Mrs. International Pageant ....... in living color !!!

Whew, a vacation does a WORLD of good!  I am back, feeling nice and refreshed.  The mountain air, cool crisp breezes and lots of rest has totally rejuvenated me!   A lot happened while I was away.

Three new School America system queens were crowned in Orlando (more on that later this week) and the Mrs. International pageant kicked off in Chicago.   Known as one of the BIG THREE, this pageant always provides LOTS of great looks and surprises.

I've decided (as I can do, because it's my blog) to highlight some of the women of color in this year's Mrs. International pageant. Ironically, the very first Mrs. International was an African-American - Joanne Brown in 2000.  

There has been one other Mrs. International titleholder of color - Armaiti Shahidi-Fitzgerald in 2009.

Now let's look at some of the 2013 contestants:

Ceylone Boothe Grooms, Mrs. New Jersey International 

Nedjy Jean-Charles, Mrs. Haiti International

Afoma Eguh-Okafor, Mrs. Africa International

Quynci Joyner, Mrs. Arkansas International

Karli Bose, Mrs. Asia International

Leila Fraga, Mrs. Brazil International

Tenisha Dotstry, Mrs. District of Columbia International

LaSheila Yates, Mrs. Iowa International

Joyce Lee Mei Hui, Mrs. Malaysia International

Lailani Gatdula Llanto, Mrs. Manilla International

LaSonja Coleman, Mrs. Maryland International

Gisel Merrifield, Mrs. Mexico International

Andrea Bennet Xiong, Mrs. Minnesota International

Bola Harpprecht, Mrs. New Zealand International

 

 Sanam Azeem, Mrs. Pakistan International

Alicia Almendral, Mrs. Phillippines International

Octavia Ephraim, Mrs. South Africa International

Mireya Rangel, Mrs. Latin America International 

Charlotte Shores, Mrs. Washington International

I don't know about you, but I am pretty impressed!!!!  This is a significant number and a great amount of diversity.  Learn more about the contestants (I've linked where I could)....I am sure you'll like what you read.

I've had a couple of great friends compete in this system and believe me when I tell you - doing well is NO easy task.  These women put tons of work into developing their platform, working hard for Go Red, fund raising and making appearances!  I should know, I've seen my fair share of Mrs. International titleholder "work" ;-).

 with Mrs. All-American Classic and Mrs. North Carolina International 2009 at a MLK Day Parade in Baltimore, MD

with Mrs. Maryland International 2011 at a press event

with Mrs. All-American Classic and Mrs. Maryland International 2009 after speaking at a Health & Fitness Fair in DC.

 with Mrs. Maryland All-American and Mrs. Maryland International 2006 at a roller skating fundraiser

This could be the year that the Mrs. International pageant runs off with the lead!  Of the "BIG THREE" - Mrs. International is the only pageant to have crowned more than one woman of color with it's ultimate title.  Mrs. United States has only crowned one - Stephanie Hunt of Michigan in 2007.  The Mrs. America system has crowned, two Hawai'ians in the last 12 years, but not a woman of "brown skin".  Interesting!

Good luck to all the contestants!!! Don't forget to make lots of memories and have a blast!

 

And the Tony goes too......classic elegance!!!

I am just tickled PINK that Ms. Tyson won the Tony for her performance in Broadway's "A Trip to Bountiful"!!!  She truly is the epitome of grace and class!

I love to look at red carpet photos after awards shows to see what looks stick out and could make an appearance at late summer and fall pageants.  With Mrs. United States, Galaxy International Pageants, Collegiate America, Mrs. America, Miss America's Outstanding Teen, International Junior Miss, National American Miss states and Teen/Miss/Mrs. International pageants ALL happening between now and September - people are LOOKING for inspiration!

Well, here you go!

Laura Osnes

Keala Settle

 Judith Light

 Krysta Rodriguez

Anna Kendrick

 Sigourney Weaver

 Angela Bassett

 Condola Rashad

Audra McDonald  & Bernadette Peters

 

Laura Benanti

What do you think?  I love the classic lines and cuts of most of the gowns.  The Tony's crowd tends to be a little more subdued and conservative. Which works well for me, I tend to lean more to the traditional/conservative side in gowns. These looks would definitely be a win for late summer, early fall pageants.  If you're going for classic beauty which can enhance the silhouette.....look no further!

Fairest of the Fair

Well, I don't know about you, but I have had enough of Mother Nature to last a good while.   I was so glad that this weekend was very moderate weather wise.  Sunday was even pleasant enough to enjoy a pre-Labor Day cookout/bar-be-que at a great family friend's home.

 
While sitting there chatting with her and some other friends, I realized that I have met some of my best friends through pageantry!  Who would have thunk it :-)  LOL.  You enter these competitions with one, maybe two things in mind - Do your best and of course WIN!  It's pretty rare that you go into them thinking you'll make lifetime, true friends.

All I can say is I am pretty darn pleased that my pageant journeys have made me cross paths and become intertwined with some pretty cool people.

And on that note, congrats to the new Mrs. Missouri America 2012 Tina York!!!!!  Yep, another great friend I made at the Mrs. United States pageant back in 2005!

Who says the fairest of the fair can't be friends!!!