Swimsuit Competition

Color is another effective tool for camouflaging a less-than-perfect figure. Use color to guide judges' eyes to make them see what you want them to see. "To get the best color," says Tolbert, "you've got to look at [the contestant] and ask, 'Does this color make me look at her face?' 'Does this color make me look at her legs?' 'What does this color make me look at?'

Evaluating a contestant's figure helps the contestant and her wardrobers determine the most flattering design. "You need to really look at what that particular body is like and adjust the swimsuit to what she looks like," advises Vernon DeSear, who supervised Miss Floridas' wardrobe selection for years. "There are many ways that you can take an average figure and make it look great because of the suit and the fit of the suit-regardless of the type of figure she has."

Color can draw judges' eyes to a negative or a positive. Few contestants realize that their swimsuit colors can unintentionally call attention to a problem area. For instance, dark colors, especially black, create a visual "collision" where the dark fabric meets a lighter thigh, drawing attention to the contrast spot, which is a common cite for point-losing figure problems. Avoid colors that create an obvious contrast near a figure flaw.

On the positive side, color can be an effective visual magnet to pull judges' eyes off a problem area and onto an attractive feature. Let's say that a contestant has a slender, well-shaped torso, but chunky legs. A swimsuit in an eye-catching bright, neon, or ''hot'' color would pull judges' attention onto the "magnet" color and the pretty torso it covers and off the problem legs.

Color can also be used to change the apparent shape of a figure. For instance, black defines the shape it covers. As such, a black swimsuit draws judges' eyes to the outline of a contestant's figure. If her body is unbalanced-perhaps an exaggerated pear shape-black would be the worst choice because it would "advertise" that flaw. A better choice would be swimwear in a medium shade like rose, peach, lavender, or pastel blue or green. Because medium colors are closer to skin tones, they create an uninterrupted monochromatic line that pulls judges' eyes over the figure in one fluid motion, thus deemphasizing any lack of balance. The right color can deemphasize figure flaws to create the visual illusion of a well-proportioned body.

Contestants can also use color to alter their apparent height and weight, making a tall, gaunt body appear shorter and curvier, or a short figure look taller and slimmer. Kylene Barker, Miss America 1979, who is very petite at five foot three, chose a yellow swimsuit to visually create a long, unbroken line from head to toe that made her appear taller. Conversely, Elizabeth Ward (1982), who is nearly five foot ten inches and ultra-thin, visually cut her height by "interrupting" her body with a dark cranberry red swimsuit and matching shoes.

Like these former winners, you can use clever color choices to improve your figure proportions. "Keep in mind that you want to look balanced," advises Evelyn Ay Sempier, a popular former Miss America and national judge. "As a judge looks at you from top to bottom, you don't want his or her eye to stop anywhere. You want it to move very quickly [over you] because there is a nice even look about you."

Swimsuit Competition Overview Improve Specific Figure Flaws Swimsuit Diet Improve your Body The Best Swimsuit for your Figure The Best Swimsuit Color

Swimsuit Competition - all tips

 

All content is from the book "101 Secrets to Winning Beauty Pageants" by Ann-Marie Bivans.  Any use of this content without written permission from the author is plagiarism and will result in legal action.