How did the long gowns of Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez influence other countries like Wales and Poland?

I was inspired by the turn out of comments on this post I have written about the identical gowns of Miss Philippines and Miss Venezuela during the Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam. The similarity is more on the cuts of the gowns.

Because of this post, I have realized how strong Venezuela is in influencing other countries when it comes to pageantry. The long gowns of Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez, the back-to-back Miss Universe winners from Venezuela for 2008 and 2009, have been the inspirations of other countries. Poland and Wales (United Kingdom) copied the designs of the gowns for their representatives to Miss World and Miss Earth respectively.

Although this act of copying designs is a fashion crime, I am more curious to know the feelings or reactions of the girls who were forced to wear these gowns. Did they wear it with pride and confidence? Did it affect their performances?

For comparison, the next two pictures are Dayana Mendoza (first) in her yellow gown and Stefania fernandez (second) in her red gown.

Now, here is Miss Wales Dominique Dryer during the preliminary evening gown competition of Miss Earth 2009 in Manila. The gown is exactly the same with Dayana's gown except that she changed the color to pink.

On the other hand, Miss Poland Anna Jamróz paraded in Miss World 2009 with a gown which was obviously a fusion of the gowns of Dayana and Stefania. The upper part of the gown is patterned from Dayana's while the lower part is copied from Stefania's.

The "identical" long gowns of Dayana Mendoza and Jennifer Barrientos, Miss Philippines Universe 2008

I was browsing video clips of Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam when I took notice an odd similarity on the gowns of Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza, who eventually won the title, and Miss Philippines Jennifer Barrientos, who didn't make the semi-final.

I am expecting you will disagree with me since most of us are very critical when it comes to the dresses and wardrobes of any Miss Philippines titleholders. Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Incorporated (BPCI)has the reputation of providing mediocre or outdated long gowns to their girls. I still remember the comments of fans on Jennifer's gown during the pageant - the gown was a mess and 80-ish.

Miss Venezuela Organization, on the other hand, under the leadership of pageant guru, Osmel Sousa, is known with its stylish and fashion-forward long gowns. The organization gives their girls only the best wardrobes in the pageant.

So, you might probably think that comparing the gown of a Miss Philippines to a Miss Venezuela is an insult because it is like putting a diamond side by side with a stone. But try to see the video clips after the pictures.

This is the yellow gown of Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza.

This is the Alfredo Barraza gown of Miss Philippines, Jennifer Barrientos. It is very obvious, this gown is much inferior with that of Dayana.

Now look on their evening gown presentations during the preliminary competitions.

Here is Jennifer with her evening gown in motion.

Here is Dayana with her evening gown in motion.

So, what have you seen? The gowns are identical onstage except for the colors. The effects or the amount of lights on the stage could also be the reason. Jennifer carried the gown well. She had a fantastic presentation although the gown was a trash. But definitely, Dayana had a better performance in a better gown.

While Jennifer was trying to be regal and sophisticated in her moves, Dayana opted to be more fluid with her flirty walks. She was like dancing the way she swayed her hips and her shoulders. She also gave emphasis on the slits of her gowns with her twirl and the position of her legs when she paused.

More Similar Gowns of Misses Puerto Rico, Mexico, Egypt, Bahamas - patterned from Ellie Saab

That picture posted above is taken from a Colombian message board. A poster found out that the gown of Miss Puerto Rico Mayra Matos is not only an imitation from an Elli Saab gown but also from Miss Bahamas World 2008 Tinnyse Jamel Johnson's.

A reader explained in his comment he left here that this is a natural thing. He said that "nothing is original in the world of fashion. Every design had been done before with little different twists."

He has a point there. And another talk of pageant lovers is the gown of Miss Egypt Elham Wagdi. Many believe that gown was copied from Miss Mexico Elisa Najera's Top gown at Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam.

Miss Egypt Elham Wagdi's long gown for Miss Universe 2009

Miss Mexico Elisa Najera Top 5 long gown at Miss Universe 2008

But if you are thinking Elisa's gown is original, you are wrong since it is also an imitation from another Ellie Saab's gown which was worn before by Halle Berry.

Ellie Saab's gown

Gowns of Venezuela and Puerto Rico are Imitations from Ellie Saab

Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans look like having a word war in pageant-related message boards regarding their delegates' long gowns. Both parties are claiming, with evidence of course, that the gowns of both Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela and Mayra Matos of Puerto Rico are second rate copycat of Ellie Saab's, a famous designer, gowns.

I guess the Puerto Ricans first discovered the Ellie Saab gown in which Venezuela patterned their dress. To extract a vengeance, the Venezuelans tried so hard to research about the gown of Mayra. Fortunately, they were able to uncover also a gown which is so similar with Mayra's.

The funny thing in this exchange of words is that both gowns were copied from works of one famous designer.

Puerto Rico and Venezuela are one of the countries who take pageant seriously. Both have five Miss Universe winners in their caps.

Below are pictures of Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez's gown and the original gown. I took this from a Puerto Rican message board.

Below is Miss Puerto Rico's long gown and the original Ellie Saab gown. This was taken from a Venezuelan forum.

Pamela Bianca Manalo's Official Long Gown

Miss Philippines Universe 2009 Pamela Bianca Manalo's official evening gown is now out in the internet. It was shared to us by certain Gerardito Jr for Missosology.

While the long gown is definitely far better than the gowns worn by the previous Misses Philippines Universe, I still feel there is missing on it. I guess it does not emphasize the long legs Bianca has. Or is it because she has also a longer torso? Or the slit of the gown is a little bit lower? Or the gown should be a little longer? I don't know since I am not good in designing gowns. Maybe you can help me figure it out.

But we have to commend the effort of Binibining Pilipinas and Alfredo Barraza, who this time, listened a little to the clamour of many Filipino pageant lovers of having a decent dresses for Miss Philippines. Though it is not yet maximized, the effort is there and why only now?

In these pictures of Bianca, I can say she is kinda prepared for the pageant. I also can see three past Miss Philippines Universe in her. She has the Geraldine Asis (Miss Universe 1987 semi-finalist) vibe. She has the poise of Miriam Quiambao (Miss universe 1999 first runner-up) and the vibrancy of Maricar Balagtas, Miss Philippines Universe 2004.

Pamela poses like Miriam with her long arms. She is trying to make her shoulder broader to highlight the curves of her body. Nice work Pamela and hope you will improve more.

By the way, is she arriving in Bahamas with this cool summer outfit?

Here is Pamela in her long gown.

 

 

 

Miss Singapore Rachel Kum Tweets her journey to Bahamas

Miss Singapore Universe 2009 Rachel Kum tweets in her twitter account that Miss Mexico Karla Carillo was her first co-delegate she met in person. She and Karla were on the same flight from Miami to Bahamas. She said that Karla is her first friend in the contest.

Rachel also added that her flight from Singapore to Miami took a grueling 28 hours because of baggage delay.

On the other hand, Miss Guam  Racine Manley is Rachel's roommate in Bahamas.

Meanwhile, below are Rachel's national costume and evening gown. The national costume was chosen by the Singaporean through an online poll. The chosen costume was designed by a second-year fashion student Zhang Xiaoqing.

 

 

Long Gown and National Costumes of Misses Thailand Chutima Durongdej and France Chloe Mortaud

The official long gown and national costume of Miss Thailand Chutima Durongdej to the Miss Universe 2009 in Bahamas were revealed in a Thai show the other day.

The Thai organizers made two gowns of the same design but in two different colours - red and blue. I prefer the red one. Chutima's traditional dress is also fantastic and it may win the Best in National Costume.

 

Miss Thailand Chutima Durongdej's evening gown in red

  

Miss Thailand Chutima Durongdej's evening gown in blue.

 

Miss Thailand Chutima Durongdej's national costume.

On the other hand, here is the national costume of Miss France Whitney Toyloy. It's very Moulin Rouge.

Miss Philippines Pamela Bianca Manalo's Disastrous Long Gown

One of our readers who is also a missosology poster prompted us about Miss Philippines Pamela Bianca Manalo's evening gown for the Miss universe 2009 pageant.

The gown is definitely disastrous and this won't help Pamela enters the semis. The gown is 70-ish. The leak came supposedly from a Colombian who is associated with Alfredo Barrazza, the designer.

If this is really her official long gown, then Philippines never learned their lesson.

More Long Gowns and National Costumes at Miss Universe 2009

Here are some pictures of long gowns and national costumes of some of the delegates to Miss Universe 2009 in Bahamas. These pictures have been flooding different beauty pageant message boards and forums. But we don't really know yet if these dresses are officials since there are no confirmation yet from the organizers of these countries.

Here are the gowns and costumes from India, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, Netherlands and Czeck Republic. Just visit this entry every regularly since I will be updating this every now and then.

Miss Brazil Larissa Costa long gown?

Miss India Ekta Choudhary long gown?

Allegedly this is Miss Indonesia Zivanna Letisha Siregar official evening gown.

Allegedly this is Miss Indonesia Zivanna Letisha Siregar official national costume.

Miss Netherlands Avalon-Chanel Weyzig might wear this dress for the long gown competition.

Miss Netherlands Avalon-Chanel Weyzig might wear this dress for the long gown competition.

 Miss Netherlands Avalon-Chanel Weyzig might wear this dress for the long gown competition.

Miss Czeck Republic Iveta Lutovska official long gown?

Miss Czeck Republic Iveta Lutovska official national costume?

Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen national costume.

Miss Australia Rachael Finch National Costume and Long Gown

Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch showcases the 'Cappellazzo Couture' outfit at the official unveiling of the Australian national costume and wardrobe for Miss Universe at Park Hyatt Hotel on July 24, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.

Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch showcases the 'Sunset over the Opera House' outfit by Ruth Tarvydas at the official unveiling of the Australian national costume and wardrobe for Miss Universe at Park Hyatt Hotel on July 24, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Ruth Tarvydas designed the 'Sunset over the Opera House' national costume, which Finch will wear at the pageant final in the Bahamas in August.

Miss Japan Emiri Miyasaka's Versace Long Gowns

Emiri Miyasaka, Japan's representative to the Miss Universe 2009, will be wearing VERSACE gowns in the Bahamas during the pageant. But not at the evening gown competition.

Karl earlier reported in this blog entry that Emiri will be wearing a Gucci for the evening gown competition as announced by Ines Ligron, Japan's Miss Universe Organization Director, sometime in May. She made the announcement in her blog.

Emiri will be wearing the Versace gowns only at the preliminary interview, charity auctions, fashion shows and other events. This is what Ines had announced in an another blog entry dated 17 June 2009 under the article VERSACE FITTING FOR THE BAHAMAS article.

Here are pictures of some of the gowns.

In an another development, Ines also gave the public an idea of the national costume Emiri will  be wearing. Below is a picture of the said costume.