By Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine Staff

Grant Philipo is a true visionary and a supreme maestro in the history of Las Vegas entertainment and costuming. For every rhinestone, there is a story, and for every stitch, there is a better story. Las Vegas PRIDE was honored to have an intimate moment within the walls of this iconic museum located on the Eastside of town.

Known as the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas is a city rich with entertainment industry stories and tales. What is your personal journey to becoming part of this history and to becoming the curator of the Las Vegas Showgirl Museum?

It is a long story, but the short version is that I began as an artist at age 11. In sixth grade, I received my first of many art scholarships from the Des Moines Art Gallery and Museum in Iowa, and by twelfth grade, they had hired me to teach art to challenging students and other artists. Along the way, I became involved in theater and singing, and in ninth grade, I was hired to perform and serve as company manager at Iowa’s Adventureland theme park. After graduating and finishing my work there in 1976, a mentor helped me move toward San Diego, but we stopped in Las Vegas for a month at Caesars Palace. During that stay, we saw every show we could, and I absorbed as much of Las Vegas entertainment as possible. I had already started collecting at 15, but that visit gave the collection real momentum as I began finding pieces from the shows in yard sales and antique stores. I felt compelled to preserve this part of Las Vegas history.

Grant Philipo at The Showgirl Museum

In 1980, I was brought to Las Vegas while waiting to sign a contract to become the lead singer-dancer for Donn Arden’s Lido de Paris in Paris. While I was performing at the MGM, the MGM fire changed everything. I later moved to Los Angeles, where I worked with major designers such as Bob Mackie, Nolan Miller, and Bill Hargate, while also producing and starring in my own shows. That work deepened my need for costumes, and restoring older pieces became a practical and creative solution. I also served as artistic director for the Hollywood Wax Museum and designed for Movieland Wax Museum, Fong’s Wax Museum in San Francisco, and Guinness World Records museums.

In the final days of 1990, I returned to Las Vegas, intending to open the Las Vegas Entertainment History Museum, but I was soon pulled into design work for Kenny Kerr, the star of Boylesque. Then, in 1992, I became the youngest producer to mount the equivalent of a multimillion-dollar spectacular at the Dunes Hotel & Casino: Grant Philipo’s 90 Degrees & Rising, starring Rip Taylor.

Over time, with my business partner Maryadelia Mantle and later our partner Dallas Fueston, the collection grew to more than 40,000 artifacts. In 2006, we opened Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum. Since I care for, restore, and maintain the collection, serving as its curator feels like a natural fit.

This collection is overwhelming! It is truly the most spectacular “Closet” that we have ever seen! Tell us more!

The collection includes jewelry, costumes, designs, sets, props, and personal wardrobe pieces once owned by renowned European and American stars of stage, film, and television. It also holds programs, videos, and photographs documenting Broadway productions, Parisian cabaret, burlesque, and classic American spectaculars. We are the only organization in the United States legally allowed to own the Lido jewels designed by the Italian designer Folco, who created pieces for Donn Arden’s Lido in both Las Vegas and Paris for decades. We also own an original Erté headdress from the 1920s Folies Bergère in Paris, as well as the original opening costumes from Donn Arden’s Jubilee!, the largest and longest-running single production ever staged in Las Vegas. While some people point to Folies Bergère as the longest-running show, that title endured through many production changes. Jubilee! retained its core identity throughout its run.

You said when we started that it is hard to have a “Favorite,” but what is your most cherished piece in the collection?

That is, of course, a matter of personal opinion, but one standout for me is a couture costume Bob Mackie designed for Ann-Margret. The piece is tied to a major controversy over a TV Guide cover featuring Oprah Winfrey wearing what appeared to be the same costume. In reality, Oprah never wore it. Before Photoshop, Ann-Margret’s image was altered by replacing her head with Oprah’s, which led to lawsuits. Another favorite is Raquel Welch’s gown, designed by Michael Travis, who was Liberace’s designer for the last 17 and a half years of his life. I was also Travis’s fitting model and wore those costumes before Liberace did, so I like to joke that he wore my sloppy seconds.

What about the most famous piece?

We have many notable pieces, but one especially famous item is associated with actress Liz Renay, known for her work with John Waters and her ties to gangster Mickey Cohen. In 2006, when she was 80 years old, I created and produced her number and costume for Miss Exotic World. The story surrounding her life (including time spent at Rikers Island in connection with money funneled through her New York bank account in the Albert Anastasia murder case) adds to the piece’s notoriety. We also have Sonja Henie’s ice costume from the 1920s.

The value of such a collection is unfathomable! With so many pieces being one-of-a-kind and knowing that many of these designs could never be replaced or duplicated, can you tell us which piece is the most valuable?

The most valuable gown in the collection is the “Million Dollar Gown,” which was appraised at one million dollars in 2006. It was designed for Lynette Chappell for Siegfried & Roy’s magic show and was originally created by Gigi, an assistant to Erté, for another major European star. We also have body jewelry from 1940s Spain that has been deemed priceless, as well as Uncle Fester’s Egyptian coffin from the television show The Addams Family.

Your dedication to preserving these items is admirable, but it seems like an incredibly time-consuming task. How do you maintain such a vast collection, and what are your hopes, dreams, and plans for the museum’s future?

We preserve the collection by keeping the mansion at about 64 degrees to protect the materials from deterioration, a practice that comes with significant utility costs. I also repair and restore pieces whenever funding allows, but the work is expensive and often depends on donor support.

Our goal is to secure a large public venue that can properly house this massive collection. Right now, visitors can see more than 270 costumed mannequins in our home, but that represents only a fraction of what we have. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we would love to partner with the city, county, or a Strip hotel to expand public access to the remarkable history we have worked so hard to preserve. Just as important, I hope to see a Las Vegas showroom return the showgirl to her rightful place on a Las Vegas stage. It has been a decade since the city had a true showgirl spectacular.

Your passion can be seen and heard with every word you speak. Why is it so important to the showgirl’s legacy to have a collection and museum dedicated to costuming?

It is about far more than costumes. It is about the culture, beauty, and true history of Las Vegas, as well as the extraordinary talent that made this city the entertainment capital of the world. That legacy deserves to be restored and honored. The performers, producers, designers, choreographers, and others who built that reputation helped define Las Vegas, and their work belongs in a place of dignity and preservation.

Any final thoughts?

All it would take is one influential person in this town who cares enough about the future to help bring this history back into the spotlight.

Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum, located in a mansion, is in a very unique historic area on the Eastside of Las Vegas! It is open for scheduled tours by reservation only. For more details on how to donate to the museum or take a tour, visit:
lasvegasshowgirlmuseum.com/book-tour.

This article was originally published in the 2026 Summer, Arts & Entertainment issue of Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine, and can be read in its original format here.