The Junior League of Las Vegas and the Morelli House Public Program are hosting the fist-ever Passion for Vintage Fashion event on Saturday, March 10.
The sold-out event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the historic Antonio Morelli House located at 861 E. Bridger Ave. in downtown Las Vegas.
Passion for Vintage Fashion will present a fashion show of the Junior League’s collection of women’s midcentury fashion and accessories that were donated by Junior League members and community supporters.
Guest will see an array of elegant formalwear, chic cocktail dresses, sophisticated suits, coats, trendy hats, handbags, costume jewelry and more from the a 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Formalwear is part of the Passion for Vintage Fashion show.
This midcentury suit is one of the outfits on display at the Morelli House.
A midcentury-style coat
Dr. Deirdre Clemente — a historian of 20th-century American culture with a focus on fashion and clothing, and an associate professor in the history department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — will commentate the show.
The collection was assembled to “enhance the Morelli House Public Program’s interpretation of Antonio and Helen Morelli’s midcentury lifestyle in Las Vegas between l954 and 1972.”
During that time, Morelli gained fame as the orchestra conductor and musical director for the popular Copa Room at the legendary Sands hotel-casino.
The Passion for Vintage Fashion event also will feature a continental brunch and door prizes, as well as a raffle drawing for high-end prizes, including a Las Vegas staycation and other deluxe packages that will benefit the Morelli House Public Program. Tickets for the drawing will be available for purchase during the fashion show.
Serving as a classic example of midcentury residential architecture in Las Vegas, the Antonio Morelli House was built in 1959. Originally located at 52 Country Club Drive, the house was situated in the prestigious Desert Inn Country Club Estates, which overlooked the renowned Desert Inn Golf Course.
In September 2001, the Junior League of Las Vegas relocated the house to the downtown Las Vegas historic district when its existence was threatened by the building of the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
After renovating the structure, the organization opened the Morelli House for its first public viewing in April 2007. Today, more than 5,000 visitors have toured the Morelli House through the public program presented by the Junior League.
The Morelli House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, and it also has been placed on the city and state’s registers.
