Sabina Kelley has the distinct honor of being the first heavily tattooed showgirl to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. The model and TV personality has parlayed her personal style into a truly unique career, and she took another new step earlier this year with husband and artist Nixx Gessner by opening Smiles N Cries on the east side, the couple’s first collaborative ink shop. We caught up with the former cast member of Jubilee and Pin-Up to find out when she might return to the Vegas stage and why tattoos are such a big part of her life.

Since you were a showgirl in Jubilee who moved on to burlesque, we can’t help but ask you about your thoughts on Dita Von Teese’s upcoming burlesque show at the Jubilee Theater. Those are some big shoes she’s trying to step into with Jubilee being such an iconic show, but I’m super excited for it. I hope she does amazing. The art of burlesque is definitely different than the art of the showgirl. When I was in Jubilee, we trained really hard six days a week to learn the walk, the poses, everything. I know her, and I sent her an email and offered my assistance on anything I could help with. Vegas definitely needs more showgirl shows.

Do you have any performances in the works these days? I’m working on some stuff right now, but I can’t say what it is. I was doing some guest spots in X Burlesque and X Country [in recent years], and I did A Touch of Burlesque. I just shot for the cover of Playboy in the Czech Republic and flew to the U.K. to shoot that. There’s definitely something in the works.

How are things at the new tattoo shop? It’s really cool. We opened up Smiles N Cries, and we took over the next room over for City of Sin, which is clothing, streetwear, so we have both. That’s where I’ve been since we opened three months ago. We’ve both owned tattoo shops before, but this is the first one we’ve done together, and we have both have respected names in the tattoo industry.

Is there a niche for this shop in the local tattoo landscape? Definitely high-quality black and gray tattooing is what we specialize in, but we have artists that do color work also. Our artists can do anything, especially Nixx. A true artist can draw anything; there’s no copying off a computer.

How have you seen the local industry change through the years? I think there are over 400 shops in Vegas, and some are the kind of place you can just walk in and get a $10 tattoo. Some are really incredible shops, high-end, [shops] that have taken it to the next level, and I think we’re one of those. Our artists take the time to really make it a custom experience. We make sure, if it’s a full day appointment, that we feed the client and really make it a whole experience.

You started getting tattooed after you thought you were done performing. What was it like to transition into other styles of performance after that? To be a showgirl in a show like Jubilee, you couldn’t have tattoos. You have to look like the other girls. You can’t have tan lines; you’d get pulled offstage. That’s why I turned to burlesque, because that was one of the art forms where you could be tattooed, you could have curves, there was no criteria. And it went side-by-side with being a pin-up [model] and the whole rockabilly scene that I became a big part of. I did some TV shows, and then the show Pin-Up opened at the Strat and I was asked to guest headline that show, and I was scared to do it because I was tattooed. No casino has used a girl who was heavily tattooed to headline, so it was taking a big chance. But it sold out the first week, and they ended up keeping me on. It just worked out really well. So tattoos are definitely more mainstream now, but I think if I didn’t have a name and showed up to audition back then, I don’t think they would hire me. I have a name and a fanbase, and that’s why it works.

SMILES N CRIES TATTOO 1325 E. Vegas Valley Drive, 702-769-6159, cityofsinlv.com. Daily, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

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