CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Miss USA Wore 30-Pound Moon Costume at the 71st Miss Universe Pageant

www.insider.com: Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel was crowned the 71st Miss Universe winner on Saturday and wasn't afraid to do some heavy lifting in order to impress the audience.

7 comments:

Allison Schneider said...

I’m going to be honest… I have mixed feelings about these outfits based on the information in the article. On the one hand, I have my personal opinions about the achievement of USA being first to the moon. Although its undisputedly an achievement for the world, for humans, and for science in general, Whenever I think about it being a specifically American achievement, I’m reminded of the cold war and the space race. By turning to moon landing through the lens of patriotism is feels less like patriotism than I wish it did. I also don't know if I really like this moon costume. I do think its artistic, detailed, and it definitely makes a statement. The one thing I actually really like about this costume is the moon behind her. The artist did a beautiful job of making the moon seem further back than it actually is, and it looks like it could actually be the moon in the background of a picture. That I really do like.

Abby Brunner said...

It is surprising to me that the costume for Miss Universe was received by her only two days prior to her checking in. R/Bonney Gabriel was crowned the 71st Miss Universe winner, and I have always been in awe of Miss Universe competitions and pageant shows. The amount of work, training and production that takes place for these women to perform is mesmerizing and incredible. It is further incredible that costumes like these exist. The fact that this costume was a huge star-spangled costume that was moon shaped was 30 pounds, and it is even more impressive that Miss Universe was able to wear it for the entire pageant. Furthermore, I am happy that this costume was used to encourage and highlight how important women are to astronomy and the work being done everyday. It is inspiring to all women around the world that the purpose of this 30 pound costume has been to “inspire women in all spaces around the universe” which was an interesting quote that I found heartwarming in this article. Overall this article highlighted how important costumes are to inspiring others around the world to achieve their goals.

Sophie Rodriguez said...

The headline for this article immediately grabbed my attention. This is such an interesting costume to wear, it looks beautiful. I love that it was kind of a tribute to Houston and NASA as well, I think that’s a really cool way to show something about yourself in a competition. When the article mentioned that the contestant received the costume only two days prior to the competition I was surprised. I imagine it would be stressful to get used to walking in a 30 lbs., 36” span costume, let alone wearing it in what is likely the largest competition of your life – complete props to her, that’s impressive. I love the attention to detail in the piece, and I do think that the lights embedded into the costume is a great touch, I know it’s becoming a more common thing to do this, but I love the way it looks every time.

Ava Notarangelo said...

This was a very interesting article and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. One of my best friends back home is very into pageantry, and this definitely feels like something that she would have never seen happening. back when she first started preparing to run for Miss Maui Teen USA, I remember her having to stress about so many things. she had to work out pretty consistently, eat very well, volunteer pretty often, and basically make sure that her existence was benefiting Society. Although she loves fashion and dressing up and going to fun events, talking about the Gown that she would wear for her pageant, or the makeup or anything like that would always be her last priority. The fact that something as intricate as a 30 lb Moon costume was worn at the 71st Miss Universe Pageant is very interesting to me as this had to be thought out so so so many months prior to the pageants happening.

Rayya Gracy said...

Firstly, I am truly in awe of this costume and after seeing the images up close within the article. I can tell how much work and intricacy went into creating this costume. The design of the moon and how the light emphasizes its dark and light spots really helped bring out the fine details crafted onto the moon. Additionally, the stars paired with the metallic bodysuit and shoes pair very nicely and aid in emphasizing the other. However, 30 pounds is such a huge weight to carry especially in a pageant when modeling. So I feel there should have been some material substitutes or some pieces of the costumes negotiated to be removed to give Miss USA less weight to carry. Also, the short time frame in which she received this costume could have affected any alterations needed, second looks, and personal insight from the model. I find this outfit outstanding though I think it could have been made more comfortable for Miss USA and the lighting on the stage somewhat dismissed certain components of the costume, but overall she looked great!

Jordan Pincus said...

I had seen a comment on TikTok criticizing how brash and over exaggerated the costume looked, and someone responded that that was fitting for the U.S. anyway. It certainly does represent the U.S. - maybe in that way - but in my opinion, the moon landing is a very clever choice to focus on for this costume in terms of representing your country. I feel like the American flag is controversial at the moment, but I find that using it as a representation of the flag that’s on the moon is a worthy touch. I didn’t realize that this was also a tribute to the Artemis program, which I think is awesome and spreads that message. I also didn’t know that the costume lit up, which implies a whole new level of tact, skill, and artistry from the costume designer. The moon is stunning, especially with the lights from underneath it. I haven’t seen this costume from the back yet, but I’d really like to see the mechanism by which the moon is attached. I’m curious what the moon was made of - it must’ve been something carefully chosen to be a reasonable weight.

Sydney de Haan said...

I feel like this level of dedication to a cause is not something we’ve seen a lot in miss USA. I’ve really loved the moon costume I think it’s a lot but I think it’s stunning and amazingly crafted and really inspiring for young girls out there who could see themselves as astronauts. I especially love her bathing suit look that they mentioned at the end of this article because of the sustainability that she’s trying to encourage. This does lead me to be curious on whether or not she is truly acting in the most sustainable ways, just because when I’m looking at the moon Costume it seems like a lot of single use expensive to create materials that will only be worn for this one moment on stage. I hope and encourage that she will take her beliefs on sustainability and try to apply it to a lot more of her work including how she lives her own life ideally in the most sustainable fashion. We know that there’s flaws in sustainability and nobody can be perfect but everybody can be more conscious