When it comes to natural pageants for girls and teens, National American Miss (NAM), American Coed (Coed), and International Junior Miss (IJM) are the popular choices for many families. Because these three pageant systems have similar categories of competition when you prepare for one, the transition is easy to compete in the other two.
The 3 main areas of competition for state pageants are formal wear, personal introduction, and interview. Fun fashion/Modeling is added as a fourth category of competition at the national IJM pageant.
Special Tips for Formal Wear:
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Gowns must be full length and touch the floor for all three pageants. Better a little too long than too short; but the contestant must be able to walk in the gown without stepping on it. The shoes should not be visible when they are standing still.
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Make sure there are straps on gowns for the girls ages 4-12. The 13-15 age groups are a bit tricky. You will see both strapped and strapless gowns on girls in these age groups. Here is a question to ask yourself when looking for a Jr. Teen gown. When she is wearing the dress, does she look older than 15? It's better to be conservative. If she could pass for 18 in the dress, it's too mature. Add straps. In the teen divisions, strapless gowns are perfectly acceptable.
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Make sure the skirt isn't too full or puffy. The judges want to see your daughter. If the dress is too wide or too ruffley-puffley, it will shorten the appearance of the contestant's height on stage and take attention away from the girl. There is a fine line between making a statement with your gown and it being too much. You will start seeing the straighter gown skirts and mermaid styles on the Teens in COED; and on Jr. Teens and Teens in NAM and IJM. Slit skirts are not common on Teens in these three pageant systems; however, occasionally you will see one. It all depends on the how tasteful the dress style is. Again, I feel it is better to be conservative and opt for no slit. A high slit is never appropriate in these three pageants.
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Single colored gowns with tasteful embellishments tend to score best in these systems. If you think the colors of sherbet ice cream, you'll get a pretty good idea of the color palette you'll see on stage. And of course, you will always see white.
Special Tips for Personal Introduction and Interview:
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Coed introductions must not be longer than 20 seconds. You will have points deducted if you go over the time limit. In NAM and IJM, 30 seconds is a guideline and you can push it to 40 seconds. The focus here is not on how long it is but in the delivery. The introduction must capture the judge's attention within the first 7 seconds. If you think about how TV commercials are crafted, that will help you write your introduction. The line is fine between showing your personality and being over the top. You want people to be drawn to you, not running for the door.
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For interview, all contestants need to wear pantyhose and closed toed nude shoes. Children need to buy dance character shoes like the ones pictured here. Your best bet is to order them online because you won't find them in department shoes. Discountdance.com is one place you can find the Capezio character shoes.
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A solid colored interview suit is your best choice with the hemline being slightly above the knee. Mid thigh is too short. It should fit your contour perfectly without being too tight especially across your bottom. If your bottom looks like the capital letter D in your skirt, it's too tight. Most suits for children are custom made because you can't easily find them in the stores.
Special General Tips:
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There is no makeup on girls 12 years old and under. Don't even put shiny clear gloss on their lips. Makeup for the older age categories must be age appropriate.
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No tight ringlets or prom hair styles. Hair down with lift at the roots and soft body at the ends is the style to shoot for. Hair must be out of the contestant's face.
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The style of clothing for the fun fashion and casual wear modeling competitions is real clothes NOT costumes or glitz wear. You'll see high low dresses, jeggings with cute tops, and a wide variety of clothing expressing the contestants' personalities. NO denim. Display your fashion sense by accessorizing and customizing your outfit but don't cross the line of tacky.
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INTERVIEW CARD
The ability to answer questions about you, your purpose, current events, and controversial topics in a clear way is an important life skill that everyone can benefit from. The more you practice, the better you will get. These handy interview cards are a great way to practice with a partner or use by yourself to get you thinking about the topic.
The Beginning 10 Questions are the staple interview questions everyone must know the answers in an interview situation. Then each month you will receive a new card in the mail with fresh questions.
Now preparing for your interview is easy and for a limited time FREE.
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Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and a member of the International Coach Federation. She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®. She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.
Rhonda graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors degree in Musical Theater from The Ohio State University and has performed on stage in 15 countries on the Asian, European and American continents. This mother of three home educates their children and has been married 22 years to her husband Stephen, is the former mayor of her community, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Virtual Academy. or on her website. For more information on Rhonda, visit www.WinningThroughPageantry.com.
