In beauty contests, the traditional costume contest is always one of the most anticipated performances given the cultural richness of each country.
The first step of diffusion
First introduced in 1960, the Traditional Costume competition became an opportunity for countries to promote their cultural identities.
Miss Morocco, Miss Great Britain and Miss New Zealand in traditional costumes at Miss Universe 1962. (Photo: Twitter)
On the race of cultural color, Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia or Peru almost dominated for a long time in this competition.
Miss Brazil at Miss International 2004. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Miss Nicaragua at Miss Universe 2004. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Miss Ecuador at Miss Universe 2004. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Experiments are beginning to cross boundaries
The years 2005 to 2015, a transition period of limited expansion, Asian countries dug deeper into heritage museums.
Miss Universe Japan 2006 won the national costume competition with a design inspired by Samurai.
Image of Miss Pham Huong in the crane ao dai design at Miss Universe 2015. (Photo: Miss Universe)
Korean representative wearing Hanbok at Miss Universe 2015. (Photo: Getty Images)
However, it is all still encapsulated within the framework of long-standing traditional costumes, the color palette on the national flag and all-too-familiar images when defining a certain country.
Miss Greece `stepped out of mythology` wearing metallic armor at Miss Universe 2007. (Photo: Daniel Aguilar/Reuters)
Miss Egypt transformed into Cleopatra at Miss Universe in 2007. (Photo: Daniel Aguilar/Reuters)
Miss England at Miss Universe 2014. (Photo: J Pat Carter/AP Images)
Catholic costume of Miss Dominican Republic 2014. (Photo: INFphoto.com)
Miss USA in a costume inspired by the movie Transformers at Miss Universe 2013. (Photo: Pavel Golovkin/AP Images)
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Following the changes in national costume design ideas in recent years, they seem to have escaped the primitive concept of ritual and symbolism.
(Photo: FOX)
Young designers now `point their needle` at images, objects or even famous specialties.
The Banh Mi design that once caused a `riot` in the media was chosen as the national costume for Miss H’Hen Nie in 2018. (Photo: Miss Universe)
The `Blue Angel` design pays tribute to the frontline forces fighting the epidemic from designer Tin Thai, who was represented by Miss Thuy Tien at the recent Miss Grand 2021.
Miss Argentina caused a strong sensation at Miss Universe 2020 when she appeared wearing a T-shirt with the image of football legend Maradona.
This unlimited creativity has brought Southeast Asian countries to the throne of traditional costume competition in recent years.
The costume inspired by durian fruit helped the Thai representative `pocket` the Best National Costume award at Miss Grand 2017. (Photo: Miss Grand)