When it comes to natural pageants for girls and teens, National American Miss (NAM), American Coed (Coed), and International Junior Miss (IJM) are the popular choices for many families. Because these three pageant systems have similar categories of competition when you prepare for one, the transition is easy to compete in the other two.
The 3 main areas of competition for state pageants are [Read more…]
Think back to the last beauty pageant you watched and tell me the color of the winner’s gown. Most of you will answer white, or some shade of it. Neutral colors of white, beige, gold, champagne, and black dominate the crowning moment followed by shades of blue and red.
Neutrals colors are safe for teens and women because they draw focus to the woman in the dress and don’t elicit strong emotional reactions from the judges.
Every human being has emotional reactions to colors. You love some colors and dislike others. So you don’t want to wear something that will potentially turn off the judges. However, not everyone looks their best in white or in a neutral color. Some skin tones need brighter colors to make the contestant look radiant. For girls under the age of 18, judges like to see vibrant shades of pink, blue, and coral along with white. Black and dark colors are too mature for young girls.
The style and color of your gown should work together to highlight your physical beauty. More importantly, the gown should bring attention back to your face. If they’re admiring (or distracted by) the color and detail of your gown, they’re going to miss YOU. That’s where you get comments like “the dress wore her”. The contestant must wear the dress not the other way around.
When you’re at a Red Carpet event or making an appearance, you can make a bolder statement in your gown selection. But for competition, a classic gown with tasteful embellishments will appeal to the masses.
Choose a pageant gown with a color and fit that highlights who you are without being overbearing. It isn’t the color alone that wins. It’s what the color and style brings attention to that makes it a winning gown.
Speaking from personal experience, the amount of time and level of preparation it took for me to get ready to compete in a Mrs. pageant was at least double the amount of pageant preparation time it took when I competed as a Teen or Miss contestant. As married women, we are juggling our husbands, jobs, children, managing our households and serving our communities. Because of this, Mrs. contestants need to start preparing long before single competitors to avoid making costly mistakes.
The first year I entered the Mrs. Ohio America pageant, I started my pageant preparation 6 months before the pageant. Looking back, all I really focused on was losing the baby fat I had gained with my third child. I did look great in my bathing suit that year; however I didn’t even make the top 10. Within 3 days after that state pageant, I started my preparation for next year’s pageant and the results were dramatically different.
Tip 1: Start your pageant preparation 1 year before your first competition date.
From the audience, watch the pageant you plan on competing in the year prior to entering. Closely observe the style of gowns, hair and makeup worn by the top 3 contestants. This will save you money and time as you will see which styles do and don’t work for that system. If this isn’t possible, purchase the DVD from the previous year and watch it.
You will need the year to develop excellent interview and communication skills. It takes time to break speech habits and to develop the necessary confidence to speak with ease in front of a crowd. This is especially important if married women have been home raising young children for several years. Mothers may be out of practice from speaking with adults and communicating on a deeper level. No judgment here. I’m speaking from my own personal experience of having had 3 children in 4 years. It’s a bit of a jump going from Elmo to the president.
Married women need to set aside time to work out. It takes time to refine your personal image, and to find the right hairstyle and makeup that is most flattering for your facial beauty.
Tip 2: Create your pageant budget.
Financial issues will quickly create stress and conflict in a marriage. To enter one of the big 3 state pageants for married women (Mrs. America, Mrs. United States and Mrs. International), a contestant will spend between $2000-$5000. For a national pageant, plan on having at least $5000 for starters. You’ll need to use your creativity and resourcefulness to produce the money you need to compete.
There are four main areas you will want to budget for:
Coaching services
Photos, headshots and advertising pages
Wardrobe
Travel, hotel, food and tickets for your family to attend the pageant.
Don’t make the mistake of spending your entire budget on your clothing. I did that my first year. Your wardrobe is important but not as important as the coaching services you need to polish your image.
Of course, there are smaller pageants you can compete in that don’t have as large of a price tag. But you will spend a couple thousand dollars on your first pageant wardrobe.
Tip 3: Put together your pageant preparation team.
When I heavily invested in my team, that’s when I started winning the titles. With Mrs. pageants, the look is very classy and elegant with a hint of fashion flair. Interview, walking, hair, makeup and fitness are some of the areas you will want to find experienced pageant coaches to help you prepare. Just because someone says they are a pageant coach or a makeup artist doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right fit for you. Research your people and trust your gut feeling with who you hire.
Your interview makeup needs to be flawless. No heavy false eyelashes or brightly colored cosmetics. Your skin should appear smooth and radiant. Choosing the right foundation is critical. This takes the skilled hand of a makeup artist experienced in the pageant world to bring out your natural beauty and make it look like you aren’t wearing any makeup. If you look heavily made up during your interview, it will cost you points. Stage makeup is different but the concept still applies. Your facial features should stand out without screaming bright colors.
Your hair needs to look healthy and shiny. Hair worn down is the best look for most women. When it comes to color, one solid color with subtle highlights scores better than the dramatic streaked look. The soft highlights help to give depth and texture to hair under the lights but you don’t want them to be overly dramatic. In Mrs. pageants, they are looking for the natural beauty of a classy woman to shine.
It use to be once a woman got married or aged out of the Miss America or Miss USA systems, the pageant door closed in her life. For women who enjoy using pageants as a tool for personal growth and a way to experience the different opportunities they provide, this is a bittersweet moment.
Then the pageant door reopened for married women with the creation of the big three married women’s pageants – Mrs. America, Mrs. United States and Mrs. International. Over the years, more and more pageant systems have been created to accommodate the dynamic changes in the demographics of the contestants in the pageantry world.
Just because we get older and get married, that doesn’t decrease our love of competing in beauty pageants. So I am always excited when I see different pageant systems created because it provides continual opportunities for women to keep growing as individuals. This week I interviewed the national director of the American Dream Pageant, Stephanie McClain, and the reigning Miss American Dream queen, Kristin Adams, to tell me about the American Dream Pageant http://www.americandreampageants.com/.
Stephanie has a long pageant history and has served as a pageant director for many years. Some women only dream of participating in a pageant. Stephanie wanted to provide an opportunity to help fulfill that dream; and, support an opportunity for the titleholders to use their platforms to make a difference in the world.
There are 7 different age divisions in the American Dream Pageant:
Teenager (13-16) – 5 minute panel interview, swimsuit, evening gown, on-stage question. http://www.americandreamteenager.com/information/
Teen (16-19)-5 minute panel interview, swimsuit, evening gown, on-stage question. http://www.teenamericandream.com/information/
Miss (19-29)-5 minute panel interview, swimsuit, evening gown, on-stage question. Never been married, pregnant, or had children. http://www.miss-americandream.com/information/
Mrs. (21-no maximum age) 5 minute panel interview, swimsuit, evening gown, on-stage question. http://www.mrsamericandream.com/information/page3.htm
Ms. (21- no maximum age)-5 minute panel interview, fitness wear, evening gown, on-stage question. Can be single, married or divorced.http://www.msamericandream.com/information/
Lady (40-59)-5 minute panel interview, fitness wear, evening gown, on-stage question. Can be single, married or divorced.http://www.americandreamlady.com/information/
Ms. Senior (60- no maximum age)-5 minute panel interview, fitness wear, evening gown, on-stage question. Can be single, married or divorced.http://www.mssenioramericandream.com/information/
When I asked Stephanie what she was looking for in her titleholders, she told me the system is looking for real women in today’s society. All of the American Dream queens must have strong speaking skills and a platform they want to do something with. Stephanie highly recommended joining a group like Toastmasters and working with an interview pageant coach to hone these skills. It’s also, very important to complete and submit your paperwork on time.
The wardrobe for each age group must be age appropriate, classy and in good taste. If you’re 13, don’t dress like you’re 18; and if you’re 60, don’t dress like you’re 25.
The focus is to have fun, and make your dreams come true. Winning the crown should be the beginning of journey, not the end.
Kristin Adams is a graduate of North Central State College in Mansfield Ohio with a
degree in Radiological Sciences. She is employed by a local health system as a registered radiologic technologist. In her spare time she enjoys nature photography, lifting weights, running, and spending time with her bulldog and retired greyhound.
Her platforms are the Soldiers’ Angels organization where she has sent over 100 letters and care packages to American troops serving overseas; and the Central Ohio Greyhound Rescue where she rescued her greyhound, Ray.
Kristin’s pageant background includes the Bellville Fair Queen, Sunburst and Miss Ohio USA pageants. In recent years, she missed competing and started looked for a pageant that she could enter. The fitness wear competition was the motivation she needed to get back into shape.
I asked Kristin for her list of helpful hints for winning the national title of Miss American Dream. Here is her winning list:
A pageant platform is a cause that a contestant chooses to volunteer her time to either bring awareness to, raise money, or implement a program she has created that will help address the problem. There are so many needs in the world today that finding a cause you feel passionate about in your community is just a matter of looking around or talking with a few business leaders. In our society, the media and public are drawn to people who hold titles or have celebrity status. As a titleholder, you can use this to your advantage to get your message out in a bigger way if you’re prepared.
“Don’t ever question the value of volunteers. Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers; the Titanic was built by professionals”-Unknown. Occasionally I’ll encounter a person who has the attitude of ‘I’m only one person. I can’t make a difference. Besides, I don’t have the time, money or education to make things happen’. Okay, you might not; however, you know people who do. And those people know different people who know other people. They’re just waiting for you to ask them for their help. You don’t need to micro manage or run the entire project by yourself. Just make the mission and needs known to people.
There is strength in numbers and the more people you can include in your plans, the better. Think of a candle light service you’ve been to. It starts with one candle in a dark space. Then, one by one, the flame is passed along until the entire area is a blazing light. Most of the time people aren’t even aware of a particular need in their community. All it takes is one person speaking at a function, or a single newspaper article, to spark the fire needed to begin the change.
In choosing a good pageant platform, follow Stephen Covey’s advice “Begin with the end in mind.” What is the specific result you want to achieve? Is it to raise $50,000 for a new piece of safety equipment for your local fire station? Or is it to start your own foundation? The key to choosing a platform that will inspire you is the depth of personal experience you have with it. There must be a deep seeded reason why you want to spend countless hours serving a particular project. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one, or a family pet. That event moved you to want to reach others who are experiencing the same pain. Maybe you want to prevent a problem from happening. Maybe you’ve experienced something so wonderful, or painful, that you want others to know about it so they can either join you in your joy, or avoid the pain.
Either way, it starts with looking inside and listening to your heart- not your head. We take action when we are emotionally charged, not because something is logical and makes sense.
Here is just a beginning list of ideas, examples and topics from the last two years of Miss America contestants that might spark your interest in looking for your pageant platform.
The ability to answer questions about you, your purpose, current events, and controversial topics in a clear way is an important life skill that everyone can benefit from. The more you practice, the better you will get. These handy interview cards are a great way to practice with a partner or use by yourself to get you thinking about the topic.
The Beginning 10 Questions are the staple interview questions everyone must know the answers in an interview situation. Then each month you will receive a new card in the mail with fresh questions.
Now preparing for your interview is easy and for a limited time FREE.
Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and a member of the International Coach Federation. She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®. She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.
Rhonda graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors degree in Musical Theater from The Ohio State University and has performed on stage in 15 countries on the Asian, European and American continents. This mother of three home educates their children and has been married 21 years to her husband Stephen, is the former mayor of her community, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Virtual Academy. She and her husband perform original contemporary Christian music. Their music CD entitled Cana is available through www.cdbaby.com/cd/shappert or on her website. For more information on Rhonda, visit www.WinningThroughPageantry.com .
