Beauty pageant star Mary Sickler isn’t hiding her alopecia on the runway.
The Miss Nevada USA titleholder competed in the Miss USA preliminaries Wednesday in Reno, Nevada. While competing in beauty pageants, Stickler often walks the stage in a brown, long wig, since she has alopecia — an autoimmune condition that causes hair loss.
However, during last night’s event, Sickler instead chose to ditch the wig in favor of a silver, bejeweled headpiece, which she paired with a matching jeweled halter gown, featuring blue gemstones and a train, and dangly diamond earrings.
In the comments of the video from the event, which Sickler shared on her Instagram, fans praised her for competing with a bald head amid her alopecia.
“So proud of her! Had tears in my eyes because it was such an iconic performance,” one wrote.
“She should know that she is much more beautiful & shining when not wearing her wig, really love it,” another added, while a third wrote: “The head piece is amazing! Such a statement.”
She commemorated her appearance on the Miss USA stage on Instagram Wednesday, sharing pictures of her look for the evening. However, in these photos, she was instead wearing her brown wig, styled in an updo.
“This dream has been so many years in the making, and to finally step into this moment feels surreal. I never imagined I would walk that stage in this way, but I always hoped I would do it with confidence, authenticity, and grace,” she wrote.
“I am so proud to have achieved that goal especially by being the first woman to walk the Miss USA stage without hair,” she added. “What makes this even more special is knowing it isn’t just about me. I am the first woman with alopecia universalis to compete at Miss USA. I am living proof that no trial can stand in the way of your wildest dream.”
Sickler will continue in the 2025 Miss USA competition, which will see a winner crowned during the final round on October 24.
In September, the 22-year-old spoke to People about her December 2024 alopecia diagnosis. Initially, her doctors thought that when she started balding, it was a symptom of alopecia areata, which is only partial balding.
After trying different medications, since her doctors were “very confident” her hair would grow back, nothing worked. In fact, her symptoms worsened, with complete hair loss all over the body, so she was then diagnosed with alopecia universalis.
“[The doctor] basically said, ‘I've tried everything I could,’ and that was like a dagger in my heart,” she recalled. “I remember coming home, and I looked in the mirror and I had never felt uglier. My hair was all in patches, my eyelashes were completely gone, I had no eyebrows, and I honestly couldn't recognize myself anymore.”
She ultimately felt like she couldn’t be a model without hair, after competing in pageants since age 10, and didn’t have any professional activity for several months. She also kept her alopecia a secret from many close friends and family.
However, Sickler decided she wanted to return to the pageant world, and she was declared Miss Nevada USA 2025 in July. She publicly revealed her alopecia diagnosis in September with a new purpose: Being the first woman with a public alopecia diagnosis to become Miss Nevada USA and to compete at Miss USA.
“I lost all my hair, and I definitely didn't think that I would be walking on the Miss USA stage without any hair, but I am,” she added to People. “It took me a long time to finally be able to see myself as beautiful, and I think that's the first step. I think if you see yourself as beautiful and you own it, then other people will too.”
