big as the Amoeba megastores in LA, San Francisco, or Berkely, but then again, what record store is? Zia, which also has a few locations in Arizona, carries a deep selection of new and used CDs, Vinyl Records, Blu Rays, DVDs, and video games. Dig through their selection and you're sure to find some obscure vinyl to carry home in environmentally friendly messenger bag.

Bauman Rare Books
Shoppes at The Palazzo
Okay, you're probably not actually going to buy any books at this place unless you're rank is actually Captain and your last name is Moneybags, but this place is worth a visit. Basically a museum devoted to first editions of classic literature, lit geeks can look at and handle original copies of amazing classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that date back to a time when Mark Twain could have inspected the copies. An incredible place to find a great wedding gift for bookhead couples, try not to drool on these tomes, many of which are hundreds of years old.