From Heartache to Hope: A Two-Time 1st RU’s Journey

From Heartache to Hope: A Two-Time 1st Runner Up’s Journey

When life has cut too deep and left you hurting
The future you had hoped for is now burning
And the dreams you held so tight lost their meaning
And you don’t know if you’ll ever find the healing

You’re gonna make it, you’re gonna make it.
And the night can only last for so long.

Whatever you’re facing, if your heart is breaking,
There’s a promise for the ones who just hold on.
Lift up your eyes and see. The sun is rising.

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ChristineTangI’ve probably played “The Sun is Rising” by Britt Nicole about a hundred times over the past few weeks. It’s an interesting feeling...when you believe with all your heart that your prayer could be answered and squeal at the thought that this is it – it could really, truly, finally happen.

Like the moment before the love of your life gets down on one knee to propose and you can barely breathe. Or after dozens of interviews, you get a phone call and this could finally be the job. Or after four years of competing, placing 1st Runner Up, winning double prelims, and taking time off law school to train, this could actually, finally be “your year” to win Miss Texas.

For years, ever since high school, I had my guard up. I was afraid to let myself believe things like that could happen for fear of being let down. So instead, I built a glass box around me. People could walk up and I’d smile and wave hello, but I was very cautious about who I let inside my box and into my life to know the real me.

But this year, all that changed. This was my fourth and final year to compete for Miss Texas. I had gone from Top 10, to Top 5, to 1st Runner Up and double preliminary winner, and this year I was going ALL in. No regrets. I was going to break down that glass box once and for all, train ten times harder than last year, and just let myself believe that my dreams could actually come true. I just knew it would be worth it. So I took off a semester of law school to train full time.

ChristineTang1Thanks to my incredible prep team, they set up about fifty mock interviews to ensure I was more than prepared. I had phone prep sessions with my coaches twice a week, worked out twice a day, learned how to home cook all my healthy, low-sodium, low-fat, high-protein meals, and practiced piano morning and night.

I made dozens of appearances, spoke before thousands of students across Plano, collected backpacks and suitcases for foster children in support of my platform, and did everything possible to make my dream come true.

And the thing is...sometimes we can do everything possible, and it still doesn’t come true. For one simple reason:  God didn’t create us to have a perfect life; He created us to have a close, intimate relationship with Him. And sometimes it takes heartbreak for us to grow closer.

ChristineTang3The night I was called as 1st Runner Up was undoubtedly the most difficult night of my life.  When they called my name it was like slow motion, and my heart shattered into a million pieces all over the stage.

In addition to winning double preliminary awards as the pageant’s only double prelim winner again, I also ended up winning Overall Talent, Overall Fitness, and Overall Evening Gown.  Which was such an honor to receive, but also made the pageant outcome even harder to swallow.

That night was like a crashing tsunami of so many unfamiliar emotions – pain, hurt, shock, heartache, and grief. You anxiously await for what you’ve let yourself believe will be the happiest night of your life, to be bursting with joy, but instead, suddenly you’re struck with a raging tidal wave of sorrow and pain, and when you’re finally alone, you collapse from the weight of your grief and crumple into a ball to the floor. Poof. Your dream is gone. And it’s never coming back.

"The Miss Texas title was never mine; it belonged to God. He could choose to give it to anyone He wanted to and I believe His plan is always best." - Christine Tang

It’s been exactly one month since that night. In the weeks that followed, while my family and I tried to quietly heal and recover, we found out my sweet grandfather got diagnosed with aggressive cancer. So it’s been quite a rough month for our family. When things like that happen, I want to look back and just ask God “why?” but instead, I’ve had to daily choose to look forward with faith. We have to choose to be grateful. We have to pursue joy. We have to actively persist living a life full of light and love. I believe with all my heart that when we entrust our life into God’s hands, He plans the absolute best for us.

So when something doesn’t go our way, we can find comfort and strength in the fact that God has something even better. We can never understand the magnitude, the depth, and brilliance of God’s magnificent plans, but I personally find comfort in reflecting on His faithfulness in my life for the past 24 years. And since He has never left my side, I will not leave His. I will not let myself be filled with anger or bitterness – I won’t give in.

People may say, “Christine, you were robbed.” But I wasn’t. The Miss Texas title was never mine; it belonged to God. He could choose to give it to anyone He wanted to and I believe His plan is always best.

ChristineTangCollageMy parents named my middle name “Diana” after Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, and I’ve always loved her for her compassion, humility, and grace. Despite having her crown and royal title taken away, she was and is still deeply, forever cherished by the world as the “Queen of Hearts.” Proving that we don’t need crowns, titles, or trophies to change the world – just a selfless, loving heart and a joyful spirit!

So I’m choosing a life of joy by being grateful.  Grateful for the opportunity just to simply stand on the Miss Texas stage. Grateful for the chance to have had four years of priceless training and experiences. Grateful for my scholarships and awards. Grateful for my coaches, trainers, mentors and friends. Grateful for the life-changing lessons of learning how to break down the glass box...how to pick yourself up off the ground when you get hurt...and how to move on with faith knowing no good thing does the Lord withhold from those who love Him.

As we journey through the hills and valleys of life, we have to trust that God gives us those valleys to give us depth and dimension. And in that exhausting, tear-stained struggle climbing out of the ditch, tired but stronger, braver, and more resilient than before, that’s how He equips His best soldiers. God uses a degree of pain to change who we are, to make us better fit and able for the beautiful life He has planned for us to live. I wouldn’t have it any other way. So cheers to living lives of joy and gratitude!

May we never be defined by what we gain, but by how we live.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us.” – Ephesians 3:20

For His Glory,

ChristineTangHeadshotChristine Tang - Miss Plano 2014

1st Runner Up to Miss Texas 2014, Overall Talent, Overall Fitness, Overall Evening Gown, Overall Fitness Preliminary Award, Overall Talent Preliminary Award, Quality of Life Top 10 Finalist  

Miss Dallas Pageant 2014 – Playlist

Obviously pageants are a big part of my life. Music is a big part of my life too. In fact, two of my favorite classes in college were courses in Music Therapy and History of Rock and Roll (yes it was a real class!)

I love all music. No genre holds me hostage. In pageantry, music sets the mood of a certain stage of competition and it can dial up the energy level of an audience. Specifically at my pageant, I want the environment for the contestants to be fun and loose without anxiety, and for those watching the pageant...I want them to dance in their seat while enjoying the show 🙂

I purposely spend a great deal of time searching, selecting, editing, and remixing music for the Miss Dallas Pageant. I want music that both you and I will rock to for a few hours. I've publicly said that over 90% of all pageants are boring, so here's one way to unbore your production and keep the audience energy up: Pump some sweet jams!

Most of the songs that make the final playlist each year are tracks I've edited to remove expletives or minimize suggestive lyrics, mainstream songs remixed to give it a new sound, tracks I've remixed myself to put my own signature on it, and some killer undiscovered jams that haven't hit the mainstream airwaves.

Here are 6 tracks I used for the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014, plus commentary on how I used them during the production and the thought process on the edits I made for each track.

For your listening pleasure, I threw all 6 tracks together into one remix for a fun jam session!

1) Opening Number - Excuse My Rude by Jessie J (133 Remix)
The first time I heard Excuse My Rude I fell in love with how fierce this was. In my head I could picture all of the contestants walking with their faces matching the attitude in this song.  When it was decided that this was the song to open our show with, I wanted the contestants to be fierce throughout every moment on stage. I know that fierce maybe an overused word in pageantry, but I PROMISE you that once you blast this song you can't help but want to ignite the runway to this beat. If you listen to the original version of this song you'll notice that the first minute of my remix is identical to the original version...beyond that is where I add some modifications. The original version is still pretty awesome, but for our opening I wanted to make edits that would work for what we were doing on stage, and to make the track sound better in my opinion. Here are some of the changes and the timestamps:

1:00 - Slight edit to lyrics. The original version says "really, <awkward silence> hate you". I thought this sounded like a terrible and obvious attempt to mask out profanity and took away from the flow of the song. Listen how awkward it sounds here. Now, if you listen to my remix, I changed every instance of the previous to "really, really hate you.and trust me it sounds much better!

1:18 - Added a 2nd bass drop. During our opening number production the 1st bass drop (about 12 seconds into the track) coincided with a contestant turn and reveal from out of darkness with full stage lights coming on adding dramatic effect. I added a 2nd bass drop into the track that cued both titleholders to have an isolated walk on stage. Pretty cool moment if you saw it in person 🙂

About 2 minutes into the original version there was a rap solo by Becky G, which was pretty cool, but I just didn't think it worked with what we wanted in a pageant opening and to me it just didn't flow...so I removed it altogether...sorry Becky G!

Hope you guys enjoy my version, it's the first song in the remix track above...play it LOUD!

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2) Swimsuit Parade - Dark Horse by Katy Perry (133 Remix)
This song set the stage for the Swimsuit Competition. During the parade I wanted the contestants to have energy coming out the gate...overriding the nervousness of walking out in a bikini in front of hundreds or strangers under tons of bright lights.

I found a few remixes that I liked of Dark Horse, made a few changes and cut it to about 2 minutes for the Swimsuit Parade.

This song begins at 3:02 on my remix track above.

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3) Swimsuit #1 - Show Me by Kid Ink Feat. Chris Brown (133 Remix Clean)
I absolutely LOVE this Show Me...it probably has one of the sexiest beats on the radio right now and I really wanted to have this song for swimsuit for that very reason. I debated whether or not to add it to the MDP 2014 playlist because just 10 seconds into the original version of this song it reaks of suggestive lyrics. This song doesn't contain profanities, but it has inappropriate lyrics for pageant/family which would be super uncomfortable when someone's daughter is walking the runway. So I tricked this song up to remove the suggestive lyrics in the hook, left in some of the lyrics that I thought would pass the "grandma test", and isolated the hot beat (minus lyrics) where the majority of the suggestive lyrics were. Hope you like it!

This song begins at 5:07 on my remix track above.

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4) Swimsuit #6 - Million Dollar Bills by Lorde (Easy Girl 133 Remix)

I added this version of Million Dollar Bills last minute to the Swimsuit Playlist. The original version of this song with the slow opening and reggae-like drag beats didn't cut it for me, but this version has some serious kick to it and thought it would be a sweet addition for Swimsuit. It was one of the very last songs on the Swimsuit Playlist and unfortunately it didn't get any airtime during the pageant.

I made a slight change to extend a part where Lorde started rapping -- yes rapping -- during the song where I felt they cut it short. This version is the pretty sweet...take a listen!

This track begins at 8:42 on my remix track above.

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5) Intermission #1 - Fancy by Iggy Azalea (Caked Up Remix)

Yup, I also choose the intermission music as well! Even during intermission I still want the audience's energy level to stay consistent and engaged with the show. Most of the songs I select for intermission are songs that I wouldn't use for a pageant production either because the beats per minute are too high (aka the song is just too fast to walk to) or the song struggles too slow. I came across this wickedly sick version of Fancy that I knew wouldn't be a fit for the show, but would be PERFECT for intermission...even more perfect for the gym! This is my favorite jam of all the ones listed here...listen to it now 🙂

This song begins at 12:14 on my remix track above.

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6) Intermission #2 - Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon

During intermission, I followed up Fancy with Turn Down For What. If you haven't heard this song you are probably in a coma somewhere 🙂 This again is yet another awesome jam that I wouldn't ever use for the pageant production because of the speed of the song, yet perfect to get you amped up during intermission. The collection of breaks on this track is so dope it makes you wanna get up and rock out, just like in the video. And if you haven't seen the video, then you're in for ummm...well you'll just have to see for yourself haha! #weird #funny #twerkingzombies

This song begins at 15:29 on my remix track above.

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-Will the Pageant Guy

  

9 Things I Learned at the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014

Each year, as an Official Recruiter for the Miss Texas USA and Miss Texas Teen USA pageant, I have the amazing opportunity to direct and produce the wonderful Miss Dallas Pageant.

From choosing opening number attire, creating program books, picking music, selecting bouquets, and even a little bit of choreography...it's always a blast to see how it all turns out onstage during a live show!

The undisputed Rule #1 for all contestants, staff, parents, emcees, etc. is to HAVE FUN (we encourage tons of dancing, junk food, cell phone use, tweeting, twerking...but not the tweeting of twerking lol) ...and if it wasn't fun every year, I would've been done with this a LONG time ago 🙂

So to give you a glimpse of what happened this past weekend, here are the 9 Things I Learned at the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014:

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9) Birthday cake is a pageant girl's kyptonite, especially when preparing for Miss USA

BrittanyBirthday
Alright, so maybe we indulged ONE TIME in some of Miss Florida USA 2014 - Brittany Oldehoff's birthday cake...OK, twice lol

 

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8) 15 minute intermissions never ever last 15 minutes

CalculatorWatch
Not even my new calculator watch could help keep our intermission running on time

 

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7) Devin Grissom is a professional at making fish cut-outs for the on-stage question fishbowl

Fish
What's a fishbowl without fish? Here's our fish...complete with a smile : )

 

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6) Selecting and ordering flowers is not my greatest strength : /

Im the worst at choosing flowers and apparently just as bad ordering them. We were short a few bouquets so we had to do some last minute improvising B-)
I admit that I am the worst at choosing flowers and apparently just as bad when ordering them. We were short a few bouquets so we had to do some last minute improvising B-)

 

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5) A great team will never let you fail.

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A super fun, cool, young, energetic, smart a#$, hard working staff...who also still get carded at the bar lol

 

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4) The suspense music was probably a bit too suspenseful lol

Ok so the suspense music wasn't THAT intense and scary was it? haha
OK...so the suspense music wasn't THAT intense and scary was it? haha

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3) Our emcee, the beautiful Miss USA 2001 - Kandace Krueger Matthews never ages!

Miss USA 2001 - Kandace Kreuger Matthews (center) with Miss South Carolina USA 2014 - Christina Zapolski (left) and Miss Florida USA 2014 - Brittany Oldehoff

 

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2) Between myself and the judges, just 1 box of Fruit Roll-ups is not enough haha

Fruit Rollups
It wasn't the bowls of fresh fruit that ran out first, it was the box of Fruit Roll-ups!

 

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1) This year is probably the strongest group of Dallas contestants ever…watch out Miss Texas USA/Miss Texas Teen USA 2015!

MDP2014Top5Collage
Miss Dallas Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (top) and Miss Dallas Teen Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (bottom)


-Will the Pageant Guy
  

11 Ways to Know You’re a TEXAS Pageant Girl

I'm a Texan. Born in good ol' Fort Worth aka Cowtown...aka Funkytown.

Yes, I do drive a truck and no I do not ride a horse to school or work...although I am not necessarily against it!

I do rock some killer boots, and the love for my dog is best described in any country music song (nope, my dog hasn't died).

As any normal Texas guy would agree, we appreciate a respectable Texas girl.

It goes without saying that Texas girls are pretty amazing...God Bless Texas! But what's better than a Texas girl?

A TEXAS Pageant Girl.

Beautiful, smart, charming, polite, independent, wears a crown, avoids anything outdoors between April to October to keep her spray tan from melting -- this list could go on and on -- but here are 11 Ways to Know You're a TEXAS Pageant Girl:

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11) You have used "Y'all!" comfortably during interview on more than one occasion.

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Hey y'all! It's a Texas thang.

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10) You know where the saying, "The higher the hair, the closer you are to God!" truly originated from...TEXAS!

Higher the Hair2

Still not convinced? Just go here and here.

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9) You dread having to drive on I-45 again to visit your pageant coach.

Bu-cees

At least you get to stop by Buc-ee's on the way and pick up some beaver nuggets!

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8) You've considered going to TCU for college.

tcu logo

Texas Christian University's enrollment record is a who's who of numerous pageant titleholders including Miss America, Miss Texas, Miss Texas' Outstanding Teen, Miss Texas Teen USA, Miss Teen USA, and many other pageant ladies...and they have a better football team than Lindenwood.

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7) You've tried on your evening gown with boots on.

BootGown

I'm sure you even took a picture of it too! Fire up your old MySpace account...I bet you have pictures posted on there 🙂

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6) You've competed as a blonde at least once in a pageant.

Ana Rodriguez-blond

Don't lie...you've tried it at least once! (Above: Miss Texas USA 2011 - Ana Rodriguez as a blonde back in 2006)

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5) You've done an opening number wearing boots and cut-offs to an old school honky tonk jam.

GROUP GOD BLESS TEXAS
Boots ?  Cut-offs ?  Tied Crop Tops ?  Fist pumps ?  All the ingredients of a successful opening number in Texas!

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4) You wear your Texas shaped necklace with as much pride as your crown.

TexasUSANecklace

When you're not wearing a crown, there's nothing better to show off your Texas pageant pride by wearing a blinged out necklace in the size and shape of the Lone Star state.

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3) You acknowledge that GuyRex is to Texas pageantry as Tom Landry is to the Dallas Cowboys.

GuyRex

GuyRex, leader of women...Tom Landry, leader of men. GuyRex, 6 Miss USA's from Texas and Architect of the Texas Aces...Tom Landry, 2 time Super Bowl Champion. #TexasLegends

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2) You've dreamt about being the first girl to win both Miss Texas and Miss Texas USA.

MAO crown4 USA Crown

Quite possibly the only state in the country that hasn't had one girl to win both the USA and MAO state titles.

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1) You've had a post-pageant meal at Whataburger.

Whataburger

I'll have a number 6 Whatasized with a side of ranch...and a Diet Coke. Don't forget the Fancy Ketchup 😉

 

(Photos courtesy of TexasPageantScene.com, Miss Texas USA, Miss Texas Organization, GuyRex, Ana Rodriguez, Betty Warner, TCU, Whataburger, Buc-ees, and the Internet!)

   

Inside the Making of a Gown (B. Young)

GUEST BLOG: Evening gown designer, Alexis Lantz of Alexis Lantz Couture

In the fall of 2011, I was stopped in my tracks by Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume ad that I saw in a department store.

I immediately fell in love with the gown and wanted to make a version of it for my younger sister Brooklynne Young, who would be competing in the Miss Texas Teen USA 2012 pageant the following month.

After tossing around the idea for a few days I concluded that it would be too rushed to try to do the gown with so little time left. Instead, I used the gown as inspiration for my sisters’ opening number dresses.

BrooklynneTeen
Brooklynne Young - Miss Fort Worth Teen USA 2011 wearing her opening number cocktail dress for the Miss Texas Teen USA 2012 pageant. Photo by TexasPageantScene.com
BreAnnaTeen
BreAnna Young - Miss Dallas Teen USA 2011 wearing her opening number cocktail dress for the Miss Texas Teen USA 2012 pageant. Photo by TexasPageantScene.com

 

The rules for opening number that year were jewel tones with limited to no beading. Because I could not make the dresses stand out with beading, I decided to employ movement and volume instead.

(Tip: I am a firm believer that, for a pageant gown, there needs to be some aspect that catches the eye, be it beading, movement, color, sheen, and/or volume. Care must be taken, however, to not combine too many of those elements into one design. This just ends up looking like a disaster.)

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BreAnna Young, Overall Evening Gown Winner at the Miss Texas' Outstanding Teen 2010 pageant

Last year, I decided that I wanted to take the plunge and go all out with Brooklynne’s evening gown for Miss Texas Teen USA 2013. I knew that I wanted to use the same blush pink silk duchess satin for the bodice that I used for my other sister’s evening gown when she competed in the Miss Texas’ Outstanding Teen pageant.

For a gown with this much ruffle and tulle it was important that the pink be just right – not too “little girl pink,” but just enough pink to compliment the romantic softness of the design. I then began searching for the perfect shade of matching blush pink tulle. I searched every tulle supplier in the US and abroad, but every sample was either too pink or too peach. I then decided to make the gown with silk organza, because the fabric supplier for the blush pink silk duchess satin also carried the same color in silk organza.

Unfortunately, the supplier only had 40 yards left, which would not be enough to create the volume that I needed for the skirt.

(Tip: always order more fabric than you think you will need – and then add 10% to that!)

Thus, I decided to incorporate tulle, in a complimentary color, in with the organza. I imagined that a golden champagne tulle would look gorgeous with golden shadow Swarovski crystals around the empire waistline. After testing several different shades of champagne tulle, I concluded that it looked too “dirty” against the beautiful pale blush pink.

I then decided to just use ivory tulle because, mixed in with the organza, it would give a soft, cloud-like effect to the gown. I ended up ordering 75 yards of 54-inch tulle (for the large skirt panels), 400 yards of 12-inch tulle (for the large ruffles), and a whopping 1,150 yards of 6-inch tulle (to be doubled over and sewn into the smallest ruffles).

(Tip: all tulle is not created equal. Some of the cheaper tulles are made overseas, and are not always nylon, even when they claim to be - a lesson I learned the hard way (tip within a tip: if it sounds too cheap/good to be true, it probably is). Look for tulle made in the USA.)

At this point, I felt reasonably sure about the skirt fabrics so I put that aside in favor of beginning the crystal beadwork for the gown. The beading was done on a base of the blush pink silk organza, which was stretched across a large embroidery frame.

I used a mix of Swarovski AB, Clear, and Golden Shadow Chaton Rose Montees (in stone sizes ranging from SS20-40), as well as some large Swarovski cushion and marquis cut accent stones. Some Swarovski Ivory Pearls (4 mm and 8 mm) were added for depth and texture. I loved how the pearls brought an elegance and softness to the gown.

A close-up of the front waistline beading in progress.
A close-up of the front waistline beading in progress.

After finishing the beadwork, I then happened upon, what appeared to be, the perfect blush peach pink dye that I could use to turn all of the ivory tulle into the perfect pink! I was overjoyed! The first rule of dying fabric is to test, test, and re-test.

(Tip: Different types of dye are used for different fabrics. For example, acid dyes are used for natural fibers (silk and wool) and also work well for nylon. Fiber reactive dyes are used for cotton, rayon, hemp, and linen.)

My first several testers came out way too peach. Remember the color wheel you learned about in grade school? Well, the opposite of warm peach/orangey tones are cool blue tones, and that is what I needed to add to cool down the color.

(Tip: though I usually use professional dye, in a crunch you can combine RIT dye with your acid or fiber reactive dyes because it has a combination of fiber reactive and acid dyes - thus why they call it “all-purpose.”)

I found that when I added a touch of the cool blue tones to the warm blush peach pink it was transformed into that elusive blush peach pink that I had been searching for.

The next step was to gather all 1,150 yards of the 6 inch tulle into ruffles.

(Tip: if you plan to sew something before you dye it, make sure you use the same thread color as the color you want the fabric to end up, because your polyester thread will not take the dye.)

Then, those ruffles were sewn to the 12-inch tulle. At this point it was time to dye the mounds of ruffles (I did not gather the straight side of the 12 inch tulle yet because it would have knotted when dyed). I used a 15-gallon stainless steel pot to do the job because it is important that the fabric have enough space to move freely, otherwise the dye will be absorbed unevenly.

The ruffles were dyed in 25 yard batches and I dyed them progressively lighter in order to achieve an ombre effect to the skirt. Once dyed, the straight side of the 12-inch strips was gathered and, I’ll be honest, my entire workroom looked like a cotton candy factory had exploded!

A photo illustrating the ombre effect
A photo illustrating the ombre effect

Now came the fun part – draping the gown.

I had already made the bodice and attached several layers of alternating organza and tulle to the natural waistline.

I used a dress form and begin the process of attaching the ruffles to the longest layer. I started with ruffles that I had left ivory, and attached those around the bottom. I repeated this process as I gradually moved up the gown with progressively darker pink ruffles. I angled the front a bit to achieve a slight asymmetrical effect. An early iteration of the gown had an organza top layer with an organza raw-edged ruffle, but removed it after determining that the tulle was much softer looking.

The finishing touch was to attach the beadwork pieces to the waistline (it was like icing a cake; literally, remember those Barbie cakes? Yeah, I know you were thinking it 😉

I trimmed away the excess organza and carefully hand-tacked the appliques onto the bodice (true confession: I ran out of time and did most of this in the car on the drive to the pageant in Houston – where there is a will there’s a way!).

Photo of the back of the gown as the beadwork was being applied.
Photo of the back of the gown as the beadwork was being applied

In the end I was in love with how it turned out. I knew it was a risk to make such an over-the-top gown, but I believe that pageants should be fun and I like bringing something new to the stage. I had a blast making it and adored watching Brooklynne model it.

I admit, I was slightly worried about whether she would fit on the stage – and she did! (barely).

And for the Despicable Me fans out there… I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that it was SO FLUFFAY!

 

 

Here is the final product:

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AlexisLantzLogo

 

www.AlexisLantz.com

   

VIDEO: Miss Texas USA 2013 – Behind the Scenes

In 2 weeks, the state of Texas will witness over 100 young ladies from across the Lone Star state compete for the coveted title of Miss Texas USA 2014.

Each year I have the amazing opportunity to attend the Miss Texas USA pageant, however last year was the first to capture what happens behind-the-scenes at one of the country's more closely followed state pageant.

Below is a short video giving you a glimpse of last year's Miss Texas USA pageant.

Thanks to Zac Grimaldo/PixelBroom for video production.

P.S. In case you want to see some behind-the-scenes photos from last year's Miss Texas USA pageant, click here.

-Will the Pageant Guy