Welcome to Part Two of the Pageant Myths by the wonderful Laura White, have a read of the last five myths!
MYTH No 6
You won’t
do well wearing braces
NOT TRUE
When
my daughter was at registration for her first ever pageant in 2015 she was very
nervous because she had a mouth full of metal and was worried that it would
affect her chances. So much so that we had actually considered having them
removed for the pageant. We were both very relieved during the pre-registration
talk by the director, Holly Louise
of Pageant Girl UK, when she said
“
Girls,
you’re teenagers. You’ll have spots and wear braces and it doesn’t make any
difference at all. You’re all still beautiful!
and
she was right. This year at that same pageant the winner Milli
Jo – Miss Jr Teen GB 2017/18 had metal braces as did runner up Heidi Leake. So girls, it won’t
make any difference whether you have braces or not. They are an essential part
of teenage life and judges and directors are aware of this. You will not lose
points because of your metalwork! So embrace the brace. You never know they
just might match your crown!
MYTH No 7
You have to know all the judges
to do well
FICTION
Er…. NO!
Within
the pageant community there will always be some who seem to know everyone and
be ‘besties’ with all the ‘right’ people. It’s lovely to be popular but this
will not guarantee you a crown. It would be very hard for any director to have
a panel of judges who did not know any of the contestants in any way at all.
Experienced judges attend lots of pageants and events and will inevitably get
to know some of the girls and will, in all likelihood, have judged some of the
girls previously somewhere along the line. And with social media everyone knows
everyone (even if they’ve never actually met!) these days anyway. Which may, or
may not, be a good thing!
Prestigious
directors will ensure that their judges do not have any close personal relationships
with contestants, that there are never any conflicts of interests and work hard
to choose appropriate judges. For top directors, the pageant is their baby and
they work extremely hard to ensure that the good reputation is upheld with a
fair and transparent judging process. Experienced judges will also be
absolutely adamant that it just isn’t worth their reputation within the
industry to be seen to favour any particular contestants.
And
even if you did have a mate or two on the panel, a few inflated marks won’t
make enough difference to the results in the end anyway. If you’re worth that
perfect ‘10’ score you’ll get it regardless of whether the judge is on your
Christmas card list or not!
MYTH No 8
You have to spend a total fortune
FICTION
I’m pleased to report (from personal experience) that this is simply not true.
Pageants are a hobby and like most hobbies there will inevitably be some sort of financial expenditure along the way if you want to make the most of it. Have you seen the price of a full rugby kit, a set of golf clubs or tickets to the latest AJ fight?!
Like any other hobby how much you spend is entirely up to you. Some can afford expensive gowns, make-up artists, jewellery and hotels. Some cannot.
Yes, there are entry fees and travel to consider before entering any pageant and this is something you must weigh up before committing to a particular pageant. Different people also have different spending priorities too. For me, I would rather spend money on a few pageant weekends, either competing or supporting, than have a summer holiday.
If you want to buy an expensive couture gown and you can afford it then go for it and enjoy it. But if you can’t afford it there are plenty of re-sale platforms, discounted sales, hire shops or you could borrow outfits. Some boutiques are also willing to sponsor dresses occasionally. It doesn’t hurt to ask nicely! It really doesn’t matter. No judge is seriously considering the price tag of your outfit when you are onstage. Really they’re not!
As far as travel is concerned, again, spend what you can afford in a low cost hotel if needs be or share with like-minded friends. Yes it’s convenient to be at the host hotel and many offer discounted rates for competitors. But again it won’t make any difference to the result depending on which hotel you’re in if a hotel is a necessity. Personally, I never pre-book breakfast or spend on room service which brings the cost right down and just bring a bag of goodies with us! And there’s always a kettle in the room to whip up a Pot Noodle and a McDonalds is never far away!
If you’re lucky enough to go to an international with flights, entry and accommodation covered as your prize then you also need not spend a fortune to go. There’s no reason not to wear the same outfits a second time if you want or need to. The international judges are highly unlikely to have seen what you were wearing to win the UK final and it wouldn’t really matter if they had. I have it on good authority from an international director that the judges look for the right girl to wear the crown for all the right reasons regardless of her financial situation which they are totally unaware of anyway so it doesn’t matter.
One young lady I can think of recently placed runner-up at a very prestigious international pageant doing her own make-up, borrowed or very inexpensive outfits and was very economical with her spending budget.
Like anything in life, some people can afford to spend more than others but just because you are on a limited budget doesn’t mean that you cannot compete and win!
For the record, although I have bought a couple of full-price gowns for very special occasions (and they were worth every penny) a lot of my daughter’s dresses are second hand. In fact her outfits for Miss Jr Teen Great Britain 2016/17 were all second hand, her gown was a year old and her fashionwear skirt was £3 on ebay. And she still won!
Here 2 reigning queens confirm that pageantry does not have to break the bank:
“I have never bought a dress brand new until I went to internationals, and even then, my dress cost me far less than what people may expect. I have always done my own hair and makeup and have never had training, because I have never been able to afford to. I did the UKPP and MGI completely on a budget and was never made to feel ashamed for doing so!”
Noky Simbani - Miss Grand England
“I was lucky enough to be sponsored my evening gown for Galaxy this year... I’m a student; there’s no WAY I could afford a £2000 gown myself! You do not have to sell a kidney to win a pageant and people saying otherwise just makes it even more intimidating for new girls to come through and compete”
Chloe Lara Lake – Miss Galaxy Scotland
MYTH No 9
You have
to have flowing long locks of hair and different styling for each round
FICTION
Not
at all. Judges look for a hair style that suits the girl. Actually apart from
some pageants that may have a ‘Best Hair’ award your hair style isn’t judged
separately anyway. Just go with what suits you and what you’re confident looks
best for you. Some people also say that you shouldn’t compete with short hair.
This is nonsense as Alix Johnston,
the current Mrs Ireland World, proved at Mrs World last year with a perfectly
styled crop that suited her beautifully. Thought I’d pop one in of me here as
well just for good measure. The only pixie crop at Miss International Tourism
1992! And if you want (and have time) to do your style differently for each
round (an elegant up-do is popular for eveningwear) go ahead but don’t worry
about it if not.
MYTH No 10
You have
to do a million appearances and raise the most amount of charity money to win
FICTION
It’s
true that making appearances and community work for charity is a very important
part of your preparation for the pageant. However, you categorically do not
have to have the highest numbers here to be guaranteed your crown. This is
another example of quality over quantity being the important thing. There are
lots of examples where the winner has scooped all the side awards, including
charity and appearances, and lots of examples where she has not.
100
appearances walking your dog or standing by a random street sign wearing your
sash (which aren’t real appearances anyway) will never equal 2 genuine appearances
working at a charity event and having a fabulous piece written about you and
your title in your local newspaper.
Holly Louise, Director of Pageant
Girl UK, recently wrote a fabulous blog article on the PG website about ‘The
Great Appearance Myth’ which is worth a read for any budding, or experienced,
pageant girl (and her mum!).
In
a nutshell, while you do get additional points for appearances the amount of
points is usually capped so whether you do 20 or 100 appearances, points wise,
it doesn’t make a difference. Some pageants give extra points for charity money
amounts but this is something that will be made clear in your finalist
information packs and can always be clarified with the director so there is
never any doubt about the process. The ‘Miss Charity’ award certificate is a
wonderfully rewarding thing to win and is worth working for, not just for
yourself but for the charity and your community. Ditto ‘Miss Congeniality’
which I always think is one of the nicest side awards to win especially for
beginners.
Making
appearances and fundraising are all part and parcel of being a dedicated and
committed finalist and is a fabulous way to make the most of your time in the
run-up to the final, promote your title in your community and contribute to
some very worthwhile causes which is always a good thing. Some girls can do
much more that others due to family/work circumstances and directors are well
aware of these restrictions. Also that younger contestants have to rely on
family and friends for organisation and travel etc.
Making
lots of quality appearances is great fun and motivates you to have new
experiences, do things and meet new people that you may not otherwise have the
opportunity to do. It also gives you lots of interesting things to talk about
in your interview which is an added bonus.
Appearances
can also be a huge benefit in other ways too. I know one young lady who went
for her first ever job interview only to be told that she didn’t have any
experience. She whipped out her appearance folder and got the job there and
then!
So
don’t stress about the actual numbers. Do as much as you can with 100%
enthusiasm and this is what impresses judges and demonstrates what kind of queen you could be.
Bear
in mind though that if extra points are awarded for a certain number of
appearances or fundraising, and you don’t do any at all, those little points
may just make a big difference to the final results!
Finally,
I am in no way qualified to give any advice to anyone apart from:
If
you hear anything from anyone that you think is vaguely dodgy and you can’t
quite believe that it would be true - chances are that it’s not. My advice
would always be to check your finalist information pack and/or ASK YOUR
DIRECTOR or one of their team and they will be pleased to clarify anything
there and then and put your mind at rest. I’m sure that they will have heard it
all before and some!
GOOD LUCK!
ENJOY THE
JOURNEY TO THE
CROWN OF
YOUR DREAMS
but
remember
DON’T
BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR
and
KEEP CALM
- IT’S ONLY A PAGEANT!
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