A couple of beauty pageants gurus asked me to write this, so I am. This recent problem has to do with glitz pageants in the South. Apparently, some newbies are creating a bad reputation for themselves in the pageant world by copying the outfits and routines of other contestants in the outfit of choice category. As you can probably imagine, this is a big no-no.
I won’t give you the specific details, but I’ll paint a similar scenario to give you a clear picture of what’s happening:
Mary is a young contestant who’s been extremely successful with glitz pageants. She’s won scores of grand supreme titles. For her Outfit of Choice, she dresses as a fifties-style car hop, complete with roller skates, car hop hat, and pink uniform. He dad wheels her onstage in a pink 1955 Thunderbird convertible – a kid-size version, of course. Mary jumps out of the car holding a tray and does sort of a dance routine on skates. It’s super cute. Lo and behold, up pops a newbie doing the exact same routine: same outfit, same hair style, same car, same stage moves. Coincidence?? I don’t think so. There are simply too many details that are exactly the same in both routines. Even worse, both the girls were competing in the same pageant, in the same age division!
PLEASE don’t do this! It’s fine to get ideas from other pageant girls. Everyone does that. But let it stop there. Being inspired by another contestant is far different from stealing their whole routine. Let’s say, for example, you saw a contestant dressed as a cowgirl, and you liked the idea, so you decide to get a cowgirl outfit made for your daughter. Your outfit is similar to the one you saw, but it’s different in some ways. You also use different props, and your daughter does different moves. That’s okay. You haven’t stolen someone else’s idea in your case.
There’s no quicker way to alienate people and create enemies than to completely steal their ideas that they’ve worked so hard creating. You wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, so don’t do it to others. Maybe you don’t care if the other contestants and moms at pageants like you or not, but it doesn’t stop there. You’ll also gain a bad reputation with others involved in pageantry: directors, hair and makeup people, dress designers, and judges. Yes, judges. Oftentimes, the judges are a lot more aware of what’s going on than you might think.
