Meeting Miss America
When I was offered the chance to meet Miss America, of course I said yes. I’m not sure why it excited me so much, but I suppose it was intrigue and curiosity more than anything else. As non-Americans, I think we find it hard to understand the world of pageantry, and the only glimpses we’ve had are through movies like Miss Congeniality or tv-series Toddlers and Tiaras.
Perhaps exactly because of those, we are very quick to judge. Miss America (which is not the same as Miss USA, I should add), I thought, is bound to be a bit of a typical ditzy bimbo, blonde, shiny white teeth as sparkly as her tiara and with not much else to say. How wrong I was. Meeting Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan was a true eyeopener as to what it really means to hold that crown and – although, she is beautiful, her hair is blonde and her teeth most definitely sparkly white – she is a refreshingly normal 18-year-old making the most of the opportunity of a lifetime.
Being the youngest winner in 74 years, this girl from a small town in Nebraska is halfway through her yearlong adventure, where she gets to travel the world, represent her country (and fashion brand Joseph Ribkoff, but more about that later) and at the end of it, she gets to enroll into a university and start studying for her law degree. Because, something most of us probably are not aware of, is that Miss America is in fact a scholarship program. Her next 4 years of higher education are taken care of. Not too bad for an 18-year-old girl from Nebraska, right?
Teresa is chatty, bright, clever and open, treating everyone like her best friend in that typical American way, excited about her first time in London, and despite having arrived at 6am that morning, looking much more together than a very hung over me. So whilst I may have gone in with a bit of a prejudice, I can honestly I have much more respect for the institution of pageantry now than I did before. She’s just a lovely, normal and ambitious girl who does this to get ahead in life. She’d like to be a judge one day… why not?
Now, this is a bit of a long intro as to why exactly I was meeting Miss America in the first place. As a winner, she is also the face of Joseph Ribkoff, who are the official wardrobe sponsor of Miss America. The label is famous for its versatile separates which travel well (no creasing, no ironing needed!), so seeing as Teresa told us she has been a plane pretty much every other day in the past 6 months, it’s a perfect match. The collection I saw consisted of lots of interchangeable pieces, like leggings, skirts, comfortable tops and dresses which are great for day-to-night. A wardrobe for a busy modern woman, you could say.
www.ribkoff.com
