Glitz Pageants - A Family Tradition of Personality!

I have eight grandchildren – five boys and three girls. Two of the boys and three of the girls have been in glitz pageants. In fact, all five won the very first pageant that they entered, even though they went up against more “polished,” experienced pageant kids. Just recently, my youngest granddaughter was in her first pageant, and we wondered if she’d break our streak of luck. She didn’t! She won the crown, along with all the optionals.

How have all my grands managed this? Is it because they’re so breathtakingly gorgeous? Well, of course I’d like to think so. After all, I think they’re all beautiful, but I might be just a tad biased. Every parent and grandparent thinks his or her children are the prettiest or most handsome on earth, right? That’s how it’s supposed to be. Looking at it from an objective viewpoint, there’s no question that my grandkids are attractive. They’re cute, but that’s not why they’ve been so successful with pageants.

I’ve discussed this before, but it bears repeating: IT’S THE PERSONALITY!! Yep, all five won because of the personality they showed on stage. The first four were between the ages of two and three when they did their first pageants, so they understood kind of what was going on. They’re all happy, upbeat kids, and we knew we could get them to smile on stage. Number five, however, who’s not quite a year old, was somewhat of a mystery. We had no idea how she would react to being on stage in front of an audience.

Fortunately, her mom made sure that the baby got a good nap before the pageant. Backstage, she kept her happy and in a playful mood. The other babies in her age division were pretty, and they had beautiful pageant dresses. The big difference was in personality points. The others didn’t cry onstage, but they were kinda just “there.” They didn’t laugh, smile, or giggle. Our baby, on the other hand, smiled, giggled, squealed, and kicked her legs in glee. The judges could tell she was happy on stage and having a great time. This, of course, scored personality points, which put her over the top.

How did we get our baby to show so much personality on stage? We had a secret weapon – her older brother. She thinks her eight-year-old brother is the greatest, funniest thing on the planet. We took advantage of this at the pageant by placing him in the audience. He sat just behind the judges, and he called out to his little sister when their mom walked the baby onto the stage. He made sure he had the baby’s attention.

Next, he slid out to the edge of the aisle, making sure he still held sister’s attention. He danced around and made faces, and the baby loved it! We were pretty sure this strategy would work, and it did. That’s how to score personality points in a pageant. Our pageant baby is carrying on the personality tradition!

How to Enter Pageant Photos

Photos are often a big part of glitz pageants. Most have a Best Photograph category, which might be an optional. Even if it's an optional and it's not a requirement, it's still a good idea to enter a photo of your child. Why? Because it serves as an "introduction." Pageant photos are usually judged hours before the pageant begins, so entering a pageant pic is sort of like getting a "headstart" on the pageant.

You know what they say about first impressions, right? If you enter a WOW pageant photo, the judges will remember that contestant and be eager to see her on stage. This is exactly the response you want from your pageant pics!

Now, down to the basics of entering pageant photographs. The pageant photos should be 8 x 10 inches or 8.5 x 11 inches. A commenter just told me that in her experience, most glitz pageants prefer the 8.5 x 11 size (By the way, thanks for that info!). Maybe it depends on the region of the U.S. Each photo should be placed in a clear photo protector, which is more or less like a sleeve. You need to include a paper that has the contestant's name and the age division she's entering. This should be back-to-back with the photo, so that the judge can simply turn the photo over to see the child's name and division. Make sure you use a large enough font so the information can be read easily. It should also be neat and attractive.

Some pageants allow contestants to enter more than one photo, and some pageants have different categories for photos. For example, the pageant might include glitz photos, natural photos, black-and-white photos, etc. Take advantage of all photo categories! If the pageant allows you to enter more than one photo in glitz, do it. You'll usually be charged extra for this, but if you have great pageant photos, it will be worth it. Give the judges more than one preview of your daughter by entering more than one "look."

Beauty Pageant Tips: Keeping Kids Happy Backstage

Most child beauty pageants and toddler pageants include a lot of wait time. Contestants and parents might have to wait backstage or at another location for hair and makeup. Then they have to wait for their age division to begin so that they can do their beauty walk. If they’re entered in more than one event, like swimwear, casual wear, or outfit of choice, they might have time to wait for those to start, also, after they’re dressed and all ready for the event. After they’re done with all their stage walks, they have to wait for crowning. Depending on the age division, the number of contestants in the pageant, and on how the pageant is organized, wait time can be considerable. For girls who are old enough to understand winning, the time waiting for the crowning ceremony can be pretty uncomfortable.

The best way to keep your little girl happy is to keep her entertained backstage. That way, the wait won’t seem so long, and her mind will be taken off of being nervous about how she’ll place in the pageant. With this in mind, plan ahead of time to take some toys, games, or books with you to beauty pageants.

Of course, what you take in the way of entertainment will largely depend on the girl’s age and on her individual interests. Babies might enjoy rattles, hand puppets, or musical toys. Toddlers might enjoy simple games, books, blocks, or pull toys. Younger kids might also feel comforted by having their favorite stuffed animal in tow. Older kids might enjoy hand-held video games, iPods, or netbooks.

Keep in mind that other the kids in the same age group will usually be together in pretty much the same location backstage, and they often play together. In view of this, you might want to include a game or toy that encourages participation of more than one player.

If your daughter enjoys coloring or drawing, bring along a coloring book or some paper, along with some crayons or colored pencils. NEVER consider taking markers to a pageant! No matter how careful you are with them, they often find a way of getting on the child’s skin – or even worse – ruining the dress.

You might want to provide a special new toy for pageant day. Take your child shopping to pick out a toy or game before the pageant, but don’t allow her to open it and play with it until she’s waiting backstage at the pageant. This will give her something to look forward to and help keep her happy, excited, and smiling!

The Perfect Pageant Kit

If you compete in glitz beauty pageants, you’ll find that you have a lot of stuff to keep up with on pageant day. If you’re organized and use a last-minute check list, you’ll be sure not to leave anything behind. You don’t want to be miles from home and realize you forgot to bring along everything your child will need. By keeping everything together, staying organized will be much easier.

Your glitz pageant dress should be stored in a large plastic box with a tight-fitting lid. The dress should sit upright in the box, and a rolled-up beach towel should be placed inside to keep the bodice’s form. The skirt needs to be spread out on the bottom of the storage box.
Some pageant moms prefer to store their pageant dresses a little differently. They still use the same type of box, but they place the bodice flat on the bottom of the box, turn the skirt upside down, and place the skirt on top of the bodice. This helps give the skirt more “lift.”

Let’s call the box you keep the beauty dress in your beauty box. Its main purpose is to house the dress and provide a means to transport the dress safely, but you’ll have room in the “beauty box” for other items, as well. Here’s a list of other items you need to have in the beauty box for glitz pageants:

1. White mary jane shoes.
2. 2 pairs of white ankle socks with lace.
3. Hairbow in a small crush-proof box.
4. 2 pairs of earrings.
5. Choker.
6. 2 crowning pins.
7. A long button-up shirt.

Place the choker, the earrings, the crowning pins, and any other jewelry in the box with the hairbow. Place the socks in a plastic bag with the shoes – you don’t want any dirt from the shoes to get on the dress. The dress should be considered your prize pageant possession and should always be protected and well cared for.

Keep related small items together in a separate box. For example, a fishing tackle box or a craft box with compartments and a handle work well for this. This box should hold safety pins, bobby pins, straight pins, extra rhinestones, hair spray, tissues, E6000 glue, toothpicks, sheer lotion, Wet Wipes, and any small toys or books you’re bringing to the pageant.

Hang any other outfits, like those for sportswear, casual wear, costume wear, or outfit of choice in a garment bag. Place the shoes and other accessories in plastic bags and store them in the bottom of the garment bag.

Now…how do you carry all this stuff to the pageant? I found that a rolling cart or dolly works well. The beauty box can be strapped securely onto the dolly with bungee cords, and the accessories box can rest atop the beauty box. More bungee cords can keep it in place. Garments bag can be hung on the handle. Of course, all this is much easier if you enlist a friend or family member to help!

Pageant Stage Walk with a Toddler

When you enter a toddler pageant with your child, you might want to do the stage walk with your child, especially if she's under three years old. Keep in mind however, that some toddlers cna do the pageant walk all by themselves, and such kids will often score higher than one who was escorted on stage by a parent or other adult. Of course, judges don't expect young toddlers to go on stage by themselves. In this case, judges of toddler pageants won't deduct points for parent participation.

You might choose to walk with your toddler and hold her hand, or you might prefer to walk slightly behind the child. Do this only if she's old enough to understand to stop on the Xs. It's a BIG must for her to stop in front of the judges and remain there long enough for them to get a good look at her. She'll also need to turn on the Xs - with or without your help.

There's another important point you need to understand. Don't let your toddler "run wild" on stage. Some parents think this is cute, so they allow or even encourage this type of behavior. There should, however, be some sort of order to the pageant walk, even in toddler pageants. It's difficult for the judges to focus on a constantly moving target.

Another mistake some parents make in toddler pageants during the pageant walk is to allow their kids to remain on stage too long. Not only is this disrespectful to the other contestants and the pageant director, but it's not popular with judges, either. Each contestant is allotted a certain amount of time for their stage walk, in order to make the pageant fair and to ensure that the toddler pageant runs smoothly and on time. When you use more than your apportioned time with your beauty walk, you're cutting into someone else's time. A lot of judges will deduct points for contestants who remain on stage for too long.

Typical Pageant Stage Walk

The pageant stage walk is where your little princess will "perform" for the judges and for the audience in beauty pageants. Keep in mind that not all stages are the same size, and not all beauty pageants use this exact pageant walk or pattern. Of all the pageants we've done, however, a huge majority have used this pageant stage walk.

The Xs are usually marked on the stage floor with tape. At each X, your little girl will be expected to do something, unless, of course, she's very young.

------------------Back of stage
-----------------------X1


X4---------------------X2--------------------X3

-----------------Front of stage
---------------------Judges

--------------------Audience

X1- The contestant usually comes from backstage to X1. Here, she stands for just a moment. Some contestants turn here, and some don’t. Either way, the child should strike a pose on this X.
X2 – The child walks from X1 to X2. This is probably the most important X on the stage because it’s right in front of the judges. The contestant should make eye contact will each judge – not just “cut her eyes” – but actually turn her face toward each judge. Here, the child should do her personality act, like blow kisses, wave, wink, paint her face, etc. Next, she should turn slowly on this X.
X3 – While walking from X2 to X3, the child should maintain eye contact with the judges. Some pageant coaches teach their girls to do a “crab walk.” With this, the little girl walks sort of sideways. On X3, the contestant should do something else “cutesie” and do a slow turn.
X4 – From X3, the child should walk to X4, without stopping on X2. On X4, the child should wave and/or blow kisses and make one last turn before exiting the stage. If the child is exiting the stage from X4, she should wave goodbye. At some pageants, the contestants return to X1 to exit. If this is the case, goodbye waves are in order here.

The amount of time each contestant spends on time is important, and it’s a careful balancing act. You want the contestant to be there long enough for the judges to get a good look at her, but you don’t want to overstay your welcome, so to speak.

Be aware that sometimes you’ll run into an inexperienced pageant emcee or announcer who tries to hurry the contestants off stage too quickly. Try to teach your child to complete her entire routine, regardless of whether the announcer has finished talking or not.

You need to practice the stage walk at home until your child knows it well. Get the basics down first before you start focusing on smiling, personality, and poise. You can add these once she knows the pattern well.

I have a raised front porch on my house, and this is where my granddaughter always practiced her pageant stage walk. We put down Xs with tape and sat in front of the porch, in the same spot the judges would be sitting during an actual pageant.

Little Girls' Pageant Dresses - The Right Style and Fit

The most gorgeous, glitzy pageant dresses in the world won't score well if they're not a perfect fit on the wearers. When it comes to little girls' pageant dresses, the bodice of the dress should fit snugly, with no obvious gaps. It shouldn't be so tight, however, that the child's flesh is bulging out. Look closely for this around the arm openings and across the top of the bodice.

The length of the dress is important, too. Girls under the age of ten should generally wear a short dress in a glitz pageant. These pageant dresses should have multi-layered cupcake skirts that are fingertip length.

The bodice of the dress should have decorations or adornments on it, along with lots of small Swarovski rhinestones. Most little girls' pageant dresses for glitz pageants have a bodice that's made of Superstretch. Be careful about the placement of large bows and other large embellishments. Don't have them placed too close to the face. You don't want to chance anything's obscuring the child's face or detracting the judges' attention away from the little girl's face. Bigger is not always better!

The back of the dress should be beautiful, too. The judges are going to view the entire dress when the contestant does her turns, so keep that in mind when selecting a pageant dress. Many pageant moms like the little girls' pageant dresses that lace up the back because it makes it easy to get a perfect fit.