From Elvis to Lady Liberty, A Look at Miss USA’s Whimsical and Campy National Costumes for Miss Universe Pageants Through the Years

The Miss Universe pageant is fast approaching. The beauty pageant, which celebrates women across the globe advocating for humanitarian work, sees women compete in categories ranging from evening gowns to swimwear. One of the biggest highlights of the Miss Universe pageant is the national costume competition. The expectations will be high for the current USA titleholder, R’Bonney Gabriel. The national costume competition allows contestants to go all out with their form of dress and take it as over the top as possible. Miss Ukraine, Viktoria Apanasenko, who is one of the most-watched contestants this year due to Ukraine’s war with Russia, already unveiled her costume via Instagram, described as the “Warrior of Light.” Historically, Miss USA has not disappointed viewers when it came to over-the-top costumes for the event. Below, a look at Miss USA’s costumes through the years. Miss USA 2002 National Costume In 2002, several months after the tragic events of 9/11, Miss USA Shauntay Hinton competed in the national costume contest dressed as a New York firefighter holding the American flag in honor of the first responders to 9/11. Shauntay Hinton, Miss USA 2002, at left, and Cynthia Lander Zamora, Miss Venezuela 2002, pose during the Miss Universe 2002 national costume show

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