185: What to Pack in Your Pageant Winner’s Go Bag

Win A Pageant® | Professional Pageant Coaching with Alycia Darby

185: What to Pack in Your Pageant Winner’s Go Bag

Today we're talking about your pageant winner “go bag.” You've probably heard of a go bag before, but maybe not in pageant context.

A go bag is something that you have quick and handy, so when you've got to go really fast, you can grab the bag and it has the essentials right there.

You can probably start to imagine what this might be like for a pageant winner. Immediately after winning a pageant, you are often swept up into the very next; thing whether that is a media appearance, or a press conference, or maybe it's just to the gala or a coronation ball.

Oftentimes you’re swept into the very next thing and you might find that it is difficult to dig for all the essentials that you might need. And oftentimes somebody else is backstage packing up all of the things that you had to compete with. You might not even know where your essentials are.

Just like if you were going to pack a bag in your home, which I recommend for everybody. Just a side note here, EVERYONE should have a go bag in their home. This way if your house catches on fire, all you have to do is grab this bag and run out the door. For that, you might have a flashlight or my brother suggested that we have an AM radio. Things like cash and sneakers and things that you would need on the go.

This is essentially the same thing. In this episode I'm going to cover a few of the things that I would recommend you pack for pageantry.

If you want the full list, you can download it for free at:

winapageant.com/packinglist

That is a checklist of all of the things that you need to pack for your pageant.

What would be the things you would want to stick in your go bag?

Imagine yourself: you just won your pageant and you're getting swept off to do a press conference immediately after. Here are a few things you would need

1. BOBBY PINS (or whatever it is that you clip crowns onto your head with)

Whether it’s bobby pins, miniature claw clips, or the snap on clips, you’re going to want something in here. They never give you enough backstage so you always want to make sure you have plenty on hand. With my thick hair I always needed like 20 extra bobby pins. So you never know.

2. TOOTHBRUSH AND TOOTHPASTE

Now the reason for things like this (and also for the next thing I'm going to tell you), is that when you're competing in a pageant it goes by SO quickly. If you're eating snacks backstage you're going to want to have a toothbrush handy. That way, immediately afterward when you're talking with people, you're not bringing up the stinky breath and the same is true with stinky underarms.

3. BODY WIPE AND DEODORANT

Now every pageant girl has stinky underarms, not because we're stinky in our real life, but because you don't want to wear a ton of deodorant when you're changing in and out of outfits. So you don't want to show up stinky to a press conference.

There are great body wipes called “Good Wipes In My Bag Swag”. After you've won, you walk backstage you get your wipe out of your go bag and you wipe all the areas that need addressed.

Then you're going to apply some deodorant. Because now it's time to start using deodorant again, you don't have to use it during the pageant, (in fact, I recommend that you don’t so you don't get it all over your wardrobe), but you're going to need it afterward.

4. EXTRA BRA STICKIES

When you're sweating on stage, it is very common to sweat them off. So if you are using these for whatever outfit you are getting crowned in, bring an extra pair (just in case they start sliding around).

5. PERSONAL ITEMS

You might consider things like chapstick and lipstick, particularly something that matches the color that you're wearing. You might need aspirin - the lights are so strong that oftentimes you can get a headache just from being on stage. You might need personal items like tampons or pads.

6. PEN AND THANK YOU NOTE (or a list of people you don’t want to forget to thank)

As soon as you win a pageant, you forget everything. I don’t want you to forget your manners. So before the pageant, you're going to make a long list of the people that you know are important to thank. Some of those people would be your coach, pageant directors, choreographers and volunteers, sponsors, the whole production team. Any of the people who supported you along the way, including, and especially, your family. Those are the people that are with you through thick and thin, whether you win or lose, you're going to want to thank these people.. write them down on a piece of paper that goes in your winners go bag.

Other things I would consider putting in your go bag is your wallet with your ID and cash, and perhaps some travel perfume.

These are just some of the things you might include. Again, if you want the whole list, go to winapageant.com/packinglist.

Now once you have your go bag packed, before you go on for the crowning, you're going to want to put the bag backstage with a post-it note that says “I need this bag immediately after the pageant, thank you” with your signed name and contestant number or title.

This way if a volunteer is backstage packing up your things (because you're off to the next thing) the volunteer will see this note. They won't know what's in this bag, but it's clear that you need this bag immediately after the pageant and they will happily bring it to their Queen.

Remember, the whole idea of the winner’s go bag is: grab and go.

And that my dear is going to keep you organized enough to win a pageant.

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