Imagine Fremont Street free of profane language. Or a downtown Las Vegas landscape where cattle, horses, burros, sheep and goats run free.

When a Stanford University report last month proclaimed that many students could not detect fake or misleading information online, the findings caused a stir.

The flamboyant guests in Grant Philipo’s living room are dressed in scanty yet elegant costumes dripping with crystals, feathers and glitz. They are six mannequins, carefully arranged in a tableau, standing with hands raised or hanging by their sides. Together, their elaborate headdresses and finely crafted body pieces form a cornucopia of retro glamour.