SASHES AND TIARAS.....Miss Supranational 2016 Finals: Costumes and Gowns Recap!

SupraCrowned: Miss Supranational 2016 Srinidhi Shetty of India

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

This past Friday were the Finals of the Miss Supranational 2016. the international beauty pageant was held in Krynica-Zdroj Poland (population 11,000; known as the biggest spa town in Poland) with 71 contestants from the globe vying for the crown. Miss Supranational is in its 8th year and has quickly grown in status as one of the most important "Grand Slam" beauty pageants, along with Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, etc.

Golden Gal: India's Srinidhi Shetty wins Miss Supranational 2016 in Poland

Photos courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

The winner was the representative from India, Srinidhi Ramesh Shetty. Shetty is a 24 year-old 1.73 (5' 8") tall model from Mangalore, who studied engineering and worked as an IT professional in the past. She becomes the second Miss India to win the Miss Supranational crown.

A Ten for Prodcution: Miss Supranational 2016

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

The Production: The production of the show was top notch featuring great music, fab staging and a great array of "Outfit/Gown Changes" by the contestants--from National Costumes to Evening Gowns, Cocktail wear, Activewear to even more Gowns (in Metallic gold/silver tones!) to keep fashionistas like myself visually content. Overall, it was on par with a "Miss Universe" and some of the most recent "Miss World" productions (I say "most recent" because I can remember those epic super-drawn-out "Miss World" shows during the 90's that could have been easily cut in half and lacked any excitement and anticipation...thank goodness that kind of show has changed!).

The Top Two:

OMG...Me??!!: Miss India Srinidhi Shetty's (R) reaction after learning she won "Miss Supranational 2016", with First Runner-up Venezuela's Valeria Vespoli (L)

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

Miss Supranational India (and eventual winner) Srinidhi Shetty in swimsuit and white cocktailwear--Miss Supranational 2015 Finals

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

First Runner-up Miss Supranational Venezuela Valeria Vespoli in White and Red Cocktailwear--

Miss Supranational 2016 Finals

Photos courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan (L) and Miss Supranational Facebook (R)

Valeria was one of the favorites to actually win the Miss Supranational 2016 title and she almost did. If you're a pageant fan, you might recognize her from the Miss Venezuela 2015 pageant where she was Miss Monagas. She wore this gown above which was designed by Gionni Straccia

National Costumes:

Best Costume Miss Supranational Vietnam Kha Trang

Photo courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan

Winning Costume: The winner of the Best National Costume title went to Vietnam and contestant Kha Trang for this. The almost 100-pound weighing costume was deigned by Vietnamese designer Le Long Dung and named "Vietnamese Golden Lotus". Supposedly, it took three months to make (I believe it!), boasts a 3.5 meter train and is inspired by the tale of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, who are believed to be the parents of all Vietnamese people. The arms are in the shape of a lotus and the headdress is highlighted by pheasant tail feathers...

Yep! I can see how it won!--Miss Supranational Vietnam national costume

SupraCostume: Miss Supranational India's costume was pretty fabulous too: The eventual winner of the Miss Supranational 2016 crown wore this costume entitled "The Fusion Bride of the Indian Tribes". The silhouette of various parts of the garment cover various regional tribes of India. The crown is inspired by the North east and Eastern Bengali tribes, the choli (blouse) is inspired by the North with tribes from Kashmiri, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh; the skirt and the mask draw inspiration from the Southern tribes, while the skirt holds in colour the Western Warli tribes of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Fusing khadi cotton, yak wool and Indian silk brocade, the garment features textiles of the country. The national animal the tiger and the national flower the lotus are symbolically represented in the garment. It was designed and created by Melvyn Dominic Noronha.

Is that Nelson Mandela on her head? Miss Suprnational South Africa's national costume (second from left)--Miss Supranational 2016 Finals

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

Pink Llanera: I also loved the costume worn by eventual First Runner-up Miss Supranational Venezuela Valeria Vespoli designed by Douglas Tapia. It was a "Fantasy" Traje de Llanera" dress featuring multi-tiered layers/ruffles. I loved it because it reminded me so much of a sketch I did years ago (being that I am a big "Pageant Fan" growing up in Venezuela), which I included in my book "A Passion For Fashion"...

Miss Venezuela Fashion Sketch by Nick Verreos--From "A Passion For Fashion"

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

Oh No She Didn't!: there was one other "national Costume" I wanted to highlight and that was the one worn by Miss Supranational Trinidad and Tobago Lia Djemila Ross. How do I say this politely? SHE WAS ALMOST NAKED!!!!! I think that her nipples were actually partly in view when she introduced herself on LIVE TV, in view of millions and millions of viewers! I don't know how that got through the censors but it was kind of a "Oh Nooooo She Didn't!' moment. She gets "Atta Gurl" points for that!

Now, let's get to THE GOWNS!!!:

Gown Gals--Miss Supranational 2016 Finals

Photo courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan

The Miss Supranational 2016 Finals were fabulous in many ways but especially because the contestants had two gown changes through the evening (those backstage dressers were working OVERTIME!). They first came out in their own individual gowns (after the National costumes and Swimsuits) and then they changed into Golden Gowns at the end when the Top Five were named and for the crowning when all the constants wore golden/metallic gowns which was kind of a great idea! Kudos to the pageant's producers for such a Gown-Tastic show!

Best in Gown: The Winner of Best in Evening Gown was Miss Supranational Romania Sinziana Sirghi. She wore this black design featuring over-sized ruffles, a "Mermaid Lite" silhouette and patent leather-like band details. I loved this gown and said so in the Recap of the Miss Supranational 2016 Preliminaries Evening Gown blog post HERE.

Photo courtesy of Missosology

Last year's Miss Supranational Stephanie Stegman from Paraguay did her Final Walk in this stunning white gown. I thought she looked quite glorious and I loved the drama of it and the beautiful lace-like details

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

Golden Beauties: Stage images of the Miss Supranational 2016 contestants during the Finale of the pageant, wearing their golden/metallic gowns--Miss Supranational 2016 Finals

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

Time to discuss the Top Five Golden Gowns:

Photo courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook

India Srinidhi Shetty: The eventual winner from India, Srinidhi wore this gold gown featuring leaf-like "fringe" sequins that fluttered beautifully as she walked. I thought the design had a strong gold color and stage presence. The gown fit well and looked perfect for her.

Score: 9.45

Photos courtesy of Miss Supranational Facebook (top) and Missosology/Bong Tan (lower)

Venezuela Valeria Vespoli: First Runner-up Valeria Vespoli wore this blush/nude gown with gold and silver sequined leaf (a theme of "Miss Supranational 2016" I guess!) appliques. The Alejandro Fajardo-designed gown featured dramatic cape details and was super-fitted with a dangerously high center front slit. It was a very Haute Couture-looking gown, made beautifully by the Venezuelan atelier and while I give it points for making a definite gown statement (which I love), this was still A LOT, and that center front slit was just too-close to her you-know-what which made it go into an almost Couture Hoochie territory.

Score: 9.10

This is a photo of what she wore during the Miss Supranational 2016 Finals as her first gown:

Disco Ball Beauty Queen: Silver "mirror" sequined gown worn by Miss Supranational Venezuela Valeria Vespoli designed by Alejandro Fajardo who also designed the golden "cape" gown. I liked the gown just for its sheer audacity of "Notice Me B*tches!" but the fabrication with the long sleeves was overwhelming and I wish she wouldn't have worn THOSE shoes!

Score: 8.55

The gown is VERY "Miss Venezuela" Pageant-like and featured the same mirror effects originally done WAAAAY back in the day by Venezuelan couturier Guy Meliet:

Miss Tachira 1988--Gown by Guy Meliet

The gown is also in the same vein of this:

Miss Apure in the Miss Venezuela 2015 Pageant--gown designed by Alejandro Fajardo

Continuing with the rest of the Top Five, Miss Supranational 2016:

Photo courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan

Suriname Jaleesa Pigot: Jaleesa got the 2nd Runner-up title at Miss Supranational 2016. She was also one of the favorites to win and she was one of my Top Gown Divas in my recap of the Miss Supranational 2016 Preliminaries Evening Gown Competition HERE. Jaleesa was so gracious that she even wrote on my Facebook HERE to Thank me for that; what a true class act! She wore this halter style gold ballgown style for the final top five moment. She looked regal and the gown fit well but the fabric in conjunction with the ballgown shape was a bit much for her tiny figure. However, I am thankful it was the right length (no pumps visible!).

Score: 8.99

Photo courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan

Sri Lanka Ornella M.J. Gunesekere: Ornella was one of the most stunning Miss Sri Lanka contestants in a while. Not surprised she made it this far to be Third Runner-up. For her Top Five "Golden Gown" moment, she wore this sequined fringed dress that delicately draped to one side. The gown was OK, but I wish it didn't have that side drape detail. But that didn't bother me as much as the fact that it was about 12" TOO SHORT and showed those super tacky platform "stripper" shoes! It almost ruined the entire thing for me.

Score: 8.00

Photo courtesy of Missosology/Bong Tan

Hungary Korina Kocsis: Korina was the Fourth Runner-up and she wore this semi-sheer blush/nude sequined gown. The dress was simple yet elegant and it had nice sequined detail. I liked that the lining wasn't too mini short but yet we could still see her legs. I also loved her semi-slicked back hairstyle; it was very red carpet movie star. One critique though: And yes, it's the shoes. While I am thankful they weren't the tacky ones Miss Sri Lanka wore, they were still the wrong style for this dress. She should have worn simple strappy heels, in gold.

Score: 9.00