Packng Tips To Survive Pageant Week

 

I lived out of two suitcases for two years when I traveled with the international, nonprofit organization Up With People. I learned very quickly from my European friends the joys of traveling light, how to pack a suitcase so your clothes don’t get wrinkled, and how to keep everything organized with zero to minimal damage to the contents.

 

Let’s face it. Pageants are high maintenance. There is a lot of stuff we need to take with us when we compete. Your packing strategy will vary depending on how long the pageant is, the type of pageant you’re competing in, and whether you are driving or flying to your location.
Now that airlines are charging for each checked bag, and there are weight limits placed on each bag, you may want to consider shipping certain things ahead of time via Fed Ex or UPS to the hotel. Whether you ship, or bring it with you, certain packing principles can be applied.

 

Today, I’m going to share tips on packing everything BUT your formal gowns and dressy clothing.

Here are the key secrets:

  • Roll your clothes. This will take some practice but it’s not hard. If you don’t truly roll them (so they look like a roll of toilet paper) you will be folding in wrinkles. By rolling your clothes, you’ll be able to fit more clothes into your suitcase, they won’t be wrinkled and you can see what you’re looking for at a glance without disturbing everything else in your suitcase.
  • Have a large variety of different bags in many colors and sizes. I love the Eagle Creek Pack-it bags because I can color code my things and everything is organized. You can use zipper lock bags just as well. When our girls were very young and we traveled out of state, I would put each day’s clothes in a separate zipper lock bag and label them. All they would have to do was grab a bag that had their name on it. It contained their underwear, socks and clothes for the day without disturbing the contents of the entire suitcase. You can either group like items together, or pack complete outfits per bag. It’s your choice.
  • Pack items to create layers, or shelves, within your suitcase.
  • Pack like items together. I group all my hair care things in one bag, my makeup in another, and toiletries in a third. I put all liquid toiletries first into a zip lock bag before I place it in my luggage. This will eliminate any unpleasant surprises caused by a leaking shampoo bottle.
  • Fill ALL the spaces within your bags and suitcases. Holes allow things to move around and get broken. Put smaller bags inside bigger bags if you need to. The goal is to secure things so they can’t freely move around in your luggage. If you’re packing up boxes to ship, use bubble wrap to fill the air pockets so there isn’t any movement inside the box.

The suitcase I’m using in the photos below is a smaller roller suitcase that you could carry on the plane with you or check it plane side.

Bottom Layer: I line the bottom of my suitcase with an empty backpack (great for packing snacks, rehearsal clothes and carrying things around during the day) , a suit-sized garment bag (to carry a quick change of clothes between events if necessary), a rolled up full length dry cleaner bag and an empty sack to hold dirty clothes. This will provide a soft cushion to put your layer of shoes on.

Layer #2: Next, put your shoes together with toe to heel and line them around the edges of the suitcase. Sometimes I put the shoes in tube socks to prevent them from getting scratched. You can make this whole layer just shoes or put in your hot rollers. In the holes around your shoes, fill in with your clips and Velcro rollers, which are in zipper lock bags to prevent the rollers and clips from getting lost and snagging your clothes. The key is to fill in the holes with little items (which I put in smaller bags) so your shoes can’t move.

Layer #3: Next, put your clothing bags on top of the shoe layer. This layer will cushion your shoes. Socks and pantyhose are in the green rectangle bag, underwear and bras in blue. T-shirts, pants and shorts are rolled to fit in larger bags like the green and red ones. All of the chargers for my cell phone, cameras and batteries are in the teal bag along with any other small miscellaneous items that I don’t want to have lost in the shuffle

Layer #4: On top of your clothes shelf, put your rolled up jewelry bag and another sack. In my picture, it is my hair care bag.

Layer #5: To pad my jewelry sack, I put a jacket on top of it (because I am always freezing in those ballrooms) and one more empty bag that I can use to collect and organize the pageant materials I’ll receive at check in time. Zip the bag shut and move on to the next suitcase.
Organizing Your Beauty Items

 

I bought this makeup bag at Walgreens and love it. It has a number of sturdy clear zippered bags that can quickly and easily be removed providing flexibility for different situations. I have a separate bag for each of the following to save time, keep everything organized, and to keep things from “walking away” in the dressing room:

  • Face- foundation, cover up, bronzer, powder and blush.
  • Eyes- shadows, liners, mascara, eyelashes and glue
  • Lips- liners, lipstick, sealer, gloss
  • Sharp stuff- tweezers, small pair of scissors, small sewing kit, safety pins, nail file
  • Applicators- sponges, brushes, Q-tips

Final tips:

  • Write out your list so nothing falls through the cracks
  • Take only what you need.
  • Start packing a week before you leave.

 

 

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Pageant Season Is Here!

Now’s The Time to Brush Up On Your Interview Skills

INTERVIEW CARD

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

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 22 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. For more information on Rhonda, visit  www.WinningThroughPageantry.com .

Getting Better Pageant Results

Seconds after the announcement of the top 10, and again at the naming of the court, one question runs through the minds of every contestant BUT the queen, “What could I have done to get better results at this pageant?”

This is a [Read more…]

Why White Pageant Gowns Win

Think back to the last 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, champaign, and black dominate the crowning moment followed by shades of blue and red.

There are exceptions to this “white wins” paradigm but for the most part, when you look at the stage of contestants, it’s a sea of white.What do you think? Here are photos from 2010’s Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Universe, Mrs. United States, Mrs. America and Mrs. International pageants. For even more, click on this link to see the top five in 48 states in the 2010 Miss USA pageants, and you’ll see neutrals, red and blue (with a couple other sprinkles thrown in). http://www.pageantupdate.info/missusa2010/topfivegroups.htm

Most people see this pattern but never take the time to understand why. I receive greater insight into this phenomenon each time I judge. Simply put, whites and neutrals are safe and draw the focus to the woman in the dress.

I use the word “safe” because the colors don’t elicit strong emotional reactions from the judges. Think about your own feelings when you see certain colors. Some colors make you go “ugh” while others make you scream “I like it”. Even in the most beautiful green gown, if two of your judges love your choice and the third doesn’t, you won’t score as high. Remember, one point could be the difference between the Queen and the 1st runner up.

 

Every human being has emotional reactions to colors. All you have to do is sit out in the audience and listen to the comments made when the crowd sees certain gowns. Or, just pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings when you’re looking at color.

 

Judges try to be as objective as possible; but when it comes right down to it, they trust their gut feeling about a contestant, and the color of a gown will affect how some people feel.Because the crown goes to the contestant with the highest composite score from all of the judges, a contestant needs to connect with every judge in each area of competition. So you don’t want to be wearing something that will potentially turn judges off. That’s why I say neutrals are safe. I’m not saying everyone should wear white or a neutral color. There are some skin tones that need brighter colors to make the contestant radiant.

 

Whites and neutrals draw the focus to the woman in the dress. The style and color of your gown should work together to highlight your physical beauty. More importantly though, the gown should bring attention back to your face, where your inner beauty shines through your eyes and smile. That’s where you want the judges to be focusing anyway. 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 if the crown is to come to her.

 

When you’re at a Red Carpet event or making an appearance, you can make a bolder statement. But when the opportunity of being a titleholder is being decided by a panel of judges, you need to find the middle ground. When competing in a pageant, this is the one time when I will say, it’s safer to drive down the middle of the road than to veer too far to the left or to the right. Your judging panel will be a mix of people. That’s why it’s safer to choose a timeless classic gown. It appeals to the masses.
You must be true to who you are. Never be someone or something that you’re not. Choose a gown that has a color and fit that highlights who you are without being overbearing. Remember, it isn’t the color alone that wins.  It’s what the color brings attention to and that should be the real you.

Request my free special report, 10 Insider Secrets to Winning, and receive  for my free award winning newsletter weekly. Just click the GET YOUR FREE REPORT button at the top of this page. Then fill out your name and email address in the boxes.

Rhonda

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 .