Las Vegas Mixtape v6: Exploring Showgirl History, Chinatown Delights, and an Intriguing Eatery

Track #1: Las Vegas Showgirl Museum, Paradise Palms

One of the eye-popping displays at Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum (Image: Vegas 411)

What the world needs now is more fantasy, glamour, and beauty. You’ll find plenty of this at Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum. Open since 2006, it’s housed in a private two-story mansion on the east side of town.  

There’s no shortage of sequins, rhinestones, feathers, priceless jewelry, and memorabilia at the museum. It contains the largest collection of Bob Mackie-designed costumes in America, and its most valued costume, says Philipo, is “the million-dollar gown of Lynette Chappell,” known as Siegfried & Roy’s “Evil Queen.”

Philipo describes himself as “Showboy, Singer, Show Producer, Director, and Set & Costume Designer.” He’s the ultimate insider, the museum’s head curator, and a masterful storyteller. Let Philipo guide you through two eye-popping floors that embody the history of original Vegas showgirl (and showboy).

The mansion contains a chunk of the museum’s 40,000-plus artifacts; the rest is stored in warehouses around town. “My mission is to educate people about this vanishing entertainment art form—and to make it again reappear!”