Suited for Vegas - Oscar Goodman Style
- Russel Frank
- Apr 22, 2015
- 7 min read
Theme: Suited for Vegas – Oscar Goodman Style!!
Fashion Stylist: Myself
Wardrobe: One Monarchy | Town Square Mall
Designer: RNT23 | Ron Tompson available at One Monarchy
Photographer: Joe Tholt
Hair: Cole Blake
Make Up: Leila Vonsleichter - Difore - Sin City Makeup
Model: Mackenzie Claude | TNG Models
Show Girls: Allison B. and Jamie R. | Best Show Girls in Las Vegas
Model, Mackenzie C. in the textured blazer, by RN23 available at One Monarchy.
Hair, Cole Blake and Photographer Joe Tholt (photo bomb)
First let me just start off by saying, Mackenzie and I are attached at the photo shoot hips!! This alone is our seventh shoot since my time in Vegas, over the past 3 years!! We just work well together!! He had this concept for some time now, but I wasn’t understanding or grasping the concept to keep it high fashion related. He approached me again for this shoot, and I have to say… this was not on my to do list. The concept was very VEGAS, with show girls involved. He sent me inspiration photos of former Mayor, Oscar Goodman. I wasn’t impressed, but as he kept sharing his idea I started to get convinced. I had to put my spin on it. I told Mack, he already have suits in your port, and so do I. At the same time, the show girls gave it a twist. He asked me my thoughts. I wasn’t completely honest with him, but I told him I have always wanted to do a shoot surrounded by suits and how to wear them. Dress them up, dress them down, stylish, and fitted. He loved the idea.
One Monarchy boutique, located at Town Square Mall - Las Vegas
With suits being the main piece of wardrobe, looking for menswear suits that aren’t your basic black, navy, or grey suits is tough. I needed something to stand out! Not your normal suit! Mack and I went out looking at suits, since he is tall and lean, we needed suits that would fit his body frame perfectly. We stopped in at One Monarchy at Town Square Mall in Las Vegas. I’ve been to this boutique before, and it had doubled in size since it’s relocation and remodel. Their menswear had doubled up as well!! Flashy shirts, bright prints and colors, and they had a large suit selection! There were mixtures of print suits, plaid suits, tweeds, velour, leather, and denim suit jackets. Just our luck, the boutique owner was in. I shared the idea and concept of the shoot, she loved it. We quickly made arrangements for me to do the pull for wardrobe. All the suit jackets happen to be by the same designer lable, RNT23 | Ron Tompson I chose three jackets from them, and had Mack bring some other for the shoot. I also had some other pieces as accessories and other wardrobe I picked up from other stores as well. Before we went our separates ways, he asked me my advise for selection of the show girl suits. There was your typical pink, blue, gold, purple suits, but to make it less cheesy, I suggested the black suit and the silver suit. He agreed, and it was confirmed from the show girls, the suits were available.
The day of the shoot, I picked up the wardrobe, and stopped in at Aldo for shoes. I arrived same time as Leila, and it was good to catch up with her. It’s been a while since I had worked with here. Over a year since we collaborated together. Side note: I think Leila's makeup techinique is flawless!! She is great at her work and craft, I adore her and her personality. She even has a Youtube channel, I suggest if you're into makeup and tutorials, hop over to her page and check it out!!! She and I walked up to the room at the hotel. As usual, I went in and started to prep the wardrobe. Did it old school, and pulled out the iron and ironing board. Side note, seeing it was suits, the wardrobe needed the clean with the pressing, and the slacks needed pleats and creastess. We ran into Cole and later Joe showed up. Cole is a hair genious!! I don't have a need for his service, he mostly has a female clental, but all I hear about is his hair blow outs and curls! He is amazing, never any complaints. He has come a far way in such short time. I love it walking on location and I see hime as the hair stylist!! Joe, its been since November we shot together! Hes a talentd photographer. He nails the shot so quick and so sudden!! So clean and an edit genious!! It was a great team on site!!!!
I chatted with Mack for a bit, went over the story and the spots he wanted to do the shoot. One thing I do appreciate about working with Mackenzie, and why we’ve done so many shoots together, he keeps me in the loop, asks my advice, suggestions, and asks how I am feeling about the shoots. So when he asked me, again, I did tell him the shoot was cheesy. Then after hearing his concept of the shoot, seeing the location, and the wardrobe selected, I was getting more and more into it. I see our concept being more fashion than cheesy, which was exactly what I was aiming for.
Normally, I don’t like to go into detail of the wardrobe, but this shoot had a purpose and a story behind it. So I’ll share my ideas and what each wardrobe was about. The fist look to the last look.
Men’s simple back suit. I styled it with a vest. All black simple suit. This suit we were aiming for the classic look. Every man needs a suit in his wardrobe, let alone an all black suit. It’s safety suit, for every man. Even if he isn’t a formal kind of guy, there will always be that one event or engagement that he will need a suit. You can’t go wrong with always a black suit, white button up, and solid black tie. We changed it up, for the sake of Suited for Vegas, for Mack’s bedazzled black tie. Rhinestones was designed on the tie (designed by one of his partners, Derrick Barry).
Behind the scenes photo, on set of shoot.
Denim blazer, keeping it casual and fun. This look for more going out to concert event to hear your local rock band, while they are in town. Denim blazer to keep it casual and fun, but the blazer look to keep it dressed up. I styled it down with a fitted t-shirt and white denim. He was dressed up ready to be guest fan on stage of the rock band!
Behind the scenes photo, on set of shoot.
Navy blue suit with mixing prints for shirt and tie. Just like the simple black suit, the navy blue is needed for formal looks. Navy keeps it less formal like a black suit, mix it up with a fun print shirt and tie. Side note, Leila (makeup artist) and I chatted about styling and how it’s crazy to see different looks come together. My advise to her, not everyone can pull off these mix styling. The man has to be confident and comfortable. He has to own it when it comes to mixing prints and patterns. Just like the blue floral print shirt matched with the navy blue stripe tie. I love it when on set, someone comments how crazy talented it is to see styling like mine come together!
Behind the scenes photo, on set of shoot.
The VIP bottle service suit, with textures and a feeling of flashy. The black blazer with velour velvet texture. Be brave enough to wear a textured blazer, but take it to another level for a mixture of texture blazer, print shirt layered with another print shirt! That’s my motto, mix it up, change it up, don’t be afraid of textures and prints! (Behind the Scenes pic on top of page of blog).
The double breasted blazer. If suits are your dress code, you will need a nice double breasted jacket. Style it up with some shorts!! Crazy concept, but whether your visiting or living in Vegas, you will be sure to check out the day clubs. Why not dress up for it in a suit jacket with some shorts! It’s a summer trend for suit jackets, so you can still feel formal and casual at the same time. Don’t forget…. No socks with the shoes!!
Behind the scenes photo, on set of shoot.
For this shoot, I didn’t style the two show girls. These are legit show girls who have multiple costumes and appearance they make each day. They provided their own suits. We did ask for silver suits, but they only were able to get a hold of the black suits. Was a let down, but when we thought about it, it worked in our favor. Bringing the shoot back to menswear, back to suits, this wasn’t about the show girls nor their costume suits. Having each look in the shots with the same show girl suit, they didn’t steal the shot.
The behind the scenes of the images were great!! I started to like the shoot more and more! My favorites were the nontraditional blazers that I picked up from One Monarchy. It really was fate linking up with them. Being that we walked into the boutique not expecting to walk in and pull wardrobe, they were on board without a doubt. I wasn’t expecting them to have such a growth in menswear, let alone having suits and blazers options like what they had. Let’s not forget having a model like Mackenzie, his measurements are hard to fit. Tall and lean, but fining blazers to fit him right. Side note… no pins or clamping was used on this shoot for the blazers. Normally that is a technique used to make the wardrobe be fitted and hide the extra fabric of the wardrobe. Not on this shoot!!
These images will be sent out for Vegas based Magazines.
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