Appropriate attire for Vegas clubs
 

I'll be in Vegas the last weekend in September and want to go to a few clubs while there (Pure, Light, Tao, etc.). I am curious as to what's acceptable attire.

Would it be okay for a man to wear nice jeans (Sevens, Rock & Republic, etc.)? I'm also a big fan of Gola sneakers (and Puma) -- are these okay?

TTT

Are you hot? If you are, what you wear probably matters a lot less.

Enjoy Vegas.

Those are fine with a nice top or hip/trendy t-shirt. Women wear more cute party dresses.

Hmm...the sneakers could be an issue if the bouncer is a jerk, but premium denim is completely fine for any club.

Don't like the sneaker idea, but jeans and a dress shirt rolled at elbows no tucked in will look great, gotta girl on your arm? If she is dressed well that helps, take cash for the line, go to guy with clipboard, at least $40 to get some love,plus you will get charged the cover when you get in. Don't wait all night, not worth it, all is fun. Lure on Thurs at Wynn good place too!

Hi Liam - I had a crazy girls weekend in Vegas this past April. I'll top my trip report so you can see where we went.

Am I hot?... Uhh, how does one answer that question? Yes, I guess is the easiest answer. *LOL

Will I have a girl on my arm? I'll have five girls on my arm. And two guys. I'm part of a group of friends celebrating one of those milestone birthdays. I'm the only single one.

Nice top or hip/trendy tee shirt? Not only am I the single one, I'm also the gay one. Hip and trendy? -- got that covered. *LOL

But seriously, thanks for all the advice. I'll rethink the sneakers -- just another excuse to go shoe shopping, I guess!!

For guys, jeans is no a go. For girls, especially "Hot" ones...lol, pretty much anything goes. As the poster above noted, party dresses are very popular.

You hit those 3 joints & you're already down $100 just getting in the door. Talk to your hotels concierge & see if they can get you to the front of the line, & in free. I was going to say it is unlikely the girls will bite on a dude w/sneaks on, but I can't speak for the guys...

As a guy be prepared to spend an extremely long time to get into a nightclub. Women don't have that problem as VIP passes are given out pretty freely. While my friend was visiting in May we went to Jet and Tao and jeans and sneakers were common for men. If the look is pulled together well it won't be a problem.

Is anyone staying at the Venetian? If you hit the pool scene a female with a good bod can get a VIP pass from the bartenders so you don't even have to pay to go to Tao. Likewise if you eat dinner at Tao you may get a line pass which takes you to a different VIP line that takes about 30 mins vs. the two hour long line. But there is a complimentary Tao pass with no waiting or entrance fee you can get at the Venetian's pool if you flirt with the bartenders:)

Ps, the nightclubs are so crowded people won't be able to see your shoes anyways. You are person to person.

I still have a Tao VIP pass, let me know if you want it, you can contact me through the email next to my name. The back of the card says dress code for men is a collared shirt. This is a complimentary admission for you and a guest and no waiting in line.

What's the demographic for Tao?

travelinwifey: yes, we're all staying at The Venetian.

When my guy friends go to Vegas, they sometimes use a handler for the weekend if it's going to be particularly crazy. It really costs next to nothing, and you'll never wait in line.

On the sneakers, I agree w/ travlinwifey that they might not notice, but I wouldn't risk it. It would be so annoying if you had to leave your group to go changes shoes.

I'm not sure if SaNparis understands "sneaker semantics", but most girls and stylish men that I know woudln't even hesitate to talk to someone in stylish sneakers.

Tao's demographic is mostly a younger and hip crowd for the nightclub. For the restaurant anything goes. Mostly a younger crowd but depending on the conventions in town there can be diners in their 50's and such. Great place to see celebrities.

Liam, in that case go to the pool and have the ladies order some drinks and flirt with the bartenders:) And don't be afraid to ask if they know of any way to get into Tao w/o the long line, wink, wink:) Be sure you're a good tipper!

Hope this helps and have a great trip:)

Wow - a 2 hour line to get into a club? And people actually wait in these lines? Must be some club - LOL.

The top LV clubs are like that on the weekends Pure, Jet, Tao, even during the week. Women usually get line passes from persons standing outside the casino on the strip or through the hotel like mentioned above. But if the woman is with a guy they guy can't go in with her unless it is a VIP free entry pass. At my age I'd never stand in that line but many folks do. Ps, the bouncers at Tao suck, they all are dead faced. I know they're trying to be hip but it wouldn't hurt to be at least a little personable. Me thinks some are on ego trips.

Ps, Liam, if you are interrested in a gay nightclub Krave attached to the Aladdin (Planet Hollywood) is amazing. I took my gay friend there and we had an absolute blast.

Travelinwifey:

Thanks for your continued input and advice -- keep it coming!

About Tao (et. al.), yeah, I know there will some serious velvet rope treatment going on and, no, I'm not standing in line for 2 hours anywhere. A friend referred me to Napkin Nights which allows you to get on VIP lists. I'm hoping that staying at the Venetian and using the concierge might get us in a little quicker than waiting in the regular line.

I've heard of Krave (mixed things, actually), and I might look into it, but probably on my own as I'm sure my friends would rather do other things.

Liam, I think your trainers will be fine and it sounds like you are covered!

-are you planning on gambling? if you are, and a considerable amount (like 500-$1K at least), get a the hotel's card and talk to the "host" to get you on the list to the hotel's club or possibly another one. you will still need to have more girls than guys and all should be pretty attractive to avoid the insane lines (btw, most of the clubs sucks once you get in, but it sounds like you're going in a group and you're gay, so you'll be fine).

- high-end jeans is pretty much what all "hip" guys wear to these clubs.

- for the best crowd, i wouldn't go to Pure. Do the new clubs at the Palms, the clubs at Hard Rock and the Mandalay Bay in addition to the Wynn and Tao.

Thanks to all for the input. I'm heading to Vegas this weekend. Maybe it's the pre-packing concerns getting to me but... a coworker and I were just talking about this issue and she said that certain clubs are flexible with their "no jeans" dress code, but that bouncers (being bouncers) at certain places, Tao for example, might decide they want to selectively enforce the dress code to keep someone out.

I pretty much had my nighttime clothing planned out: nice dress shirts and new shoes that go well with dark-wash premium jeans -- but that do not go at all well with black or charcoal grey dress slacks, and I really don't want to have to pack multiple things (or buy yet one more "something new"). I hate wearing dark slacks since I wear them all the time in my business casual job. Frankly, they're pretty frumpy, not at all cool or chic like how I'd imagine club patrons ought to dress.

I hate to sound like some whiney jerk, but if I am put together well (crisp shirt, nice jeans, nice shoes, spit polished and smelling nicely -- and I'm not ugly, *LOL) is it really likely that I would get turned away at the door?

Again, maybe I'm worrying about nothing, but I have limited time to make wardrobe changes at this point.

Thanks!

Liam - calm down brother - you'll be fine! If you look cool, you'll not have a problem. I was out Tao v. recently, and most of the young men were wearing some version of exactly what you described.

Liam, honey, first of all, the attire in most of Las Vegas is rarely appropriate :D
It ranges from sad to pathetic to scary with a few glimpses of normal/ordinary/acceptable attire.

If you go out in black..you can manage well and if you are pretty, which you say you are...you will be fine too :D

Have fun and do me a favor ? Post a trip report..I have not been to Vegas in over a year..I always had great fun!!

Whatever you do, don't end up at The Buffalo!

Stop worrying. You will be hard-pressed to find someone who is NOT wearing jeans at these clubs. Nice shoes (no sneakers) and nice shirt are usually required, but nice jeans are always fine.

btw, to make sure you get in and don't have to wait for an hour in line, get there around 10pm, not later. also, expect to pay a cover. you can also buy a table/bottle service to get in quick, but it's expensive and not necessary if you're good or ok looking as you say and look nice and come early enough.

Have a great time Liam! You'll be fine in trendy jeans. Be sure to follow up when you get back on how it went:)

Thanks for the reassurance. As I said, it was the pre-packing jitters.

I'll post a trip report when I get back.

Thanks again!

Day 1, Friday: We (eight college friends, 3 men and 5 women, celebrating our collective 40th birthdays) departed Boston very early Friday morning on a non-stop flight (via US Air) to McCarran. The flight was uneventful, but I noticed the people were louder than on any other flight. Not obnoxiously loud, but talkative like there was a lot of excitement and buzz on the plane. Just under five hours later, we were setting down in Vegas. I had been warned and I now have to agree: baggage pickup at McCarran takes forever. Our flight landed at 9:45 and we didn't get our bags and get out to ground transport till close to 11:30. But we were all stress-free, happy to be there and quickly found the shuttle bus to the Venetian. The Venetian is awesome! We stayed in the Venezia Tower, which was very nice on the inside, but our room did not have much of a view. We looked down into the Venezia courtyard and Venezia pool, which were pretty but they seemed to be in shadows every time I looked out the window. The staff were very friendly and helpful and, while the interior of the Venetian is certainly showy -- which could easily cross the line into "cheese" -- dare I say I found it kind of classy? One thing I will say is that the guest area of the Venetian is huge. You will need to learn which elevators to take, which corridors to avoid, where to turn left, where to turn right, which bridge to cross, etc. You will also learn that getting anywhere inside the building takes multiple elevators, lots of walking and 15 minutes of your time. You will also learn every word of every "Phantom of the Opera" which is played on an endless loop in the elevators and corridors and the scent memory part of your brain will never forget the sweet perfumey smell of the place. What *is* that smell?

Bags dropped in the room, we started our day looking for a quick bite for lunch and the small food court inside the Venetian Casino fit the bill. Note: this is not the foodcourt in the Canal Shops, which looks like any ordinary mall foodcourt. The food court inside the Venetian Casino is a little more upscale looking and has very comfortable seats and tables. After we finished our paninis and wraps, we exited the Casino and made our way down the Strip.

I quickly discovered that Vegas appeals to all segments of society. Personally, I found the eastern (Venetian) side of the Strip from Harrahs to Bill's (Harrahs', Imperial Palace, O'Shea's, Flamingo and Bill's) completely not my taste -- the worst being that pedestrian traffic "notch" you are forced through at Harrah's. At Harrah's, you are forced through a small area dotted with pushcart vendors selling all kinds of non-essentials and tacky wares, past an obnoxiously loud outdoor/tented rock bar and through another small stretch of pushcart vendors. It's a relatively small space, but every hawker and gawker causes pedestrian traffic to slow to an intolerably slow pace -- by my standards. The two other guys in our group of 8 wanted to play a few hands of blackjack at the tented rock bar, so we stopped for our first libation of the day and listened to the disco sounds of the band. Actually, the band was really good. After dropping a quick $50, my friends decided to move along and we passed through the second half of "the notch" and back out to the Strip. After one passing through that space, I vowed I would *never* go through it again and that I'd prefer to cross the street and have a straight shot up and down the sidewalk past Caesar's and Mirage. Best laid plans… The other establishments in that block seemed be something between tired and outright seedy. The Imperial Palace reminded me of those old strip joints in Times Square, just a door with flashing lights and an escalator up to god-knows-what depravity awaiting upstairs. I forget which places had what "attraction", but the group agreed that none of us actually wanted to see the people who played in the strip poker room and our beer pong days being long over, I suggested crossing and checking out Caesar's and the Forum Shops.

My friends grudgingly agreed and we made our way across the Strip and through the Caesar's casino, past the Celine (soon to be Bette) Theatre, the Celine gift shop and into the Forum Shops. Missing the gay shopping gene -- to their discredit -- none of my friends had any interest in staying at the Forum Shops. We walked into it and my homing pigeon instincts told me we were going the wrong way, but they all insisted there *must* be an exit in that direction. My inner Mr. Burns was thinking "excellent" and I used their misdirection in the mall to discretely plot my return to check out Ferragamo and Gucci. We ended up at the dead end of the mall where the animatronic water/fire show takes place. We got there while the show was going on, and even though we were 50 or more feet from the shooting flames, could feel the heat. It was interesting, but I sensed my friends needed an Exit more than I needed to wallow in the kitsch of the spectacle.

We did find an exit at that end of the Forum Shops, but be warned: if you use it, you will suddenly get this "how did I end up behind the dumpster?" feeling. The area is actually dumpster-free, but if you go out this way you will be walking on the access road that runs between Caesars (hotel) and the Forum Shops. Why my friends refused to go back through the air-conditioned mall and prefered to see the backside of a parking garage was beyond me, but I sensed blame for taking them into the mall in the first place, so I quietly followed the pack. If you ever wondered why you never see a delivery truck on the Strip, this "road" will provide all the education you need. Back on the Strip (eventually), we opted to head back toward the Venetian -- avoiding the "notch of terror" at Harrah's.

Back at the Venetian, we checked out the Canal Shops, which is much smaller than I had imagined it would be and four of us decided to hit the pool. After a couple of elevator rides and trip around the "circle of hell", the point in the Venetian where all the hotel's guest rooms spoke out from the central hub ("look kids, Big Ben!"), we eventually found our way back to our rooms and then down to the pool deck on the 4th floor. Even though it was in the 80's, the pool deck was mostly in the shade by 4 pm and the breeze pushed us (figuratively speaking) toward the jaccuzzi. After an hour relaxing in the jaccuzzi area, we went back through the "circle of death" and to our rooms to get dressed for dinner at Bouchon.