VLV Archives

(Note: To view my other days at VIVA click on the days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Last day of VIVA, wow it went so fast how was that possible? I guess it’s possible when you are having the time of your life. All good things must eventually come to an end, right?

Happy Easter! Sunday for me is ALWAYS shopping at the vintage vendors day, since many of the vendors put their items on sale as they don’t want to take tons of stuff home. Every year I have gotten lucky and have found some wonderful items and this year was no different. However I did find that I purchased less this year due to the Canadian dollar being so poor so that the exchange rate made everything so much more expensive. Oh well more money left over for future trips.

First up I picked up a couple of great scarfs to add to my collection.

This souvenir San Francisco scarf is my favorite of the two.

I also purchased the cutest brooch, it’s a Heinz 57 Ketchup bottle!

Then just as I was about to walk out a happy camper with what I had, I saw out of the corner of my eye a vintage 1950s Shirtwaist dress from the vendor “Love Street Vintage” who I had the pleasure of purchasing past dresses from before. It fit like a glove and it was a good price so it CLEARLY came home with me.

After shopping we thought we would see if we could get into the Sunday Pool Party which normally in the past we have not been able to do, due to it being the popular day and there are normally long line ups. But this year ended up being really easy and I think it might have had to do with the high winds making people think it was cold at the pool (which it was not). Yay for us!

My friend had secured several lounge chairs for the gang which ended up being in good prime viewing of the women’s swimsuit contest and the bands on the stage. Thank you!

There was so many GORGEOUS swimsuits to be seen, as you can see from these 3 lovely women. The red head is actually a fellow Canadian who has a super blog called “Pinup Persuasion“, who I did not realize I had taken a photo of until I just looked at now and clearly missed saying hello. Opps. She did later on enter the vintage swimsuit contest, which I’m glad she did because her suit was stunning (as did the girl in the green suit).

VLV 18 Pool Party Sunday 2015 Vintage Swimsuits

The band that played earlier in the afternoon “The Cavaleros” were really good (and Canadian) and kept the party going with their cool surf sounds. My favorite part though was when they took “Sing Sing Sing” and made it into a Rockabilly/Surf Version. The video I took even had Lindy Hoppers (from San Francisco I found out later) dancing to it. LOVE IT!

Speaking of San Fran here is my new friend from San Fran who was also a Lindy Hopper and really cool to chat with.

Then my friend Bill stole my camera to take a picture with beautiful women.

Bill JUST missed his chance with these ladies, by seconds. His loss.

I guess the pool party is not amusing for everyone….

Unfortunately I have no great photos of the swimsuit contest as the sun was pretty bright and was making it hard to see what I was taking pictures of. So you just have to take my word on the fact that the suits were stunning (as you saw above). Here is one photo though that turned out okay.

After the contest, we packed up our stuff and headed in to get ready for the Sunday evening favorite of mine and many others..the Jive Contest! BUT first what is starting to become a tradition, getting as many Canadians together for a group photo.

Here is this years, we clean up nicely don’t we?

Okay back to the Jive Contest…Once again the dance floor was filled with lots of wonderful dancers and once again my favorite did not get picked (I always chose wrong) but it was still fun to watch. Here is a clip of the 2nd round of the contest. The couple in the front of the video in the matching pink outfits ended up winning the whole thing.

And here is another tradition! Taking a photo with the Orleans Sign.

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18, 2015 — Me and the Sign

Now the evening is really winding down and now my body is telling me that it’s soon time to call it quits. We did however want to see the Doo Wop All Stars Show. This years show included: Herb Cox-The Cleftones; Eugene Pitt-The Jive Five and Bobby Lewis (“Tossin & Turning”) It was really great and super stylish as Doo Wop bands tend to be.

One again the floor was packed with dancers. Here is a little video I took during one of the sets featuring Bobby Lewis.

After the show my husband and I had to say our goodbyes as we had an early flight 🙁

And then it was done…

That was VIVA 18 2015. I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures as much as I enjoyed being in those adventures. Will I maybe see you next year?

FURTHER READING:

Liz 🙂

Viva is done for another year and I have to say that of all my 4 years going this year was the best..ever. I don’t know why because the bands, the vibe and the weather were just as awesome but something just clicked and made this weekend truly a showstopper for me. Now I’m a bit sad it’s over but I have 2016 to look forward to as I have my room already booked. Woo hoo!

(Note: Check out my posts on Thursday & Friday & Saturday & Sunday)

And on that note, lets check out what I did on the Wednesday the day before the event officially started.

on the plane to VLV 18 — On the Plane! Sorry an Iphone photo pic.

I have found that coming into Vegas the day before Viva is the best way to go because it allows you to have at least one day to do some sightseeing, sleep, veg out by the pool etc. For us it allows us to go to Frankie’s Tiki Room and then do Kitschy but fun Fremont St. This has become a tradition that I absolutely love and this year was no exception.

Up first..room check in! I had a friend who is not really into the world of Rockabilly and Vintage attending with me this year and her comment as we walked into the lobby and she saw everyone hanging around there all dressed up was..”Wow this is overwhelming”. I turned to her and said “dear, you have seen nothing yet!”.

Viva las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18 New Orleans Hotel-Vintage Style / Rockabilly Style. — My Friend Liisa and I in the front lobby at Check in (My Vintage Dress is from Cabaret Vintage in Toronto)

Unpacked, vegged out and now it’s time to hit up Frankie’s Tiki Room. I had brought a Tiki Dress but I honestly was just not feeling it so I went with my vintage Mexican skirt (purchased from Cabaret Vintage) and white top from Collectif (purchased in Toronto at Loveless boutique).

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Collectif are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Frankie's Tiki Room Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18-Sign — The Big Question.

Just like last year a good group of friends made the trek by cab (the worst cab driver though lol) to Frankie’s. I was so excited because I could not wait for a yummy Tiki Drink or 2!

Frankie's Tiki Room Las Vegas VLV 18-Tiki Drinks and Tiki Style — The lovely Kassandra Love and I enjoying whatever we were drinking.

Frankie's Tiki Room Las Vegas VLV 18 -Tiki Drinks, Tiki Style and Rockabilly Style — Some of the VIVA Gang. I love my new camera and I love that I’m holding 2 drinks!

While I was at Frankie’s I was excited to have the fantastic “Miss Victory Violet” and her really nice husband Matt join us at our table. I have been following her blog for some time as she has the most amazing wardrobe and so it was wonderful to finally meet her in person. They are from New Zealand and are currently doing a whirlwind tour all over various countries.

Frankie's Tiki Room with Miss Victory Violet -Tiki Bar / Tiki Style / Pinup Style — The Vintage Inn meets Miss Victory Violet

One last Frankie Photo…

Frankie's Tiki Room VLV 18 2015-Tiki Style, Tiki Statue, Pinup Style. — Tiki gods are the best.

Then we jumped in a cab and ventured off to Fremont St. to see what adventures we could get into. Of course the first thing we had to do was get our picture taken at Binions with the Million Dollars (note Binions took a blurry shot of us, not my fault).

Binions las vegas million dollars picture. — So close but yet so far

Then we met some Canadian Viva attendees while wandering. My husband joined their Black Shirt Gang 🙂

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. group of attendees. — Canadian’s only wear black shirts. True Story.

Zoltar! My friend Liisa needed to get her fortune told by this ancient and supposedly wise man.

Zoltar Fremont St. Las Vegas — What is that you say Zoltar?

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Viva las Vegas rockabilly weekender — What does the ancient card say?

I think her fortune told her that she would find the strangest but yet pretty darn good chips seen below.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. — Herri’s brand can do no wrong.

Fremont is so bright and pretty and a bit gawdy but I like it that way.

Anyone for $0.99 Deep Fried Twinkie? Or Oreo?

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Glitter Gulch famous sign.

Let the Lightshow Begin! This is always cool and I never get bored of seeing it.

One of the things I really like about Fremont St. is how there are lots of cool vintage neon signs all over the strip. Here are some of them.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Vintage Signs. Giant Martini Glass

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. East District signs.

Can’t stand this beer, but I LOVE the sign (The Beer of Rockabilly weekenders everywhere).

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Pabst blue ribbon neon sign.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. giant palm tree with dice neon sign. — Kassandra and the Giant Palm Tree coming to a theatre near you

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. giant flamingo neon sign. — I Love Flamingos!

And then the night was done with one final picture.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly weekender group of attendees.

Have you ever been to Vegas, Fremont St. or Frankie’s? Or maybe all of them. If so tell me your favorite parts!

Further Reading:

Liz 🙂

Tag: VLV

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18-Sunday

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18-Wednesday (Pre Viva day)