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The Baby Banda Maternity Beauty Pageant

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The Baby Banda maternity beauty pageant went down last Sunday, and it was quite something. It was hosted by Sheila Mwanyingha and I loved the outfit she had on. Fitted her well and suited the occasion. By the way, her makeup was done well as it made her look nice and natural, unlike how they do it on that TPF show she hosts where she always looks too overdone and pardon me, a tad bit fake. But that’s my opinion.

Anyway Sheila was a good host, didn’t make any errors and tried her very best to keep her head up even when clearly things were not in her favor. Like when there was a technical hitch and the sound went off while the pregnant ladies were on the runway.  Sound was off for about 15 minutes. When that happened, she engaged the crowd with a few humorous says, as well as got a little girl to catwalk on the runway. Nice.

Then, there was a light moment when Sheila was interviewing one contestant, who was 37 weeks pregnant. While answering the question, the lady ‘suddenly’ had a ‘contraction’, making Sheila almost topple off the podium. Ofcourse the crafty contestant was merely pulling a fast one on poor Sheila as there were no contractions. But she did get her alright. I think Sheila at some point even began hyperventilating. It was too funny.

Among the gripes I had with that particular day was the timing. My oh my! The event was scheduled to start at 2pm, but it started way past 3pm. It was supposed to end at 4pm, but I left at 5.15 when speeches were being given by the sponsors/judges. When I left, the winner of the pageant had not yet been announced. I don’t know what time it finally ended. But the comments from the ladies around me were not very nice, atleast where time management was concerned. Though delays and hitches sometimes do occur, they should try and be minimized. Especially when you have a host of pregnant women who are prone to fatigue, and a host of little kids who are prone to crankiness. By the way one way of time saving is having the judges speak less. And when there is no question arising from the audience, the speaker should sit down –and not keep prodding the audience to ask questions even when clearly they don’t have any.

The venue of the hall was also quite noisy as there was a kids’ play area at the back of the hall. There were moments when the kids’ screams and shouts drowned out the goings on in the main arena. The organizers probably need to think about that next time.

Now let’s talk about the expectant models. All the ladies were above 6 months pregnant, and the best part is that they were in all sizes – from petite to medium to large. Most were first time moms with the rest expecting their second babies. They were 15 contestants in total and some were so syked up, bubbly and energetic, others were just ‘okay’, while some looked rather tired. Some were constantly smiling and thoroughly enjoying the ‘party’ on the catwalk, while others could have done with a smile or two. But I have to give it up to all of them –being 6 months plus pregnant and going through all it takes to participate in a beauty pageant is no mean feat, even for the strongest of pregnant women. As for those who managed to walk in boots and heels without even the slightest of a falter –nimewainamishia.

From the different outfits that were showcased by different clothing houses and designers, I guess there is no excuse for looking bad while pregnant. The fashion designers really gave the best as all the maternity clothes modeled on that day were a definite yes for me. There were casuals –what you would wear on a weekend, formal office wear, casual office wear, African themed outfits and some lovely evening dresses. Nice.

The people who styled the contestants hair’s also did a good job. Same as those who did their make up and accessories.

Generally it was a good fair, and the contestants and their stylists definitely did a good job. Who won by the way?

Alright I guess I’ve written too much. Here are some of the photos fromthe pageant. You can click on the images for an enlarged view.

Oh and one last thing. The lighting at the runway made it difficult for good photography. The background plastic banner kept reflecting back, creating shadows and mushaino-like effects.

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Maryanne W. Waweru is a Kenyan mum raising her two sons in Nairobi. A journalist, Maryanne is passionate about telling stories and hopes that through her writing, her readers learn something new, feel encouraged, inspired, and appreciative of what they have in their lives. Maryanne's writing focuses on motherhood, women and lifestyle. "Telling stories is the only thing I know how to do," she says.

3 COMMENTS

  1. @Chris, yes it was! Long gone are the days expectant mothers were confined to wearing flowered dresses with three buttons at the top. Times are changing indeed.

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