It’s amazing what you can create with a few flags and a glue
gun, or even a few old CDs and a telephone. The possibilities are endless when
it comes to creating outfits out of recyclable materials! I am very savvy when
it comes to pageant outfits, of course if it’s an eco-round then you can go
wild, but for someone who has to support herself (and the fur baby, darn being
an adult!) I must be very careful where I splash the cash! Of course, Facebook
is a wonderful thing when it comes to finding a bargain outfit but there is
nothing better than wearing an outfit you have created yourself! My fashion
wear at YEMI was my highest scoring round and it was an old jumpsuit which I
had attached a high low from another outfit, and used a hot glue gun and gems
to make a jewelled neckline. Also, my winning Red, White and Blue outfit I had
little heels I had glued over 2,000 red gems on each shoe to create a
completely different type of heel! From normal everyday mary jane shoes to
pageant fabulous! Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and create a
masterpiece! I’ve been lucky to win eco outfit awards at pageants for myself
and for other pageant girls so I think I’m onto a thing here! This blog post I
will show you all my favourite eco outfits, and how the magic happened!
The Famous Disney Dress
This is the dress that nearly got me locked out of
Disneyland! Before I read the brief about Face of the Globe’s International
outfits, I thought they would be the same as the regionals which had a fashion
round. This was where the idea of the Disney dress began. I couldn’t sell my
evening wedding gown, and of course the dress was tainted by the memories (I
never did make it down the aisle but that’s another story!) so I wanted to make
it into something else. I put an appeal on facebook for old Disney tops,
bedsheets, curtains etc for the dress idea. I also looked through charity shops
to find prints as well. Since the dress was handsewn it took a while but filled
the time when I would just be watching a television. The dress featured Disney
princesses and other Disney characters, girl and boy characters to create the
ultimate dress! I used a bambi print top as the template and sewed the bottom
part of the wedding dress to the top, and then using prints made a belt to
blend the two together, and jewellery pieces in the sale to create the
neckline!
This dress has been all the way to Paris (the guards
wouldn’t let me in as they said I looked like a character, so we pointed out
which princess I looked like because I had the whole of Disney on me! I was let
in eventually!!), it has been worn on pageant stages and has helped me get
through to the national finals. It will always be something special and hangs
in the wardrobe waiting for the next outing!!
My Petal loves
I’ve created two pageant fashion wears with petals, the
first was my red petal gown. I created this look using two red flags (four in
reality as I backed the other side) and sewn red petals onto the flags to
create a petal high low. Sewing took forever! I was still sewing the night
before the pageant final, of course it was worth it as I took the FOTG North
England title and secured my place at internationals but it took a lot of
patience! When I had the idea for a national wear petal dress, I had just got a
glue gun and my life had changed forever!! Rather than take a month and a half,
this outfit took a week. I used all the flags of the UK and Ireland, created a
British outfit. For the flags I covered them in the same colour petals to
create a petaled flag look,. On the outside there was the England, Ireland and
Welsh flag (which of course looked great with the different petals with the
dragon!), then on the inside was two Union Jack flags and Scotland in the
middle. On the inside it would have been overkill to use petals both side, not
to mention how hard to move! So instead I used red, white and blue petals
around the edges to hide the different glue parts! I used an old swimsuit to
attach it to, and used red, white and blue petals for the top half of the
swimsuit.
I wore this outfit on the Miss Inspiration stage but sadly
due to my hip never showed it off to it’s full potential! The flag of course
could detach, and I recently lent it to Jade for her national wear which won
Best in National Wear at Miss Beauty UK so at least it was shown off and picked
up an award for it!
Miss Eco Wiltshire 2013 Book Dress
My fellow Wiltshire queen Georgia made a joke about how many
books I had and said I could make an eco-outfit out of them, so that’s what I
did when I decided to enter Miss Wiltshire for the last time. It was on my
birthday too so an extra special day! I made the top using papier Mache and an
old bra which hooked at the front so easier to put on, then built around it to
make it bigger. The same for the skirt, I used an old mini skirt for the band
and stapled the books on the skirt, then glued on top of it and then made the
back a lot longer gluing the book pieces together. I also made some book shoes
to match (which one strap broke on stage, but I styled it out) and also a
little hat go with it. Since my sponsors were my gym, they gave me stickers to
use, which I placed all over the outfit. I was really happy to win Miss Eco,
meaning that I had won all the side awards at the Miss Wiltshire heat and completing
the collection (all but the actual Miss Wiltshire title, I had the Miss Swindon
title but always seemed to place runner up for Wiltshire!)
Miss Inspiration Marvel Dress
I love superheroes and my flat has upcycled furniture which
is marvel themed (wallpaper and paint, you can change anything and make it look
jazzier!) so when I won the Natural Beauty award at SW and won my place to
nationals I decided to make a marvel outfit! I made marvel heels, and a high
low marvel outfit made from an old prom dress and marvel bedsheets, once again
reusing the hat from my book dress and covered it in marvel. The dress ended up
being a little short for me (I do have a big bum, so every dress always sits on
it making the outfit shorter than intended) but I loved wearing my creation on
stage!
Lady Gaga Miss Swindon theme
The year I won Miss Swindon, my first live final where my
name had been called as a winner, the eco theme was Lady Gaga. Of course, I
wanted to use a telephone!! I was lucky I volunteered at a local charity shop
where I could pick up an old telephone and use a mannequin to create the
outfit. The top I made with a bikini top and broken CDs, with lots of Sellotape
(more for comfort as CD’s are really comfy!), then a couple of high waisted
black belts so I wasn’t showing off my belly! I made the skirt using an old
prom skirt, and England flags, with the spare broken CD pieces to decorate. The
telephone was painted red and placed on top of a flat hat and voila my eco
dress was complete! This was my first proper attempt at making a full eco
outfit, I had entered Miss Earth the year before and made a flag top with a fan
skirt, but it didn’t sit right so this was the first eco outfit I was very
happy with!!
Miss England Semi Finals Flag dress
Of course, with all my eco outfits, I reuse pieces from them
to create another amazing eco outfit! I used mainly flags for this outfit. I
reused my gaga skirt but attached it to a corset in which I had sewn England
flags and plus the England football and rugby badge to each side. Using four
flags I made a high low flag part and attached it to a belt. Then making a fan
bow using spare England flag material and two paper fans which then attached to
the hat which used to have a telephone attached! I also completed the look with
Olympic glasses since it was 2012!! I reused this outfit for a couple of finals
and even a photoshoot as well, the high low has been used many times and I have
recreated the flag dress in a bigger size for my growing curves! The high low
flag is now integrated into my flag petal dress so 5 years of reusable outfits
from a few flags!!!
I have had many more eco outfits, but it will take forever
to go into them, but you can see how easy it is to create something for the
stage! Many pageant rounds will have an eco-theme or something around this. I’m
lucky that there are only two rounds for me in America because otherwise my
suitcase would not be reaching that limit at all!!! I hope you have enjoyed
reading all about my different eco outfits over the years, and inspired you to
order a glue gun and as many gems as you can get! Next week’s pageant blog will be all about
pageant advice and my advice page Sparkles and Rhinestones!
Lots of love
Hannah x <3 x
Young European International Ms 2017/18
Like me on Facebook: @hannahgoldingbeautyqueen
Follow me on Instagram: @yemi_ms_international17
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