And The Winner Is...
Kentucky Princess: The newly crowned Miss World 2010, 18 year old Alexandria MillsYesterday in Sanya China, a new Miss World was crowned and to a lot of people's surprises, the US representative, 18 year old Alexandria Mills, won. 114 contestants from all over the world competed. She was a favorite to make the finalist roster but not necessarily to take it all. But she did! Miss World--in case you were not "in the know" for international pageants--is a completely separate pageant from the Donald Trump-owned Miss Universe.
Top 5 Gowns: The five Miss World 2010 Finalists Venezuela, Botswana, USA, Ireland and China While most of the Western Hemisphere (North and South America) consider the Miss Universe Pageant as the premier international beauty contest, the rest of the world (Europe, Africa, Asia) see Miss World as the leader. The Miss World Organization is based out of London and it's "Donald Trump" is CEO Julia Morley.
The new Miss World, hails from Kentucky and is a model with Elite Models in Miami. There is no "official" Miss United States World pageant and, according to THIS, since 2007 Elite Model Management has been in charge of choosing the US representative via portfolios and then sending the "winner" to the international pageant. But enough of the pageant nitty-gritty, let's get to the GOWNS: As usual with gowns we see at the Miss Universe, Miss World gowns tend to also either be "Oh-No-She-Didn't" or "Pageant Elegant" (beading, satin and a high slit somewhere!). While we don't expect to see actual "red carpet" gowns on these girls (one can only dream!), it's nice to see at least some who get it semi-right.
Winning White: The Winner, Miss United States Alexandria Mills wore a very "Pageant Safe" white taffeta one shoulder gown with beading. It featured a fitted silhouette but never went into too-sexy mode (Miss World Organization does not like sexy!) and appropriate for an 18 year old.
Black Peacock: Miss People's Republic of China Tang Xiao (who was a Finalist) wore one of my favorite gowns of the night: A Mermaid-shaped black dress with cascading peacock feather sequin detail. It was elegant, dramatic and impressive. The train was a little too long, however, and she didn't need it. The gown spoke for itself in all its drama without the extra 15 yard train!
South American Red: My favorite gown of the night was this red multi-layered chiffon dress worn by 2nd Runner Up Adriana Vasini from Venezuela. It was one shoulder (of course!) and featured elegant interwoven beading and a high slit (of course, Part Two!). On the stage, she worked that gown OVERTIME! I loved how the color stood against her porcelain skin and very dark hair. It reminded me A LOT of this one:
Worn by Miss Mexico Ximena Navarette, when she won the Miss Universe 2010 title earlier this year.
Canary Queen: An interesting choice was the gown worn by 1st Runner Up Miss Botswana Emma Wareus. It was a strapless bright yellow Mermaid-shaped (popular shape this year) dress with intricate silver and black flower embroidered beading and lots of feathers. This could have gone the "Oh huney that's a mess" route but Kudos to the designer and Emma for OWNING the look and making it work!
Dancing With The Stars, the Miss World Edition: Miss Puerto Rico, Miss World Beach Beauty 2010 Yara Lasanta was very "Dancing With The Stars" in this heavily beaded gown featuring A LOT of chest AND a lot of leg. When you have that amazing of a figure, pick one or the other. She won the "Best Body" already, there's no need to shove it in everyone's faces. It's a little too much, especially for Julia Morley to take. Now, if she was in the Miss Universe Pageant, Donald would have LOVED it!
Miss Thailand Yuwaret Sirirat Rueangsri, looked like a Hollywood (or Bankok rather) film starlet , in this. Love the heavy silver torso beading and deep purple velvet sweeping gown featuring a high slit and open sides/back. I was surprised to see such a SEXY Miss Thailand! How do you say "At A Girl" in Thai?
Penelope 2.0: Although she didn't even place, I still loved the gown Miss Spain Fatima Jimenez wore. It was creme, fully beaded and featured a draped front cowl and gold details at the bust. It was modern, chic and had a 1920's/1930's vibe. Loved the hair bun and the simple drop earrings. Muy elegante.
Beauty and The...Ball Gown: Miss Greece, Diamanto Gasteratou decided to go the Ball Gown route. Hers had a corseted bodice and silver sequin details. She is SO beautiful, I just don't know why she chose such an over-powering gown--that was frankly so Quinceañera. No Miss World since 1996 has won in this type of a gown (when incidentally, Greece won!), so it's a good bet it ain't happening any time soon.
Where's The Steamer: The very pretty Miss Finland Anne-Marie Nurminen unfortunately chose this not-so-pretty gown. I liked the lilac color but the dress itself was uninspired. Besides the wrinkled hem, the bust line had an odd fit problem and I pretty much know that the inner black tulle petticoat should NOT be showing like that. And what is with the oversized pukashell-looking necklace?
Finally, we must end with the winner of The Miss World Best Dress Designer Award: Miss French Polynesia Mihilani Teixeira. It was part Tahitian costume, part evening gown featuring several red tiers of printed crepe satin, feathers throughout and accessorized with an over-sized silver necklace. It's A LOT OF LOOK. If an actress wore this at the Academy Awards, Emmys or Cannes, she would be SLAMMED by the media. But somehow, at the Miss World, it worked for the judges (but not me!).Until the next Pageant--And remember: Keep it elegant, simple, modern and don't forget that high slit!