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Checking In on The Emperor's Wife

Where: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89109

When we last checked in on Elaine Wynn, Jason Kidd had given her his U.S. Olympic Gold Medal. Um. Right. So what is Steve Wynn's wife up to now that Encore Las Vegas has just opened?

Well according to the LA Times, the emperor's wife is busying herself with helping the flailing Las Vegas economy. Mrs. Wynn has a real job at Wynn Resorts as a director and she oversees all the retail shops at the hotels. And what a fun job it must have been to select the stores for Encore.

The project, billed as the Wynn hotel's "sexy little sister," includes several boutiques -- Hermès; the new Chanel Ultra-Luxe boutique (the first in the U.S.); the edgy multibrand Ensemble with new styles by Ossie Clark, Thomas Wylde and Philipp Plein and vintage finds such as a 1966 Paco Rabanne Lucite and metal chain-link dress ($10,780); In Step, a temple to over-the-top shoes such as Nicholas Kirkwood's platinum crocodile spaceship-like stilettos ($7,995); and Wynn and Company Jewelry, home to those sliced diamonds.

What's probably not fun? Trying to sell all those luxe goods in a recession. All of this extravagant inventory was ordered before the economy started to tank so the Wynns will have to be more careful about what they order the next time around.

Still, while the Wynns are scaling back in some places (they canceled a black-tie gala for the opening of Encore), they still firmly believe in giving guests a brief chance to experience the high life. As Elaine herself says, "If people can't afford to indulge themselves, they can still appreciate the artistry." We'll try to restrain ourselves.

[Photo: Wally Skalij for the LA Times]