There she is. VCU graduate shares experience vying for Miss Virginia
This summer, 20 women from cities in Virginia stepped up to the microphone in Roanoke. Their stiletto heels and sequined dresses reflected the light of spotlights and camera flashes as the contestants posed, smiled and talked their way through the competition for the crown and the title of Miss Virginia.
This summer, 20 women from cities in Virginia stepped up to the microphone in Roanoke. Their stiletto heels and sequined dresses reflected the light of spotlights and camera flashes as the contestants posed, smiled and talked their way through the competition for the crown and the title of Miss Virginia.
Richmond native and 2006 graduate, Lauren Collier, was one of those 20 hopeful contestants. Now, as she returns to her work, she is reflecting on the past summer and her plans for the future.
The glittery world of American pageants has been teased, pointed at and not taken seriously since the birth of pageants in 1921, when Atlantic City hotelmen formulated a plan to keep tourists’ attention and business past Labor Day. What began as a bathing suit contest on the beach has grown into the largest scholastic benefactor to women, providing more than $45 million a year to American women, according to the Miss Virginia/Miss America Organization.
The 1999 movie “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” a comedy based on social perception of pageant life, revealed pageant contestants as a few football fields below intelligent. For example, when asked, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” contestant Becky Ann Leeman, played by Denise Richards, responds proudly, “I’d have good strong roots in a town like Mount Rose, a solid Christian trunk and long, leafy branches to provide shade for handicapped kids on a hot day.”
That movie, along with various classic moments in “Miss Congeniality,” another pageant-mocking movie, muster a few laughs, but the pageant contestants are not as fluffy and clueless as the movies portray. They must compete in swimsuit wear, complete off- and onstage interviews, perform a talent, model an evening gown and show strides of activity in community involvement with their chosen platform.
Collier, who has competed in pageants for four years, reveals the discipline it takes to prepare for the race to Miss Virginia.
“Preparation becomes my life,” Collier said. Collier’s twin sister, Lindsey, said, “I never see her when she’s preparing for Miss Virginia.”
A normal day for Collier in the weeks before the Miss Virginia pageant consists of early morning cardio sessions, two hours in the gym six days a week for weight training, practicing her talent for 30 to 45 minutes, catching the 11 o’clock news and preparing high-protein, low-carbohydrate meals.
“I typically can be caught carrying a cooler of food around with me on any given day,” she said.
Collier, who won the swimsuit preliminary award, didn’t win the pageant’s most exposed award by chomping down on everything in that cooler.
“I eat every three hours to keep my metabolism going,” Collier said. “And of course I drink lots and lots of water too.”
The requirements don’t end at having a good body. Contestants must have a sharp mind and keen understanding of public speech to complete their onstage interview. They are asked two questions and given one minute to answer fully and creatively without a trace of a stutter.
“I read the newspaper or catch the news to stay up on current events for my interview,” Collier said.
And then there is talent.
“My favorite part of the competition is talent,” said Collier. “I love performing, and that is the only time when I get a full two minutes to own the stage.”
Collier sang the 2002 hit “Forgive” by Rebecca Lynn Howard after being coached by Renee Grant Williams, who also coaches Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban in Nashville, Tenn.
Perhaps the most revered category of the pageant is the evening gown. The contestants walk elegantly across the stage in dresses ranging in prices from reasonable to outlandish. Collier, who has a full-time job at Cache, a nationwide women’s retailer of dress attire, understands the mechanics of clothes. She designed her entire wardrobe, including her swimsuit and interview suit.
The most glamorous, however, was the evening gown.
“Before I design a gown, I always try on as many gowns as I possibly can,” Collier said. “I may like the neckline of one gown, the skirt of another. I piece together the most flattering parts and then add a little of my own style to tie it all together.”
After three trips to South Carolina for her wardrobe designs, one trip to Nashville for vocal lessons, weekly fittings with Michael Taylor Couture – a sponsor of Collier – countless hours in the gym and weeks of giving up her favorite foods, Collier gave her all at the Miss Virginia pageant.
As she made it through the top 10 and then the top five, Collier found herself hand-in-hand with finalist Adrianna Sgarlata, waiting for who would become the next Miss Virginia.
“When I am up there waiting to hear the winner announced, I always feel as if I’m in a coma,” Collier said. “It seems as if the world and the crowd just fade away and the only thing I can focus on is how fast my heart is beating. Everything else becomes a blur.”
The crown went to Adrianna Sgarlata. Collier came home as first runner-up.
“Being first runner-up to Miss Virginia is a bittersweet position to be in,” Collier said. “If it weren’t for my faith in God’s plan, I might be tempted to see my position as first runner-up as more of a defeat than an accomplishment, but I trust that God’s timing is always right and his plan is perfect.”
Collier doesn’t regret a single moment, and she ignores the stereotypes that come along with pageants.
“I have won around $20,000 in scholarships over the past four years,” Collier said. And from what? Participating in the Miss Virginia/Miss America Organization. Her strength, her smile and her faith have not dwindled upon returning home without the crown.
“The jewels are in the journey,” Collier said. “I always say that whether or not I walk away with the crown, I have lost nothing because I have gained so much along the way.”
Collier is currently working with Cache at Short Pump Town Center. As far as next year’s Miss Virginia: “I may come back, I may not,” Collier said.