Children's Pageant Vocabulary: Important Words Pageant Contestants Must Know

Words You Need to Know for Pageant Competitions

Cupcake: This is a dress style used for young girls in glitz pageants: The dress resembles a tutu, and has layers of translucent ruffles.

Extensions: These are hairpieces added to real hair to give more length and body.

Flippers: Fake teeth for young girls who have missing teeth.

Fall: A certain type of hairpiece that covers the back of the head and allows the contestant to shortcut hair styling.

Glitz: A type of pageant that allows makeup on young children and babies as well as clothing covered in rhinestones. These pageants focus specifically on beauty. The opposite of a glitz pageant would be a natural/ scholarship pageant. Contestants also wear hair extensions, flippers (fake teeth), and are dressed to look much older than they really are.

Grand: This phrase in used in glitz pageants to designate the level of reward.

Modeling Routine: At pageants, runway is a lot more than just walking. Contestants need to smile big, and should be able to do a number of turns and poses to catch the judge's eye.

National: National pageants include girls from all over the country. The contestants generally consist of girls who won local and state pageants.

Natural: In natural pageants, contestants under a certain age are not allowed to wear makeup, hair extensions, or flippers (fake teeth). Clothing and jewelry should be age appropriate.

No compete clause: Some of the more major pageants do not allow girls to compete in other pageants during the year of their reign.

Optionals: Contests that girls can compete in that have no effect on whether or not they win the beauty crown. Optionals include runway, talent, speech, ad sales, photogenic, and more.

Photogenic: Many contests have an optional contest for photogenic (best photograph).

Pro-am modeling: Type of modeling used in glitz pageants that can include acrobatics and extra showing off.

Rhinestone: Most pageant clothing in glitz, and often the formal wear in natural pageants, has rhinestone embellishment added to make it glitter under the lights.

RWB (red white and blue): Many pageant contestants prefer patriotic clothing in their casual wear and modeling routines. You will see the term RWB on many message boards advertising this genre of clothing for sale.