Pageant girl no more

Garterbelts and Gasoline’s pinup pageant this month was my last pageant.

Ever since I started talking about retiring, so many people have asked me if I’m entering this show or that, or if I might reconsider next year. “Are you being a bit rash?” one person asked me.

My first pageant was Cooly Rocks On in 2014. I entered for lots of reasons; mostly because I wanted to meet people, but also to prove to myself that I could get back on stage after walking away from performing back in my early twenties. It was a proper rush and before too long, I found myself entering lots of things, meeting more people and for the most part, having a blast.

My pageant debut. Picture by Chrome Plated Photography

When I got off the stage after Cooly, I told parents that the show had made me miss singing and something started brewing in the back of my mind.

Best part about Cooly was all the massive babe-faces I now call friends. These are just some of them.
Picture by Phill's Kustom Photography

I entered Miss Bombshell earlier this year, mostly because it was a show with a talent section. As soon as I received a place in the show, I started working on my routine.

Sadly, I think I put way more effort into my talent than my other two sections, so when didn’t make it through to the final round, I was crushed. All I wanted to do was sing, and prove to myself that I could still carry a tune.

I loved my vintage sleepwear and my routine for this section at Miss Bombshell
Picture by Phill's Kustom Photography

When I’d had sufficient time to lick my wounds, I decided it was time to stop using pageants as an excuse to get on stage. I wanted out of pageants and into performing.

Backstage at Bombshells in my Cinderella rag dress.
At some point, I'm going to revive this routine since no one got to see it!

I feel like it was fitting that at Garterbelts and Gasoline, I had the freedom to control my entire performance and finally got the chance to blast out a tune on stage. It was the end of my pageant life, but just the beginning of something else. Sure, I couldn’t reach my high notes because my throat had all but closed over and my microphone was so low I had to crouch to reach it, but I had the most amazing time.

Singing my little heart out at Garterbelts & Gasoline
Picture by Sharper Image Photography

My retirement isn’t about anything dramatic or upsetting, it’s mostly about shifting goals and being kind to myself. It's not a rash decision, it's one I thought about a lot (and probably would have been rash if I'd withdrawn from Garterbelts the way I'd planned). 

Picture by Sharper Image Photography

I simply don’t want to compete any more, I just want to perform (but I'm keeping the vintage style of course). I’m working with Anita from Make Loud Noise on my repertoire and we’re going to put some stuff up on SoundCloud early next year. I’m going to sew some costumes and work with Michelle from Sirene Dance on my movement and dancing, and hopefully, it won’t be too long until Miss Mickey is back on stage.  

Pageants are fun! Look at all the gorgeous friends you make. 

For those of you who are wondering about entering pageants, I say, go for it. But approach them with a good attitude; remember it's just a pageant, just a chance to have fun, and you'll have a great time. 

Miss Bombshell

Tomorrow is wisdom tooth day (+4 more - which I will talk about in a week or so when I start my Invisalign). 

So tonight to keep my mind off the impending surgery, instead of going to bed at my usual early hour, I'm up practising pinup routines. Why? Because I'm ridiculously excited to have been chosen as one of the thirteen girls who will compete in the inaugural Miss Bombshell Pinup Pageant. 

This pageant is going to be so much fun and I'm looking forward to competing alongside the other gorgeous girls. But for now I'm working on planning my outfits and routines, and cutting my music so it's the perfect length for every section. 

If you're in Brisbane or can make it here on the 16th May, I'd love for you to join my cheer squad and come along on the night. It doesn't matter how many times you've walked out onto stage, it's always nerve racking and knowing that there are people cheering for you just makes it so much easier! So make my night easier, cheer a lot and have some fun (it's going to be a brilliant show). 

Tickets are available by clicking here. Make sure you let me know if you'll be there by dropping a comment here or on my Facebook.

Miss Cooly Rocks On 2014: Part two

In my last post, I talked all about my outfits and the events in the lead up to Miss Cooly Rocks On Vintage Glamour Pageant. Now it’s on to the actual pageant!

I had my makeup done by vintage gal extraordinaire; Kat Creasey of My Little Rockabilly. She was extremely busy (and rightly so!) so, while I waited, I got to panicking about pretty much everything. But mostly, I was worried about how I was going to get my giant crate of stuff and two suit bags across from the car to marquee before we had to be there for the run through. Just before I got to the point where I was going to burst into tears and cry off all my makeup, my sister sent me a picture of herself out the front of the marquee and then one of my mum.

My entire family had driven down to watch me as a surprise! The stress tears threatened to turn to happy tears, but instead of ruining my makeup, I called my sister and made her come and help me with my bags. Once that was done, my nerves and worries just kind of melted away.

In the marquee, we had a run through with Bree, from Dead Gorgeous Hair and Makeup. Bree was honestly amazing over the whole weekend; she answered all our questions, made sure we got lots and lots of time to practise on stage, and was really kind and encouraging.

After the run through, we headed off to the dressing room to change. For lots of people, the word pageant casts lots of ideas about catty, bitchiness, but here there was absolutely none of that. Everyone was kind ad helpful; there was always someone with a spare pair of stockings, or nail polish to catch a run; someone to zip you up, fix up your hair and soothe your nerves. It was a competition, but every single one of the ladies wanted the others to get out on stage and have a blast. And we did!

Backstage, we also had Donna, the manager of That Shop (who also gave really good back rubs just before we went out onto the catwalk) and Lauren, who was Miss Cooly Rocks On 2nd runner up in 2013. They helped us make the quick changes and for me, they helped repair all my bits and pieces that chose to fall apart right before I went on stage. I wouldn't have made it out onto stage fully dressed if it wasn't for these two lovely ladies, so a HUGE thank you to both of them.

Daywear: nerdy girl

Nerdy pinup. Photo by Matthew Balaam

This was probably my favourite outfit and my favourite section of the competition. To match my theme, Laura from Pigtails and Pirates custom-made me a gorgeous dress from Avengers fabric. She was even kind enough to rush the order through so that it would arrive in time for the show. I matched this with a red, blue and white basket, filled with comics; some gorgeous Pinup Couture shoes that I bought from Knockout Heels a couple of weeks before; cat-eye glasses from Atomic Cherry and my gorgeous red gloves and the cute marcasite earrings (which you probably can’t see) were from Atomic Martini Vintage.

Photo by John Gass for Cooly Rocks On

Swimwear: Poison Ivy

This was the section I was the most nervous about. But the week before the pageant I had a lesson with BB Le Buff (an amazing burlesque dancer and teacher) who helped me figure out some routines and poses that gave me something to concentrate on other than the fact I was on stage in my togs!

Photo by Chrome-Plated Photography

My suit is the emerald green Marilyn one from Pinup Girl Clothing and I bought it from Your One Stop Pinup Shop. To complement the Poison Ivy theme, I bought strings of ivy from a discount shop and hot glued them to a green umbrella. I also made my own ivy hair clip and my amazing ivy temporary tattoos came from an awesome Brisbane-based Etsy store, Pepper Ink (because as AMAZING as the tattoo looked, I liked that I could take it off). Thanks so much to Pepper Ink for rushing the order to me! Unfortunately, not one of the pictures I've gone through really shows off the tattoo, so I don't have a picture for you, but take my word for it, it was awesome!

The shoes were the only part of the outfit I wasn't happy with – I couldn't find any nice green espadrilles, which would have been more authentic. I was left with my glittery green jellies (so much more 90s than 50s!). And one of my favourite parts of this outfit were my 1940s wooden beads which I picked up on my last frantic shopping trip to Atomic Martini.

We walked the catwalk in our swimsuits, then gathered all together on the stage to have a group picture. By this stage, I couldn't believe it was all almost over!

Photo by Chrome-Plated Photography

Evening wear: Emma Frost
I had a last minute dress change (luckily, last year’s work Christmas party resulted in me having three white evening dresses in my wardrobe) and ended up wearing this Unique Vintage satin dress. It’s from last year’s formal dress collection at Your One Stop Pinup Shop. I love it… in theory. On… I feel like it’s not the most flattering cut for me. But again, BB’s help with the poses gave me way more confidence than I’d usually have and I managed to get out on stage with more confidence than I felt!

Photo by Matthew Balaam

To stick with my theme, I wore lots and lots of blingy accessories (although, half of them fell apart or broke before I went on stage). Most of these were real vintage from my mum and nan’s jewellery boxes or borrowed from firneds, but I did sneak some vintage-look in as well, including my gorgeous gloves which were from Kitten D’amour.

And the winners are:

Petticoat Polly was crowned Miss Cooly Rocks on, with Kitten Darling and Lucy Luxe the first and second runners’ up. These ladies are all fabulous and deserving winners! Congratulations to all of them, and of course, to all the other girls.

All winners in the end! (Photo by John Gass)

I wasn't a winner, but I sure as all get out felt like one on the night. It was so much fun to be a part of the pageant; to meet the girls in the pageant and all the lovely organisers, sponsors and judges; to walk around wearing a sash and feel like a bit of a celebrity; to be on TV and a part of the amazing parade. I also want to say a huge thank you to the judges and sponsors who gave their time, money and efforts to make sure a great event was put on.

My two last thank yous are perhaps the most important ones.

Firstly, to Karen the owner of That Shop who worked tirelessly to organise us for the pageant. She was our email contact, our organiser. She answered our questions (about ten million inane ones from me that got worse the more nervous I got), dealt with all the fiddly things and was generally amazing. Thank you so much for everything Karen!

And then secondly, to my friend Candy who was my support girl over the weekend. She organised me a place to stay (thanks also to her sister for putting us up!), drove me around, put up with my anxiety and extreme tiredness. She gave up three days of her holidays to be my girl Friday, and I really love her for it.

Photo by Chrome-Plated Photography

It was an honour and a privilege to be chosen as a finalist and I was blown away by how willing people were to go out of their way to help me get up there on that stage; from Lisa at Atomic Martini steaming my hat for me and being so kind, to my friend Candy and her family; to the organisers and sponsors and of course; to my friends who  raced away from work and put aside their weekends to drive down from Brisbane. To the three lovely girls who spent the week before coming up with cheers and, of course to my family for being the best surprise ever.

For me, the whole pageant was a huge achievement and a dream come true, so thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

Miss Cooly Rocks On 2014: Part One

On the way to the parade, bright and early!

I know I promised updates in the lead-up to Miss Cooly Rocks On, but I ended up with two weekends to organise and pack all my outfits and writing time just got away from me. That, and the fact I wanted to try and keep my outfits a little bit secret squirrel for the weekend and then immediately after, I flew to Sydney for Supanova. So, two weeks later here’s the first part of my Miss Cooly Rocks On experience and my outfits with a few special thank yous thrown in for good measure.


For the pageant, we needed three outfits: daywear, swimwear/beachwear and evening wear. But there were also other official events: a meet and greet with the pageant organisers, sponsors and the other lovely finalists the night before; and an appearance on the Morning Show on Channel Nine and in the parade on the Saturday. So that’s a total of five outfits.

In the lead up to the finalist announcement, I hadn't really allowed myself too much planning time — I didn' want to get too disappointed if I wasn't announced as a finalist. But I had gone so far as deciding I wanted to do a nerdy pinup theme if I did. I’d sketched out some rough ideas, mostly inspired by the new DC Comics Bombshell variant covers, but it wasn't until I was announced that I finally came up with:

• Meet and Greet – the Joker
• Parade – Ariel

(And for the actual pageant? Well, you’ll have to wait and see in part two…)

Meet and Greet:

With my my number 1 support girl for the pageant.

I had heaps of fun with Kelly and Steffii at That Shop in Woolloongabba picking out outfits. Once I let my comic book/nerdy theme slip, the girls got all excited and the dresses and ideas just kept getting put in the change room and I kept falling in love. I never would have found this dress if it wasn’t for them; I usually stay away from wiggle dresses (my style is more cute pinup than vampy sexy pinup), but the second I put this dress on, I had to have it. The purple goes perfectly with my orangey-red hair and rather than clinging to my lumps and bumps, it clings exactly where you want it to and hides all the bits you want it to hide.

When Steffii presented me with this bright green Banned cardigan, she called me the Joker and I was sold. I searched for a pair of green heels to match, but being autumn here, there were no bright colours to be found. In the end, I went with a simple pair of black wedges (courtesy of Mum’s wardrobe). My handbag was made by me from materials purchased at the best fabric shop in the world, Make It Hobby ‘n’ Craft in Boondall.

I was so nervous going to the meet and greet (I've always been a bit shy around new people) and we were a bit late because of the traffic, which meant that by the time I got there, I was shaking and anxious. But a couple of minutes after we walked in the door at the Sands Hotel, Karen (owner of That Shop and pageant organiser extraordinaire) found me and put me immediately at ease. The other girls were all beautiful and nice and easy to talk to and it was lovely to meet some of the other pageant organisers, judges and sponsors.

One of the highlights of the night was finding out that the Pacific Pillow Company, one of the amazing sponsors, had generously made every single one of us a pillow with our photo on it! You can view all of the gorgeous girls with their pillows by clicking here and visiting our official photographer and another of the pageant’s wonderful sponsors; Megan Rizzo Photography.

Morning Show/Parade
It was up bright and early the next day as we were appearing on Channel Nine’s Weekend Today Show as a part of Abbey’s weather report. This was mermaid day for me…

My outfit basically revolved around a gorgeous pair of Iron Fist mermaid shoes that I bought from That Shop, the Erstwilder 'Sea Maiden Jane' brooch I picked up at the Woolloongabba Antique Centre and the Little Mermaid tote bag I’d sewn from material picked up at Make it Hobby N Craft. I was set on a lavender Jenny dress from Pinup Girl Clothing or a Lavender Karen dress from Hell Bunny, but of course both colours have been out for a while and finding them proved extremely difficult.


Finally, after a lot of online searching and a million emails, Kirstin from Ursalady Creations at Stones Corner came to my rescue. It was meant to be, I think, because they had one dress left in my size that had just been sitting on the racks for ages. Kirstin was lovely enough to hold the dress for me and even offered to stay back at the shop a bit later until I could get away from work — talk about going above and beyond for customer service!!

I also decided this was the perfect outfit to show off one of my nanna’s lovely 50s hats. I’ve worn this hat a few times before because the colour is so easy to match, but I’ve always had trouble getting it to stay on my head. Then, when I was packing I realised I’d lost my hat pin which was going to make it even harder to keep on. I took off in a hurry (my hair wasn’t even brushed) and drove straight to Atomic Martini Vintage in Clayfield where I rushed in, asked Lisa to “HEEEEEELP!” She sent me off for a coffee and when I came back, not only had she picked out a pin for me, but she’d steamed Nanna’s hat back into shape. She gave me a lesson in how to pin it and I went off feeling extremely grateful and a lot less panicked. Again, another wonderful person in this vintage community who is prepared to go above and beyond for her customers. Thanks so much Lisa.

The Morning Show appearance was over before we knew it, but it was lots of fun and really nice for family and friends who couldn’t make it to Cooly to get a glimpse of what the festival was like. If you want to see the video, pop over to my Facebook page where one of my lovely friends has posted it for everyone to catch up on!


Then, it was on to the parade. Boy oh boy was it fun! We got to ride in an awesome car, I met Denise Drysdale, Frankie J Holden and Wilbur Wilde; was waved and cheered to like I was a celebrity and smiled so much my mouth hurt. It was so much fun; everyone in the crowd was happy and excited and everyone in the parade was too.

After the parade, we walked around handing out some cards for our wonderful sponsors and then headed off to enjoy the festival. I had a nap in the car (not very pinup of me, but I did need my beauty sleep) and then headed off to get my makeup done.

With Miss Brydie and Nerida before the parade

With the gorgeous Miss Carly (photo by Matthew Balaam)

Want to read all about the pageant? Well, the update is too big to cram in here, so stay tuned for later in the week!