Palm Springs, Vegas-Style

It's Christmas Time in the City

So this past weekend, Bob and Grace and I went to Palm Springs (see previous post).

I haven't really spent time in Palm Springs since the 80s when I was with husband #1.  We went occasionally and strolled along the strip where it was mostly tourist shops.  And lots of T-shirts that said things like: "My Parents Went to Palm Springs and All I Got Was This T-Shirt".  These shops were owned by the old guard - people who, at that time, were my age now - retired or nearly so.  They had been there when Sinatra ruled, politicians visited, and the mere mention of Palm Springs conjured oohs and aahs - but they were now residing over the "death" of that era.  

Palm Springs has changed a lot.

First of all, it has changed from a being primarily "retirement" to primarily "gay".  And the gay community has done with Palm Springs what they do best: they have brought the original fabulousness of the city back and made it very groovy again.  Authentic to its original  mid-century modern culture and decor, you can stroll through a virtual sea of furniture boutiques showcasing boomerang shaped coffee tables, lucite chairs and low couches with clean straight lines, and a whole lot of the color orange.  I was inspired to go home and throw out everything I own to redecorate 60's chic.  The gift shops offer vintage jewelry and clothing.  I found myself pining for a Jackie-esque yellow pill box hat in the window, a futuristic wire fruit bowl, and even a gold triangular ashtray with enough "grooves" along its edges to hold 18 cigarettes simultaneously, because the elegance of their display by such artistic proprietors made you truly appreciate the design.  It was great fun and I felt positively - Jetsons.


Loved it.

However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a big dollop of tacky.  Now I suppose tacky is in the eye of the beholder but the lobby of the Riveria Hotel is absolutely over the top.  You can't help but be impressed with the attention to the detail that went in to making it that "swingin', groovin', hangout that guys and chicks would really dig" that used to draw Sinatra and his Rat Pack  regularly- but no one said Sinatra was a standard of taste.  He had a decidedly Vegas sensibility.  Black, white, silver, gold, and oh my gosh! - mirrors!!! 

!!!

On the other hand, pool side was spectacular and we had an amazing lunch there.

Really new to the scene however, is a towering, 3-story sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her iconic pose from "The Seven Year Itch" that commands a huge presence in the middle of town.  I am at a complete loss for why anyone would feel compelled to build a 3-Story sculpture of Marilyn holding her dress down.  I mean, haven't we seen that image uncountable billions of times in our short lives already?  Hasn't it already been used to death in advertisements and posters and books and TV shows and tributes to Marilyn and T-Shirts and everywhere else to the point that we know it inside and out?  What is the purpose?  What is the meaning?  What new perspective can we gain from yet another exploitation of this image?

Still, I told Bob and Grace to let me take their picture with her.  And it was at that moment that I recognized the perspective that this sculpture offered that really was entirely new.

I had to peek too.

Basic white cotton.