MetaChat - Ministry of Silly Beauty Contestant "National" Costumes

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03 July 2008

Ministry of Silly Beauty Contestant "National" Costumes A slideshow of the costumes worn by Miss Universe contestants to honor their nation of origin. Long, but worth it.

post by: matildaben at: 09:19 | 32 comments

Right. Because nothing says "Australia" like this.

posted by Specklet 03 July | 09:24

If you rotate it 90 degrees CW she looks a bit like the Sydney Opera House.

posted by Wolfdog 03 July | 09:26

On balance, I thought a handful were quite nice, another handful were kitschy-cute, quite a lot were basically neutral, and only a handful were really silly. It's a nice link, though; you should throw it up on the blue if you're so inclined.

posted by Wolfdog 03 July | 09:36

Only Albania I would say was "frightening" - hell of a way to start the whole thing off.

posted by Wolfdog 03 July | 09:38

I think it's great they start the televised program that way- nothing more boring than 80 women in the same boring dress or the same boring swimsuit.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 03 July | 09:45

AWESOME!
How long do you think it took to make this one?
Lots of work in there... I wonder whose job that is. I might want it.

posted by rmless2 03 July | 10:20

Those are really really interesting.

posted by jessamyn 03 July | 10:25

If you flip a switch on Miss USA, that thing starts whirling around like a buzzsaw.

posted by JanetLand 03 July | 10:28

And things haven't changed much over the years, either.

posted by JanetLand 03 July | 10:33

These are great, though it makes me feel a little ignorant of international culture, because in some cases I have absolutely no idea what's going on. The really silly ones are probably my favorites, and the ones where the headgear's so big that they had to zoom out, and the ones where they look like Mortal Kombat characters.

posted by box 03 July | 10:33

Specklet, that's clearly the sky, clouds, sands, and earth of Austrailia. Well, that and what Wolfdog said.

posted by rainbaby 03 July | 10:34

Hellooooo Dominican Republic! I think she might make it 'round all the bases.

Though I think personal-style-wise, I'm more of a Peru or Uruguay type.

Australia, what were you thinking? Is that like a representation of the Great Barrier Reef in chiffon, or what?

Bahamas, we're having a dress-up costume contest. We might have forgotten to tell you. (Serbia didn't get the memo, either.)

Brazil, look out behind you, it's a GIANT GREEN JELLYF-AAAAGGHHH!

A proud moment for the First Nations of Canada.

Croatia, don't stand so close to me.

Somehow, this seems very Czech Republic - such a byootifool neckline!

Estonia forgot the ears.

Germany, that looks like it hurts!

Hungary? Or Tracey Ullman, circa 1983?You decide!

Gaspode?

Why look, Paraguay -- Seven little dwarves!

Slovenia, you're making it way too easy.

Tanzania, that's awesome. Looks very downtown, or at least like the "downtown" character type on a reality show.

And once again, leading the world with grace, style, poise and humility, here we are...USA! USA! USA!

What a great link. Most fun I've had all day, by far. Thanks!

posted by Miko 03 July | 10:35

Nothing says "USA" like a massive cardboard snowflake and red short shorts.

posted by Meatbomb 03 July | 10:36

Well, except for baseball. But the Dominican Republic was already using that one.

Tanzania is, indeed, pretty great.

posted by box 03 July | 10:38

WTF Miss Slovenia? Did nobody tell you ahead of time that your dress looks like a big turd? Like. A. Big. Brown. Turd.

posted by msali 03 July | 11:12

Don't let Tara Reid see these. It'll give her ideas.

posted by mullacc 03 July | 11:13

These are completely brilliant. Now I'll have to explain to my coworkers why I'm giggling helplessly at the front desk.

posted by mygothlaundry 03 July | 11:26

These are fantastic!!

posted by Stewriffic 03 July | 11:45

haha. the swimwear section let's you vote whether the girl is hot or not.

posted by stynxno 03 July | 12:14

I think Albania is pretty cool in a "Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!" sexy blonde dom kind-of-way. Way better than this atrocity. Australia looks like they're channeling the 70's through a loudspeaker. She totally needs that Farrah Fawcett feathered hair thing going on to complete the look.

posted by Zack_Replica 03 July | 12:17

I think the airlines lost poor Miss Canada's costume. she had to rush out to party city and pick up "sexy indian madien #16" to wear.

I feel like Miss Curacao should be wearing blue.

I like that, even in Egypt, they do the walk like an egyptian thing.

posted by kellydamnit 03 July | 12:26

Nothing says "USA" like a massive cardboard snowflake and red short shorts.

I thought it was a firework

posted by kellydamnit 03 July | 12:29

Ha! Oh, that was fun! I liked how some of them were just, like, "oh, I don't know; I can't think of anything - let's just go with 'hot girl'" cough Germany, Turkey.

My favorites for "pretty" costumes are Vietnam and Ireland. Thank goodness Greece didn't do some flag thing or traditional costume - I like the goddess look. Most bizarre must be Slovenia. Is she supposed to be a tree trunk?

Mauritius didn't try to help their girl out at all. She looks like she's wearing the condom dress. Miss Nicaragua and Miss Norway are totally making their costumes work; a flair for the dramatic definitely helps.

Serbia, Serbia, Serbia. *shakes head*

Miss USA has ground-to-air rockets coming out of her back, and I think she just threatened to invade Miss Kazakhstan. (I also think she's the reason Miss Korea is carrying that sword.)

posted by taz 03 July | 12:52

Faves:

Czech Republic: who wouldn't want a cape like that?

Finland's barrier-breaking shoelessness

Kazakhstan's chef hat on acid

New Zealand's general gothy OMGness

Singapore's sneaky paean to the Merlion Statue

posted by mdonley 03 July | 12:53

I think Miss Korea's just waiting to flip out and start decapitating the competition.

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by TheophileEscargot 03 July | 13:07

Miss Mexico can host rip-your-heart-out style Aztec sacrifices right there on her hipbones! Also, I bet she has wheels and moves around kind of like a Dalek.

posted by mygothlaundry 03 July | 13:13

Aww, I liked Argentina's. It's sweet and lovely. Made me go "ooo, pretty" when I saw it.

But oh, Malaysia, What was with the COLOUR CHOICES.

posted by divabat 03 July | 17:40

CAN'T SLEEP MISS ALBANIA WILL DRINK MY BLOOD

posted by scody 03 July | 18:10

Miss Estonia, 20, won rave reviews in the Haapsalu Valley High production of "Chicago." She does not need your silly competition.

posted by scody 03 July | 18:48

*snort*

seriously the comments on this thread are 3x as entertaining as the actual costumes. were this thing FPP-worthy in any fashion *snerk*, it'd go on beyond awesome to watch the wolves on the blue deconstructing this shit.

Miko's commentary not only channeled my exact first impression on every.single.one (GET OUT OF MY HEAD MIKO!) but gave me a long happy ride on the lollercoaster.

agreed that Slovenian gown pretty much resembles a product of dumpster diving.

posted by lonefrontranger 03 July | 19:16

Scody, you totally get mad props from this former resident of a Baltic state (LATVIA WHAT WHAT) for throwing in an Estonian-geography joke there.

posted by mdonley 03 July | 19:29

I haven't even looked at the evening gowns yet... let's see. Pretty standard stuff. Miss Albania isn't wearing steel or leather, so her claim to Dark Lady of the Sith is really sliding here. *tisk*

wait. What does Miss Canada have on her boobs? Hedgehogs? There aren't any hedgehogs in Canada. what the hell.

Miss Curacao likes her some bees.

Miss Cyprus needs a side of fries with whatever she's eating.

...and Miss Slovenia: "Wait Vanessa, I can explain. You see, I was looking for Dr. Evil when the Fembots came out and smoke started coming out of their jomblies. So I started to work my mojo, to counter their mojo; we got cross-mojulation, and their heads started exploding."

posted by Zack_Replica 03 July | 22:32

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