Caesar’s Palace (Las Vegas, NV)

The Hollywood legend that is Caesar’s Palace opened in 1962, when the owners (Jay Sarno and Nate Jacobson) threw a Greco-Roman style party of grandeur to kick off their new venture. They pioneered the Caesar’s Palace chic which is: high class shopping and dining amongst beautiful architecture. I have visited Las Vegas 5 times in my life and I truly enjoy visiting Caesar’s Palace. Being inside Caesar’s palace had a much different feel than any other time I had been. Minutes prior to my ethnographic observations, I had lost $70 in poor wagers. Feeling down on my luck, I played The Simpson’s penny slot machine, betting $1.25 cents and struck a $700 jackpot instantaneously. This was also my first attempt at gambling, so I was quite excited. At that point I decided to call the gambling quits and soak in the atmosphere of Las Vegas, Nevada (Specifically Caesar’s palace). Upon entering Caesar’s palace, I became enthralled by a few things: the ceiling that is painted to look like a sky, the Fountain of Gods and the prominent fashion scene. I took a seat on a nearby bench and gathered some photos of the Fountain of the Gods statue. At first, I truly focused on the Poseidon sculpture; he is elegantly riding a fish and wielding a green trident. The trident was designed to look heroic: displaying Poseidon as a protector of his domain, yet it looked so violent to me as I stared longer. I am not sure why, but I was intrigued that Poseidon’s faces remained stoic, and his body made him appear to be a wrathful god. This was quite enjoyable to ponder about, so I looked around, curious to see if anyone else was paying attention to the fountain. The people eating at the neighboring restaurant had a perfect view from the patio. Their group comprised of 5 older folk that were dressed sharp, yet oddly alike: in different colored silk button ups with blazers draped over their chairs, and dark pants stacking neatly over Chelsea boots. I noticed that they had little to no interest in the sculpture, they were too consumed with business and bantering back-and-forth about seemingly boring issues. This disappointed me, so I started to observe tourist who appeared excited about their location. Christian Louboutin and Dior shop bags rested at the feet of the other tourists who wanted pictures in front of the fountain. One man I found very interesting was wielding a selfie stick and attempting to get his whole family in the photo (Wife and two 8-10-year-old children). The 2 young children were very reluctant– much like I would be at their age– to take so many pictures. The situation escalated from excitement for a picture of a well-crafted artwork into a family argument of “flash or no flash”. It became apparent that the father had no idea how to use a selfie stick, so I decided to offer them to take the picture. He handed me his phone and said to the kids “the faster you smile the faster we can shop”. I laughed at this. I snapped 4 horizontal and 4 vertical portraits, however it became apparent that I am not a photographer. The man’s wife told me that I needed to take more. I have rather shaky hands and I knew this was the issue. To combat this, I took a surfeit of pictures this time, ensuring that at least 1 photo would be Social Media Worthy. Finally, I sat down and began to observe the ceiling. For me, it was peaceful. I was not focused on the sea of shoppers that flowed tirelessly around me. By then it was 8:30 p.m., however the superficial sky in Caesar’s Palace said otherwise. Hazy clouds speckled the blue sky which acted as the blank canvas of the facade. The shades of blue and white were not fluid, but it created a sort of dreamy effect. At that moment staring at the fake sky, I was baffled by how it looked so real, yet felt so romanticized. I believe that the overall architecture of Caesar’s Palace compliments the dreamy nature of the sky painted ceiling. I had always appreciated the ancient bourgeoise look of Caesar’s Palace, but after observing and researching the history, I appreciate it even more. The art-deco style allows for the architecture to pay homage to Greco-Roman buildings, but it also fosters modern culture as it implements itself. Personally, I found it amazing that all the various retail stores were able to adapt their personal aesthetic to that of Caesar’s Palace. The shops were interesting, Caesar’s palace only allows the gold standard of fashion to implement themselves in good their spaces. At this point, I realized that many of my beloved couture retailers (Dior, Loewe, Chrome Hearts, Hermes etc.) were geographically grouped near each other. Once I was finished observing the scenery, I realized how people can have so many different interests in a given area. Like, I was making observations about an interesting fountain, while families were taking pictures and the businessmen paid no attention to the composition of their surroundings.