Who said that? Well, who ever it may have been, I don't think they were from the South. Beauty has an entirely different definition and is probably only a "Clinique-counter" away. It involves big hair, an evening gown that would put Cinderella to shame, and perfectly manicured fingers and toes.
Up to this point in my life, I had safely maneuvered away from pageant world. It was really a foreign concept to me. My two older daughters were not the least bit interested, but then along came Miss Britt. She can not stand to be left out of all the fun, and her school pageant was just screaming "FUN!" to her little ears so here we go.....
First things first.....at the time of this financial ravine in our lives, I had to lay down some ground rules. 1. I could not afford a pageant gown. I reserve the right to refuse to pay for any gown that isn't white and comes with a veil and a groom. Fortunately, my daughter has a wonderful, gracious, magnanimous,....did I mention gracious?...friend who is the youngest of seven, with four of them being girls. Her closets are packed with prom and pageant memories in every color of the rainbow. Britt found one that fit and as a Mom, I have to admit, she looked like a million bucks!
But there is also the matter of shoes, and jewelry, and hair, and make-up, and an interview outfit, more shoes, a dance number ensemble, more shoes, and ...oh yeah....selling ads for the program. Each contestant must sell a minimum of dollar amount in order to even participate. This was way more than I wanted to deal with, but I'm such a good Mom....uh-huh!
As the big day drew closer and closer, we had dress rehearsals for the opening dance number and I was just sure that she would end up with a fractured ankle from dancing in four inch heels for the first time! Somehow, we made it through all the trauma and finally arrived at the school on Pageant Night. Wow! I should, at this point, admit to the true secret of how I survived. I let my middle daughter be "the pageant mom". Aimee has true talent in the hair and make-up department so I handed over the torch to her and I must say...she did a magnificent job.
So when the big moment came, and Britt's name was announced, I watched my daughter walk....no, she SLITHERED, out on to the stage without so much as one single golden curl bouncing on her head. It was locked down with an invisible shield of more hair product than you can imagine. The train of her dress elegantly flowed behind her and top of the dress was being held up by ..... well, it's enough to make a Dad go a little nuts and start polishing the shot guns.
I should take a moment here to rewind the tape and take a look back around, oh, let's say 1973. This is where beauty was always on the horizon, but not the landscape. My early high school years were decorated with modest hem lines (yeah, I rolled my waist band as soon as I was out of sight from Mom's inspection), long, straight hair that softly framed my rectangular, tortoise shell eyeglasses, and lips that glistened with cherry chapstick, because I wasn't allowed to wear make-up. Oh yeah.....one Cosmo girl, coming right up. Fortunately for me, I was able to pull together a fairly attractive look when I moved on to contact lenses and a "Farrah Fawcett" cut, and found the perfect guy, who looked a little bit deeper than what was on the outside and found something good from the inside. I like to THINK that I pulled that off, but I know it was Divine Intervention....and I'm grateful.
As for my daughter, the wanna-be beauty queen.....although she does have a far more sophisticated look than I could ever have dreamed of at her age....she also has that inner beauty that touches my heart every time she walks in the room, or opens her mouth to speak. As the emcee of the pageant called her name, and began listing all her talents, achievements, and ambitions, I couldn't help but say a little prayer of thanks for being given the charge of raising such a delightful being. Beautiful at skin depth? Yes, and beautiful through and through. Interestingly enough, all of the girls had such amazing resumes.....they were all hard working, ambitious, altruistic young ladies with great futures ahead of them.....with or without acrylic nails and sequined tulle dresses.
The pageant was a success and there were five lucky winners that night with sparkling tiaras and arms full of roses. My daughter did not receive a tiara, but she didn't shed any tears or pout all the way home. She loved it! Loved the whole thing and said that she'd do it again in a heartbeat because she loved spending all that time getting to know all of the other contestants and basically, just having a ball! So what of "Beauty in the South"? We are passionate about our beautiful women. We try as hard as we can to fluff, buff, shine, and adorn ourselves to make the cut in this life. But a little high school beauty pageant taught me that beauty is what we make of ourselves, and more importantly, what we pass on to our children. In that case.....I have earned three tiaras, one for each daughter!
Later ya'll!
K
Up to this point in my life, I had safely maneuvered away from pageant world. It was really a foreign concept to me. My two older daughters were not the least bit interested, but then along came Miss Britt. She can not stand to be left out of all the fun, and her school pageant was just screaming "FUN!" to her little ears so here we go.....
First things first.....at the time of this financial ravine in our lives, I had to lay down some ground rules. 1. I could not afford a pageant gown. I reserve the right to refuse to pay for any gown that isn't white and comes with a veil and a groom. Fortunately, my daughter has a wonderful, gracious, magnanimous,....did I mention gracious?...friend who is the youngest of seven, with four of them being girls. Her closets are packed with prom and pageant memories in every color of the rainbow. Britt found one that fit and as a Mom, I have to admit, she looked like a million bucks!
But there is also the matter of shoes, and jewelry, and hair, and make-up, and an interview outfit, more shoes, a dance number ensemble, more shoes, and ...oh yeah....selling ads for the program. Each contestant must sell a minimum of dollar amount in order to even participate. This was way more than I wanted to deal with, but I'm such a good Mom....uh-huh!
As the big day drew closer and closer, we had dress rehearsals for the opening dance number and I was just sure that she would end up with a fractured ankle from dancing in four inch heels for the first time! Somehow, we made it through all the trauma and finally arrived at the school on Pageant Night. Wow! I should, at this point, admit to the true secret of how I survived. I let my middle daughter be "the pageant mom". Aimee has true talent in the hair and make-up department so I handed over the torch to her and I must say...she did a magnificent job.
So when the big moment came, and Britt's name was announced, I watched my daughter walk....no, she SLITHERED, out on to the stage without so much as one single golden curl bouncing on her head. It was locked down with an invisible shield of more hair product than you can imagine. The train of her dress elegantly flowed behind her and top of the dress was being held up by ..... well, it's enough to make a Dad go a little nuts and start polishing the shot guns.
I should take a moment here to rewind the tape and take a look back around, oh, let's say 1973. This is where beauty was always on the horizon, but not the landscape. My early high school years were decorated with modest hem lines (yeah, I rolled my waist band as soon as I was out of sight from Mom's inspection), long, straight hair that softly framed my rectangular, tortoise shell eyeglasses, and lips that glistened with cherry chapstick, because I wasn't allowed to wear make-up. Oh yeah.....one Cosmo girl, coming right up. Fortunately for me, I was able to pull together a fairly attractive look when I moved on to contact lenses and a "Farrah Fawcett" cut, and found the perfect guy, who looked a little bit deeper than what was on the outside and found something good from the inside. I like to THINK that I pulled that off, but I know it was Divine Intervention....and I'm grateful.
As for my daughter, the wanna-be beauty queen.....although she does have a far more sophisticated look than I could ever have dreamed of at her age....she also has that inner beauty that touches my heart every time she walks in the room, or opens her mouth to speak. As the emcee of the pageant called her name, and began listing all her talents, achievements, and ambitions, I couldn't help but say a little prayer of thanks for being given the charge of raising such a delightful being. Beautiful at skin depth? Yes, and beautiful through and through. Interestingly enough, all of the girls had such amazing resumes.....they were all hard working, ambitious, altruistic young ladies with great futures ahead of them.....with or without acrylic nails and sequined tulle dresses.
The pageant was a success and there were five lucky winners that night with sparkling tiaras and arms full of roses. My daughter did not receive a tiara, but she didn't shed any tears or pout all the way home. She loved it! Loved the whole thing and said that she'd do it again in a heartbeat because she loved spending all that time getting to know all of the other contestants and basically, just having a ball! So what of "Beauty in the South"? We are passionate about our beautiful women. We try as hard as we can to fluff, buff, shine, and adorn ourselves to make the cut in this life. But a little high school beauty pageant taught me that beauty is what we make of ourselves, and more importantly, what we pass on to our children. In that case.....I have earned three tiaras, one for each daughter!
Later ya'll!
K
