Posted on Nov 19, 2023

The Miss Universe Contestants Wore "National Costumes," And Miss USA's Is Actually Pretty Cool

I also love how Miss Netherlands was literally a tulip.

by Matt Stopera

BuzzFeed Staff

Contestants onstage

Sheynnis waving and wearing the crown

She's wearing a very colorful bodysuit, ornate emblem that includes the Swiss flag behind her, and high boots

She's wearing a leaf-print flared gown and leafy train

She's wearing ornate headgear and a strapless dress

A flared, colorful long skirt and bodice top

Detail of Miss Angola's dress, showing the illustration of a person in a Native outfit

Wearing a flared, colorful, bejeweled dress and large hat with ribbon

Wearing a short, strapless fringed dress and high boots

A two-piece sleeveless short set with lots of armbands, tall headpiece, and a large train

Close-up of the outfit

She's wearing a spangly bathing suit and headpiece and floor-length stringy train

She's wearing a crown and flared gown with words hanging on it

The back of the gown shows a replica of the Oxford Dictionary of English

She's wearing a colorful, ornate, bejeweled outfit with peacock-like, feathery train and dragon headpiece

A sleeveless gown with flared bottom and the territory's "Vigilate" flag as a sash

She's wearing a long-sleeved, two-piece gown with brocade collar

She's wearing large headgear and a bejeweled winged outfit

A sleeveless gown with a sheer printed train

An ornate, bejeweled gown and headgear with long braid

A strapless, two-toned, bodice-top gown with cape

A bodysuit with large wings

A flared, strapless gown with fringes and accents of the tricolor Norwegian flag stripes

An ornate, bejeweled, maple leaf–winged gown with a flared bottom consisting of many flags

The back of the wings says "Inclusivity makes dreams come true"

A flared one-piece with gold front, lacy train, and webbed wings

A bodysuit and tights with multicolored butterfly wings

Ornate headgear with a large overhead piece

She's wearing a two-piece minidress with train and fringed wrap and holding up a "Grimms Märchen" book

She's holding the book open

She's wearing minidress and has a complex, multitiered train of flora and fauna behind her

Wearing a pantsuit, a sparkly headpiece, and train

A flared, strapless gown with opera gloves and puffy train

An ornate, beaded gown with train and spiked headgear

Wearing a print, gold-tone gown with a multitiered train with dangling currency

A "cobblestone" flared gown with a back showing houses and other landmarks

A short dress with flared sleeves and an ornate, colorful train with many strands

A gown with a thigh-high side slit and colorful headpiece that looks like an exploding bomb with missiles on top

She's wearing a swirling, sheer outfit and holding a gold-tone baby

She's wearing a colorful, short-sleeved gown and ornate train that includes the red and blue of the flag

A colorful, bejeweled, flared gown and headpiece

A long-sleeved, lacy, flared gown and ornate headpiece

A long, fringed red gown with white accents and paper-bamboo parasol

A bejeweled headpiece and yellow brocade dress suit

An ornate red, feathery outfit with attached bird-head accent

A straight, deep-back yellow flamenco gown with flared bottom and flared sleeves

She's wearing an ornate headpiece with colorful sleeveless bodysuit, tricolor-flag wings, and a sign saying "Por amor al arte"

A straight gown with winged sleeves and headpiece

A short, long-sleeved, flared dress with petticoat and front bow and high boots

A gown with an ornate front, and she's carrying a "Take our history back" scroll and a wand

She's wearing a short, sleeveless, uneven-hem dress

A long, bejeweled gown with long robe and headpiece

A tasseled short, sleeveless bodysuit with tiered, pastel train and wings and thigh-high boots

She's wearing a beaded headpiece and a two-piece short outfit with an animal head with long antlers covering the pelvic region and a lace-and-fur train behind

A colorful outfit with tasseled arm- and legwear and ornate blade train and headpiece

She's wearing shiny pants and a large tulip on top

The tulip petals opens to reveal a rainbow pattern

An ornate gown with train and headpiece, embodying a Celtic sea goddess

Close-up of the bejeweled headpiece

She's wearing a thick necklace, ornate spiral headpiece, colorful bandeau top, and colorful, bejeweled print long skirt with train

She's wearing a short flared dress with print top layer, puffy sleeves, and long train, with the green, red, and white of the flag

She's wearing a colorful, ornate headpiece and matching long-sleeved bodysuit outfit with flared jacket that has an ocean theme

She's wearing an ornate two-piece outfit and ornate headdress with a train that has illustrations of Native scenes

She's wearing a bodysuit with circular, sheer train

She's wearing a bodice top and long flared, print skirt

Wearing a warrior headpiece and flared, multi-tiered gown with long, sheer cape

She's wearing a headpiece, tube top, ornate necklace, and shiny mid-calf skirt with bejeweled belt with tassel

She's wearing a large feathered, beaded headdress, Native-themed colorful, two-piece outfit, and large, colorful train

She's wearing a beaded headpiece and train with large parrot heads, long-sleeved bodoysuit, and tasseled boots

Side view of the bird-themed outfit

She's wearing a sleeveless gown and headpiece with a volcanic lava theme

Close-up of the bejeweled, "glowing" headpiece

She's wearing a bodysuit with a shiny print jacket with long, flared sleeves, and a train

Close-up of her face jewelry, including a large hoop nose earring

She's wearing a two-piece gown with train, sash, and matching necklace and headgear

She's wearing a colorful bejeweled, tiered gown with flared sleeves and ornate matching fan

She's wearing a fringed aviation-themed bodysuit with large wings and in the colors of the flag: red, white, blue, and yellow

She's wearing a short, ornate outfit with armored neckpiece, train, and large headdress in the colors of the flag — red, gold, and green — and photos of prominent Cameroonian women

She's carrying the colors of the flag — blue, red, and gold — and wearing an ornate, long-sleeved tasseled, bejeweled bodysuit with ornate headdress

She's showing a flag cloth that also has the silhouette of a tree and people on horses with a bright sun backdrop

She's wearing a short, sleeveless, golden outfit with large wings and a circular headpiece

An ornate bodysuit with long sleeves that have spherical, sea-themed and butterfly attachments, along with high, sparkly boots and a small, shiny train

A long, traditional, ornate, long-sleeved tiered gown and robe with bejeweled headpiece

Close-up of the colorful print hand fan and bejeweled headpiece

She's waring a strapless, multicolored pastel gown with jeweled and tasseled accents

She's wearing a bejeweled bodysuit and headpiece with the country's Sun of May theme

She's wearing a sparkly long-sleeved bodysuit, shiny thigh-high boots, and an attached train showing a light-up hat, train car, and railway tracks, as well as an emblem for Eloy Alfaro Delgado, former president of Ecuador

She's giving a thumbs-up

She's wearing a bejeweled headpiece, bodysuit and long train, with a marine/beach theme, and carrying a large staff with flora and fauna

She's carrying a torch and wearing a gold-tone bodysuit with wings to represent the three rings of the Olympics

She's wearing a bejeweled Statue of Liberty headpiece, a bejeweled bodysuit with a US flag train showing different flags and a Route 66 sign jutting out of it, and flag-themed, thigh-high bejeweled boots

Close-up of the outfit

The back view of Miss USA on the runway

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