Pageant Preparation: Dates announced, Now What?

Hello Ladies!

Now that the dates have been announced for the 2014 Miss, Teen and Mrs. Texas Intl pageants I bet you are wondering what's next? Well, AFTER you have done your research (See previous post on Research) Its time to decide what City/County/Area you want to represent! I knew right away that I wanted to represent Dallas, So I didn't hesitate to reserve my spot in the pageant. I didnt want anyone to snag the Miss Dallas INTL title before I did! Contact Rachel Hedstrom at TexasInternationalpageant@gmail.com to lock down your city!

Next, I started to develop my platform in the Dallas area. I have been with my platform for 7 years, So for me it was easy. But for some of you, you may be starting from scratch, and THAT'S FINE! You want to find a non profit organization that has meaning to you. My family has a history of Heart Disease, which is why I chose American Heart Association. Any organization will work, as long as you are passionate and truly care about its cause and purpose.

An ideal organization has a local branch that you can volunteer at, but is also a national organization. (For when you compete at Nationals) Send Press releases to local papers informing them of your new title and platform. ALWAYS ALWAYS send press releases along with pictures to newspapers and magazines after every appearance.

Develop a 30 second "elevator speech" as to why you chose your platform, this will be handy when at appearances and asked.

If there aren't very many events to volunteer at with your organization, then CREATE your own.
Go into schools and speak to children, host a charity dinner, run or fashion show.
I held a charity Dinner as Miss Dallas last year and raised several hundred dollars!

Have a goal in mind for your platform, whether it is to raise money, spread awareness, gain more volunteers, host a benefit, or open a new chapter, its ALWAYS important to have a clear and precise goal to convey to the judges during interview.

Some Awesome Organizations are:

Make A wish Foundation
http://wish.org

Big Brothers Big Sisters
http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5962335/k.BE16/Home.htm

American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/

United Nationals Childrens Fund
http://www.unicef.org

Feeding America
http://feedingamerica.org/

Save the Children
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

Humane Society
http://www.humanesociety.org/

American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/

Special Olympics
http://specialolympics.org/

Wounded Warrior Project
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

Boys and Girls Club
http://bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx

The Above Non-Profits are extremely successful and have a national impact. Any one of these would make an excellent platform. BUT AGAIN, you want something that you truly care about, so spend time figuring out what that is, Your platform can literally be ANYTHING.

You can reach out to the organization of your choice by sending an email or stopping by their local office. In the past, I have done BOTH! Its important that they know you want to help! The more you stay in contact with them, the more they will call you when they need someone! If any of you want help on a more personal level on how to develop your platform., feel free to email me at MissTXINTL2013@gmail.com

God Bless,
Samantha Riddle

Miss Texas Intl 2014 Pageant!

Heart Walk : Dallas 2013

I am proud to report that this years Dallas Heart Walk raised 4.5 Million Dollars!! The Dallas Heart Walk is Famous for being the largest in the nation, and this year was no exception! With over 70,000 people in attendance, we walked three miles starting at the American Airlines Center (Home to the Dallas Mavericks) up onto the freeway and ended at Victory Park! I decided it would be fun to take my dog, Scooby Doo, to the walk with me. I had a great time burning calories and raising money for American Heart Association!
If you are interested in other Heart Walks in the state of Texas, be sure to check out this list on their website:
http://www.heartwalk.org/site/c.rjJ0J6MHIoE/b.5779325/k.7476/Event_Search_Results.htm?state=TX&event=&zip=&radius=5&comp=National

My Favorite gowns from Miss Texas USA 2014

All of you know by now my OBSESSION with pageant gowns. The Miss Texas USA 2014 pageant was held this past weekend, and unfortunately I had to work, BUT I did look up photos from the competition and have rounded up my favorites! Since I was not there in person I did not get to see the fit or movement of any of the dresses, which makes a HUGE difference. So, if there is a dress missing, I apologize! We all know that photos can never truly capture the beauty of a dress, SO AGAIN, If there is a beautiful dress I missed, I am sorry. HAHA!

These are my favorite dresses from preliminaries, I looked at the prelim photos before I knew the top 17 girls, but I did notice my taste was almost right on with the judges, as most of these dresses were in top 17!:)

In order of my favorite:

16- Miss Space City Orange Dress
I love the bold color of this dress! She stood out from the sea of white and nude gowns! The deep V neck is kept elegant with a netting a stunning bead work.

15- Miss McAllen Red Dress

While it may look a little simple, thats what I love about it! It reminds me of the very popular lace Macduggal dress everyone is wearing right now, except done better. I love that the bottom is a solid red with a high slit. It has just the right about of sexiness and class for a USA pageant! Plus, who dosent love the bold red with her skin tone and hair??

14- Miss Laredo White Gown

The fit of this dress just screams SEXY and Miss USA. She looks absolutely stunning in this white gown with waist and cap sleeve detail.I am a huge fan of cap sleeves, especially when they are embellished!

13- Miss Central Laredo/ Miss Texas Usa 2014 Winner

While the beading on this dress is extremely detailed and beautiful, I think I would have loved this dress in an emerald green on her. But she won, so OBVIOUSLY she rocked it. Nude is becoming bigger than white in pageants these days.

12-Miss Harris County White Dress

I am a sucker for sleeves... and White, and this is stunning!! I cant tell if the top is lace or beadwork, but either way I love it. It says elegant, timeless and sophisticated all over it. I only wish the point where the top and bottom meet in the middle was a little lower or that the lace continued onto it a little more so it dosent cut off her torso as much.

11- Miss Galveston White dress

I love the back of this dress! The front was white and simple allowing the back to take center stage and grab all of the attention. Those beads streaming down her back move and glitter when she walked, STUNNING.

10- Northeast Texas white dress

Are you starting to notice a pattern with sleeves? I love the white and gold accents and the elegance this dress portrays, I just wish it was a tad longer and had a little more detail at the waist.

9- Miss Bayou City Red Dress

SLEEVES!!! Red is such a bold color that I give any girl who can pull it off respect! I love the detail on the top of this dress and down the sides, Im wondering if I Would have liked it better with her hair pulled back in front. The dress is so beautiful that im not looking at her face. I think pulling some of her hair back would have pulled my eyes up to her face.

8- Miss Lone Star Blush Dress

This dress screams Couture! The bead work is phenomenal, while the detail on the fabric on the bottom makes this dress multi dimensional! I would love to see a Teen in this gown.

7- Miss South Central Black Dress

The first black dress of the list! (notice I didn't say only?) While I've seen a few dresses with the same silhouette, what made this dress pop to me was the pattern in which the bead work was done on the front. It makes her seem fun and adventurous. 

6- Miss South Texas Dark Blue Dress

Finally, a BLUE GOWN!! This dress could compete at Miss USA tomorrow. It has a high sexy slit and fits her body like a glove. The White applique pops against the dark blue color of the dress. I would say this is one of the most memorable dresses from the night.

5-  Miss San Antonio Red Dress

Can you say Bombshell? She looks like a glamorous movie star! I love the fit and neckline of this dress! The color pops against her skin tone and hair while still being simple enough for us to appreciate the beauty of her face.

4- Miss Capitol of Texas Black Dress

The detail on the sleeves is a real attention grabber! I love the way it cinches under her bust but dosent flare out. The deepV is still very classy and not showing too much. This would have been my favorite dress of the night if it was in white, blush or nude. But I can appreciate her wanting to stand out in black.

3- Miss North Dallas White dress

This girl could make Barbie jealous in that dress! The beadwork and flowy train truly made this dress unique. It is very difficult to pull off a dress that has so much body without looking too teen and this girl NAILED it. She got to work the stage with her train while still having a tighter fitting dress to show off her curves.

2- Miss Houston Gold and Silver dress

Every time I look at this dress I notice something different! The detail of the stripes on top flatter her smaller figure giving her some sexy curves, while the circles on bottom give the dress flair and personality! Whoever said you cant mix metal colors hasn't seen this dress! Did I also forget to mention that it sparkles from head to toe??????

1- Miss Austin White Dress

Come on, You knew I was going to pick a white dress with sleeves and stones as my number one! This is a dream dress. It has an embellished belt around her waist giving her a slim figure while still accentuating her curves. The sheer sleeves add elegance while still being very pageanty. A lot of girls are going for a more red carpet celebrity style look while Miss Austin embraced her pageant style. The pageantry gods would be proud!