Lessons of a reformed beauty queen

Ok, ok. I admit it. I was once one of those girls on the pageant circuit. After competing and placing in a local pageant, a friend suggested that I try my hand at the Florida circuit. I secured a sponsor, received my acceptance letter and didn’t think much more about it until I started to pack for the week long pageantry events. Mistake number one.

I remember checking into the hotel in jeans and a t-shirt. I noticed immediately that most of the girls looked like they were dressed for a job interview. At check-in, we received the full schedule of events and our room assignments. I dug through my bag to find the itinerary. Maybe there was an event tonight that I’d overlooked. Nothing. Okay so why waste a beautiful outfit for check-in I thought? When I got to my hotel room, my roommate – let’s call her Jenny- had already arranged her belongings in what looked like a month’s worth of outfits in the closet. Suits were hung carefully with the shoes below and each had a little plastic bag attached with jewelry and other accessories inside. I, on the other hand, quickly unpacked my things in no particular order and sat down to chat.

After a few minutes, Jenny said she needed to change before we went down to meet the other girls for a casual reception. She came out dressed in a beautifully tailored suit and kitten heels. “Oh no she didn’t!” Two can play at that game I thought and quickly added a blazer and kitten heels before heading downstairs. When we reached the reception hall, me and a few other girls stood out like a soar thumb.

After an excruciating two hours of chit-chat with girls that were surely sizing me up and adding me to their least likely to wear the crown lists on their mental notepads, I realized that there was a science to pageants. And in the week ahead, my ubber prepared r

oommate, along with the rest of the week’s events, taught me some valuable lessons.

My ubber-prepared roommate and the week’s events taught me some valuable lessons.

Whether you are part of the camp that believes that pageants build confidence in women or are a member of the crew that believes that they are the arch- enemy of the women’s movement, women who participate in pageants know some style strategies that most people don’t.

Here are five tips from a reformed beauty queen:

1. Look your best when you think no one else is looking. Jenny never left our hotel room without looking her very best. By the end of the week, we’d run into several judges during the week in elevators, at lunch and during our scheduled events. While the judges weren’t supposed to take those chance meetings I am sure that those first impressions were lasting ones.

Do you look your best everyday or only when you have a big meeting or job interview? Looking your best also gives you confidence.

1. Do some business intelligence about your competition. One of the contestants had a file with the names of all of the other contestants and any pageants that they’d won. She clearly knew the strengths and weaknesses of her strongest competitors. She also had background information about all of the judges. Even though we were not allowed to socialize with the judges, she commented to one of the judges on their mutual love of horses. From that day forward the judge remembered her name.

Suffice it to say that my name was not in that file.

1. Preparation is the key to success. My roommate used the week to focus on learning the dance numbers and fine-tune her opening statement. She never worried about what she was wearing or how she would wear her hair or makeup. Jenny prepared by taking photos of herself in different outfits and planning her hairstyle and make-up in advance. She could focus on the important part of the week because she prepared for the little details in advance.
2. Practice, practice, practice. To my dismay, my roommate woke-up each morning at 5 a.m. to work on her opening statement and go over the dance steps that we learned in rehearsal the night before. She also leafed through the newspaper to make sure that she was prepared for any judges questions about current events. She was committed and had a consistent practice regimen – one that would make any coach proud.

Develop a message of substance consistent with your style. Jenny came to that pageant to win and she understood the importance of her message and aligned it with her style. She was always flawless, and looked like she meant business. She made every effort to talk about issues of substance in order to better prepare for the interview portion of the pageant while simultaneously looking the part of a beauty queen in waiting.