TOBS Viva Las Vegas 19 Wrap Up!
I'm back from my second Viva Las Vegas and oh man was it fantastic! My schedule was packed this year so I didnt have any time to really hang out but that's the life of a designer I guess. We arrived on Wednesday and headed straight to the Golden Tiki because I knew this would be the only time I could get there. I really enjoyed it because it's much bigger than Frankie's and you can kind of get away from the cigarette smoke. The drinks were incredible and I did run into fellow designer from Red Dolly Swimwear and met a few fans so that was a nice surprise.
Then we had fittings all day on Thursday in our room. This year I brought Ceci Rau from Ceci Punch Designs and my new assistant Autumn to help out and we got a suite so that we had plenty of room for everyone. And let me tell you we used every inch of that room!
Ceci fit all the girls with beautiful jewelry from her collection.
You can shop her site here: www.cecipunch.com
You can shop her site here: www.cecipunch.com
Thursday afternoon we headed to the rehearsal space with all our props in tow. I had 14 girls and 4 guys in the show which was a lot compared to last year!
The music was a mixture of 1960's dance party and mid century jazz. My favorite song of all time is Take 5 so I had to put it in there. The last song is called Cocktails Darling and that song was from a cd of vintage burlesque music that a friend lent to me. I heard it last year and I really wanted to use it but it didn't go with last year's theme. But this year it was a perfect fit for the finale!
I had some fun props and wanted to make the ending a great surprise but working with so many people its hard to get the timing just right. We finished up rehearsal and I hoped for all the best. Time will tell on Friday if we could pull it all off!
Then we headed back to the room to get ready for my meet & greet at Frankie's Tiki Room.
I was lucky enough to be invited by Millie Michelle and Rick Miller the photographer. Not knowing what to do I said yes of course and quickly pulled some t's and a skirt for a raffle. Now if you have ever been there you know its TINY! And being the first night of Viva it was damn packed! But I was so excited to see that some people were funneling in wearing my designs! Girls, guys - I just couldn't believe my eyes! So the deal was you had to take a photo with me and tag us at Frankie's on Instagram. Then I was just handing out raffle tickets because it became really hard to keep taking photos for the raffle and t's.
Friday came much too fast and we rose early to gather up everything, get ourselves ready and head down to the showroom for the run through. I just prayed that everyone shows up - I know that it's easy to go out and party and forget that you have to be up at 6am for hair and makeup to be show ready! Being in my fashion show is a big commitment and some girls don't realize that until they are half-way through. We only had 1 casualty so that was a big relief. Luckily I had enough girls that I could throw the extra outfit on one of them and still have the outfit in the show.
My good friend Tara O'Connor from Tara O Photos sat front row to capture all the excitement! Kate from Sink Or Swim was kind enough to lend me some beautiful purses for the show... have a look below!
MODELS: Millie Michelle, Pinup Little Bit - Miss Viva Las Vegas 19, Felina Vie, Hailey Kathleen Rose, Elena LeBlanc, Shannie Shortcake, Kitty Von Rose, Elizabeth Mason, Crystal Bordeaux, Natasha Noir, Miss Mandy Mischief, Riley Redd, Vivacious Via, Captain Awesome, Mickey Lee Bukowski, Atomic Bill & Rick Miller.
Then we had to go setup the booth in the car show. This is a process but we got it down I think! Skip made me some amazing coffin shelves that really brought my booth together.
Lots of old friends came out to shop from all over the world! This is Miss Pixie from Australia - she is the owner of Miss Pinup Australia!
Then I did a signing with 2 of my most popular models Miss Felina Vie and Hailey Kathleen Rose. I did a limited run of 30 posters and the line soon became too long and they were out before we knew it!
So that was the end of Viva 19! I am so looking forward to next year and the 20th anniversary of this amazing event! See you next year! Click below for more photos!
