Rockabilly festivalgoers flaunt ’50s fashions in Las Vegas — PHOTOS
As rockabilly gatherings go, Viva Las Vegas reigns supreme. In the 20 years since it began, the festival has grown to attract an international audience of 20,000, made up of folks who were around to experience rockabilly as it emerged in the ’50s and to newcomers who’ve been introduced to the subculture by way of fashion and cars. For all, it’s prime time to slick their hair, fluff out their skirts and flaunt their best ’50s finds. The Review-Journal talked with several festivalgoers at The Orleans over the weekend.
Danyelle Van Der Stratten
Age: 40
Hometown: Los Angeles, California, and Austin, Texas
Occupation: Country club athletic director and scene shop assistant
Where did you get the different parts of your outfit? “I built it over the last few years. Most of my things come from Texas, from estate sales, or from family. I still have quite a bit of family things.
Is this an ensemble you’d wear regularly? “Sometimes, I do a lot of vintage things in LA, that’s my second home, so I would wear it daily in that circumstance.”
How did you first get exposed to rockabilly? “This is my third Viva Las Vegas. I think probably through the vintage scene in LA. I’m a member of the Art Deco Society there, and it kind of overlaps a little bit with rockabilly, and I’m a swing dancer, so through dance.”
Daniel Tafoya
Age: 21
Hometown: Las Vegas
Occupation: Student
Is this your first time at the festival? “Nope, and this isn’t our first time with the car either.”
What does the rockabilly look entail for you? “Clean jeans and dirty shirts.”
Do you ever drive the car? “Oh yeah, take it on dates. You’ll guarantee a date — at least one date — with this car.”
Criesten and Edrie Devries
Ages: 67, 54
Hometown: Rotterdam, Amsterdam
Occupation: Not working, plumber
Did you come all this way for Viva Las Vegas? Criesten: “Yes, only for this, yes.”
Is this your first time here? Edrie: “(We’ve been) six times.”
What does rockabilly mean to you? Criesten: “Everything.” Edrie: “It’s rockabilly, rock and roll is a part of our life. Our living room is totally ‘50s, jukeboxes, classic cars, everything around ‘50s.”
Allen Bryant, with Jeanne Bryant
Age: 70
Occupation: Operations manager for a logging company
Hometown: Drummond, Montana
Is this your first time here at Viva Las Vegas? “Nope, we’ve been down here five years now, I think. We come down here to get out of the cold. It snowed before we left, so we’re glad to be here.”
How long have you been interested in the rockabilly subculture? “My passion for music is blues, but I really like hot rods, so we have a hot rod and some of our friends have hot rods, so we came down for the car show originally, and the rockabilly was just kind of a fun thing that went along with that. We started taking some dance classes and just having some fun. It’s a great weekend for us.”
Elle Skeen
Age: 26
Hometown: Loveland, Colorado
Occupation: Hairdresser
Tell me about how you collect your vintage clothing. “I got the dress from a local vintage shop in Boulder, Colorado. … It’s called Gold Mine Vintage, and they have great stuff. They always call me whenever they get really good ones in. … So, mostly vintage antique stores.”
When did you first become interested in rockabilly or vintage fashions? “When I was 16. I moved to England and kind of fell in love with it when I was there and ever since I came home.”
What was your exposure to it there? “Just other people who were interested in it. People in Colorado aren’t that interested in fashion and then, going somewhere where you’re really immersed in fashion and people interested in it, I kind of refined what I liked.”
Jennifer Affronti, stage name Ms. Redd
Age: “I am … what’s my answer? Timeless.”
Hometown: Las Vegas
Occupation: Burlesque dancer and pin-up model
How did you get into burlesque performing? “Actually, all because of this. I was a pin-up model and then my step-dad was like, ‘You should dance.’ I’ve always wanted to do burlesque and the morning we had that conversation, the next night he died. So that was our last talk.”
How long ago was that? “Eight years ago.”
How did you get your stage name? “Everyone called me Red, and at the time I was doing pin-up modeling and I needed a pin-up name. Everybody just called me Red, that was my nickname, and this little Southern guy was like, ‘Oh, excuse me Miss Red,’ but I heard ‘misread,’ as in, ‘to misread.’ Everybody misreads me, they’re like, ‘She’s (an expletive), she’s a this.’ He turned around, and I’m like, that’s it! … I checked on the computer, nobody had that name, I sent it in and that was that.”
