Flights of Shopping Fancy

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MANDALAY PLACE

Mandalay Bay was the starting point and inspiration for this tour, so it’s only fitting we return here. Mandalay Place is one of my favorite places to shop in Vegas, if for no other reason than the majority of the shops are one-of-a-kind boutiques, offering visitors things both unique and wonderful.

At a time when independent booksellers are an endangered species, The Reading Room displays titles not found at the local Borders. Grab a page-turner and head upstairs to the Chocolate Swan for indulgence nonpareil. Copper chargers gleam on the wooden tables, and glorious pumpkin gateaus and banana Napoleons beckon from their case.

For another kind of indulgence, Blank Space has home accessories and fashions with quiet design and whispered style, such as Jonathan Adler’s Reform Temple Collection. If you want to spoil your pooch as well, Lush Puppy offers Murano drinking bowls and chew toys in the shape of Matisse’s dancing figures.

Paired with: The 1978 Barbeito Sercial Madeira, by the bottle at 55 Degrees. Madeira may not be the wine of the moment, but that’s what makes it perfect for Mandalay Place. It takes a different frame of mind to break away from the crowd, and ending the day with a fine wine just now starting to blossom seems the perfect pairing.

WYNN

Ah, Wynn. Even its Web site doesn’t fit on my screen.

Built on the site of the Desert Inn, the hotel that served as Howard Hughes’ hideout for four years, Wynn cost $2.7 billion and offers no street-side entertainment to draw in visitors. It doesn’t need a lure——it is Wynn, after all. Lest you forget, the shops at the Esplanade inside will remind you. The first Las Vegas stores of Oscar de la Renta, Jean Paul Gaultier and Manolo Blahnik are here, as well as some of the others you might see one or two other places.

Despite the 1789 motif of Dior’s recent runway shows, what was found on the inside of Dior at Wynn matched the ambience of the Esplanade——serene and exquisite. Ditto the shoes at the convenient Shoe In, where all the great collections are gathered together, like the Giuseppe Zanotti black strap sandals with jewels dangling over the toes, or the Salpy gold brocade mules. Some of these names have individual stores elsewhere in Las Vegas, but stop here first and you’ll be able to pound the pavement in grand style.

I admit I didn’t pay the $10 admission charge to the Ferrari dealership, although my sources tell me it is the highest-grossing dealership in the country. I just wasn’t in the market for a new car with a starting price of $200,000. I did, however, go into the next-door Ferrari Store, where authentic Ferrari parts seem to be the big sellers. Buy enough of them and I suppose you could build your own car.

Paired with: The 2002 Blason de L’Evangile Merlot found at Parasol Down, the exquisite outdoor lounge by the water wall. According to critics, the 2002 vintage does not approach the level of other, better years, but tasting it was like window-shopping at Wynn——I got the idea without the cost.

BELLAGIO

Bellagio stands apart from the others in so many ways. Like its famed art collection, it is imposing without flash, enticing without pressure, and most of all, it knows its worth. You soon know yours once you are amid the shops at Via Bellagio.

At Gucci, spring was ushered in with dragonfly motifs on sunglasses and shirts, as well as the colors and flirty cuts Frida Giannini brought to Milan last fall. Though definitely not my color, I liked the Easter-egg purple gown with the jeweled dragonfly on the bodice. It’s probably a good thing the dragonfly gown was out, because I fell in love with Armani’s soft palette and layers, especially a mist-colored ensemble with a chiffon overlay on the lapel, one of the big marks of this year’s collection.

Okay, so I passed on the Armani as well, but that didn’t stop me from looking in at the Fred Leighton store. One-of-a-kind Victorian pieces and exotic Indian rubies are displayed for all to see and try on, a strategy that exemplifies why Las Vegas is rapidly overtaking other cities as the world’s shopping hub.

Paired with: The 2003 Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay at the Baccarat Bar in the casino and within eyesight of the shops. Ferrari-Carano blends fruit from eight of its vineyards, located all over the Napa region. It’s complex without being overly surprising——a good fit with Bellagio’s quiet elegance.

THE FORUM SHOPS AT CAESARS

Is there anything not for sale in Vegas? Well, yes——the carved koala bears in the window of Opals and Gems of Australia in the Forum Shops at Caesars. Or maybe there was a price tag, but certainly no one in the store was owning up to one.

The Forum Shops are loud and crowded, and I really like being there. I like the false sky. I like the 50,000-gallon aquarium. I even like the cheesy animated pantheon that comes to life at regularly scheduled intervals. When Bacchus started moving like an arthritic mime, a crowd gathered to watch, leaving me clear to pop into Vicci, a fine-jewelry store that’s the only authorized Fabergé dealer in Las Vegas. The famous eggs run from $10,000 to $140,000, and yes, there is a member of the Fabergé family still involved with the making of these pieces.

One of the newer stores to open is Tourneau Time Dome, the biggest watch mall in the world at 17,000 square feet. It opened just last November, and its sleek, modern design with an upstairs loft matches some of the watches on display——Issey Miyake, Marc Ecko and, of course, Tourneau.

Paired with: Chianti Classico Ruffino’s Riserva Ducale Gold Label at Bertolini’s. The extended fermentation the riservas go through makes this a perfect choice. The flavors of leather, chocolate and concentrated fruit are rich and mature, matching the Forum Shops perfectly. If you squint——just a little——you’ll start to believe you’re in a (very crowded) Italian village.

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