This is a compilation of National Costumes of some of the Miss World 2014 contestants. If you want that your candidate will be included in the list below, please email us at ric@missosology.org with some photos and details of the costumes.
Here’s a quick backgrounder of the National Costumes at Miss World:
1.) Did you know that there are only 7 winners of Best in National Costume at Miss World? Yes, that’s right! This year, like every year since 2009, the National Costumes of the candidates will be used for Dances of the World where the traditional dances from all over the world are showcased. The segment however is not a contest with no award being to given to the best in costume nor to the one with the best dance.
2.) The first ever Best in National Costume is Miss Philippines Onelia Ison Jose. It was reportedly showcased 5,000 pieces of capiz shells and was designed by Ben Faralles.
3.) The last winner of the award is Miss New Zealand Lauralee Martinovich. She used a white costume accented by laces.
This year, the National Costumes/Dances of the World Dresses of the Miss World contestants ranges from traditional ones to the historically significant to symbolic. Earlier, Miss Australia Courtney Thorpe decided to forego the unveiling of her costume due to some inaccuracies. It was meant to pay tribute to the ANZAC soldiers but some details of the costume do not match with the time period that it is supposed to depict. Although it had a rocky start, the costume was recently unveiled with the designers vowing to be as respectful and accurate about the costume since next year marks the 100 years of the battles.
Miss El Salvador Larissa Vega is wearing a traditional El Salvadoran costume embellished with the country’s flag. It also includes a diorama of a typical scene in her country complete with churches and volcanoes. The costume was designed by Francisco Gueguerro. Larissa will be dancing “Carnaval de San Miguel”, composed and sung by Francisco “Paquito” Palaviccini.
During the unveiling of costumes for Nonthawan “Maeya” Thongleng, this national costume was not presented so everyone thought that the so-called “chicken coop” costume is the one that she will use for Miss World 2014. But the Thai fans should no longer fear as this costume inspired by the 19th century Thai fashion infused with just right amount of Victorian-era stylings will surely turn heads in London.
Designed by Andrew Powell and Aisea Konrote, Miss Fiji Charlene Tafuna’i will wear a costume inspired by a specie of parrot endemic only in Fijian islands of Kadavu and Ono. Called as the kula, the bird is revered in Fiji and even appears on the country’s $5 note. The head dress of Charlene meanwhile is inspired by “lakalaka” – a traditional dance of Lau people. According to the official statement from Miss World Fiji organization, “national costumes in pageantry should reflect the uniqueness of the country it represents and must never be confused with a traditional costume”.
Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss meanwhile got mixed reviews with her costume. Peppered with Ndebele and Zulu beaded patterns, the costume also features the image of the late Nelson Mandela. The costume was designed by the students of Cape Town College of Fashion Design. While the supporters of Rolene called the costume as truly representative of the Rainbow Nation, one critic called it gesmokte tafeldoek. That’s shredded table cloth in Afrikaans, in case you are wondering.
Miss Poland Ada Sztajerowska‘s costume is inspired by the Polish national emblem – the white eagle with crown. The crown was inspired by the King Casimir the Great’s crown from the Piast dynasty from 14th Century.
Miss Malaysia’s costume is called “The Borneo Queen of Hornbill”, which represents the Bidayuh beauty queen, Dewi Liana Serestha‘s origin and birthplace, Kuching, Sarawak in Borneo Island.Her costume includes a kumang (which means the most beautiful) long dress from the Bidayuh community, a beautiful headgear made of rattan basket and a metal crown craftedly decorated with hornbill feathers from the Lunbawang community.
The Borneo Queen of Hornbill also has its own unique sound, thus, with every step she makes when wearing the costume, comes graceful sound of bells from copper tiny bells attached to the long dress and accessories. This symbolises the sound from the rainforest of Borneo which is the main habitat for the hornbills. By wearing this costume, Dewi hopes to instill awareness to her community on the importance of persevering the beautiful nature from becoming extinct.
Miss Egypt Amina Ashraf will be performing belly dance and will be wearing this custom-made costume by Fidele Studio – Wafaa Latif.
Miss World United States Elizabeth Safrit used a typical American costume complete with cowboy hat and boots. It shows culture prevalent in the American countryside and she will be doing a line dance complete with country music. The colors that Elizabeth chose also reflects the American flag.
Miss World Guyana Rafieya Husain‘s Dances of the World costume designed by Roger Gary is inspired by the country’s Machusi Tribe. The Macushi are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana. The theme of the dance is about the processing of the bitter-cassava for consumption which carries medicinal properties and is one of the main sources for sustainability for the Macushi people.
Miss Philippine Valerie Weigman is weaning a costume inspired by the T’boli, an indigenous community in the southern Philippines. Designed by Ivan Raborar and Jesson Capuchino, the costume drew criticisms that it misrepresented the culture of the T’bolis as the usual and prevalent color of the fabric is red. Some however defended the costume saying that it only drew inspirations from the T’bolis and not really an exact representation of the traditional dress.
Meanwhile, Miss India Koyal Rana is wearing a traditional Indian dress designed by Ritu Kumar. The dress was criticized for being too plain. Defenders however pointed out that it really represents the real costumes used when dancing traditional Indian dances.
