9 Practical Tips for Choosing the Right Pageant Dress
Pageant dresses play an essential part in winning beauty contests, as the perfect dress can help you stand out and give you a winning edge over your competitors. While selecting the right pageant gown can be challenging, there are a few proven strategies that can help make the entire process efficient and enjoyable.
Analyze the trends
While timeless shapes and designs are always fashionable, understanding the latest pageant fashion trends and statistics can help you in your pageant dress search. Take time to learn the previous fashion trends of your intended pageant and look for a common pattern among the winning dresses. Since trends can change, you must be constantly updated with the latest pageant wardrobe rules and information.
Know the guidelines
Pageant contests vary, so knowing the type of competition you plan to join before going dress shopping is essential. Check the pageant dress guidelines to ensure you don’t compromise your scores by wearing something inappropriate. Are you allowed to wear a flashy, revealing dress, or do you need to focus on classy and sophisticated pageant dresses? Should your gown touch the entire floor or just parts of it? Ensure that your pageant dress complements your age division. Teen pageants tend to be more conservative, while adult beauty pageants are more lenient in certain aspects.
Be mindful of the location
Aside from the pageant guidelines, you must also take note of the pageant’s venue. Your pageant dress should suit the location where the competition will be held. For example, if the pageant will be held in an outdoor or open venue, wearing a semi-formal dress would be best instead of a stiff and super long couture pageant gown. Similarly, it is also vital that your pageant dress matches the competition’s theme to give you a better chance of winning.
Identify your body type
When choosing a winning pageant dress, it is essential you find a dress that is comfortable, appropriate, and highlights your best features. Understanding your body type can make the search process more efficient. Do you have an hourglass, pear, or an inverted triangle figure?
If you have an hourglass body form, wearing a straight-cut wrap dress or a pageant gown accentuating your waist is ideal. Alternatively, if you have an inverted triangle body, find a dress that adds more volume to your hips to help balance your shoulders.
Choose the right color and lines
The color of your pageant dress plays a vital part in your pageant’s success. Historically, many pageant winners wore white or a solid color. While wearing a white dress is ideal, you should also explore other shades that can flatter your body figure. Knowing your body type can help in filtering out your dress color choices.
For instance, if you’re curvy and want to look more slender, focus on pageant gowns with darker shades. On the other hand, if you have a rectangular body shape, wearing a dress with bright colors on the upper and lower part, except the waist, can add more dimension to your frame.
Aside from color, you must also pay attention to the lines of the dress, as it can affect your overall look. Horizontal lines can add gentleness to stockier body frames, while diagonal stripes can make you look taller and slimmer.
Consider various styles and fabrics
Unlike with color, there’s no specific pageant gown style that is more preferred or has won frequently. Since pageant dresses continuously change, modern pageant contestants have more flexibility regarding fabrics and styles. In previous years, pageant gowns were often strapless and figure-fitting, while winning pageant dresses these days are not restricted to slender silhouettes.
Go for dress designs that are not only trendy but also complement your body figure. Choose simple fabrics such as velvet, chiffon, lace, and satin, as they’re not overly distracting and can help conceal body areas you want to hide. Ensure that your pageant dress draws the judges’ attention to your face, not other body parts.
Focus on your best features
No matter how glamorous or expensive your pageant dress is, it fails to serve its purpose if it doesn’t highlight your best assets. Avoid choosing dresses with loud embellishments or overwhelming details in body areas you’re uncomfortable with. Your pageant dress should bring focus to your face, especially during the question and answer portion.
However, be careful when choosing the body areas to draw attention to. For instance, if the pageant competition you’re interested in has a conservative theme, wearing a dress with high slits or cleavage showing would be unfitting and disrespectful.
Prioritize comfort
While your ultimate goal is to secure a pageant dress that highlights your best features, it is also essential that you’re comfortable with what you wear. Assess the overall comfort of the dress and how it makes you feel. Are you confident to walk on the stage in front of the audience, judges, other contestants, and loved ones? Does your dress empower you or make you more conscious of your problematic body areas? Always prioritize comfort over style and choose a pageant dress that feels like a second skin.
Work with professionals
While there’s no harm in choosing a pageant dress from a random fashion store, working with professional designers can significantly increase your chances of getting the crown. These professionals can craft the perfect pageant gown that best suits the elements we’ve discussed above. They can also give you pageant insider tips and access to connections within the industry that can help you in the future.
Find a designer who fits your overall vision and budget. Read previous client feedback and go through their portfolio, if publicly available. Once you’ve narrowed your options, schedule an in-person appointment so you can assess how they interact with clients. It is essential that you feel comfortable with your chosen designer and that they clearly understand your vision.
Choosing the right pageant dress need not be complicated. With these tips, the right mindset, and professional help, you can secure the perfect pageant dress that will make you feel more beautiful and powerful.
