SASHES AND TIARAS.....Miss Supranational 2016 Evening Gown Preliminaries: My Best Top 15!

Teal Gorgeous: Miss Philippines Joanna Eden in a Mark Bumgarner gown

It's Pageant Gown Time again!! On December 2nd, a new "Miss Supranational" will be crowned in Poland. 72 contestants from all over the world are competing for this title, which is in it's 8th year and is quickly growing as one of the "Grand Slam" pageants (along with Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth). Two days ago the pageant held the Preliminary Competition for Swimsuit and more importantly for this blog, the Evening Gowns. Overall, there were some nice gown choices for some of the beautiful ladies but there were also some questionable (Read: Tackylicious) choices as well, which I will cover a follow post. But now, let's get to my Top 15 Favorites of Evening Gowns for the 2016 Miss Supranational Preliminaries.

Malaysia Julylen Liew Gizelle: I absolutely LOVE this silver sequined gown worn by Miss Supranational Malaysia. Not only is the design outstanding and Couture-worthy, I love the perfect fit, her chic center-parted chignon hair as well as choice of earrings. Normally I would criticize these too-high platform heels, but I'm glad she chose to wear gold/metallic ones as opposed to nude or Lucite "Stripper" styles.
Score: 9.80

Philippines Joanna Eden: Miss Supranational Philippines Joanna Eden wore this beautiful teal-colored gown from Filipino designer Mark Bumbarner. The custom-made gown featured an off-shoulder draped neckline/top section and split-front skirt, as well as a dramatic overskirt. She looked flawless and so did this gown.
Score: 9.90

Suriname Jaleesa Pigot: Miss Supranational Suriname wore this ivory lace and gold applique gown featuring a beautiful capelet detail. I think this was one of the prettiest gowns from this year's contestants. I thought she looked elegant and royalty-like. I loved the style, how she styled her hair, and the fact that the gown itself was the PERFECT length.
Score: 9.75

Vietnam Kha Trang: Three words--Go On Vietnam! Miss Supranational was SERVING YOU GOWN FABULOUSNESS with this lipstick red gown at the Preliminaries. The strapless design was very much on the Zuhair Murad style of gowns (although I don't think it was Zuhair Murad by the way!) with its fitted  UBER sexy silhouette and dramatic flowing overskirt. The gown looked well done and it was striking! I wish she hadn't worn those gold platform heels and instead some non-platform strappy ones but since I forgave Miss Supranational Malaysia, I'll forgive her too. Only this time!
Score: 9.75

Venezuela Valeria Vespoli: Valeria is wearing a gown from Venezuelan designer Alejandro Fajardo. He's made a name for himself creating these very intricate--and beautiful--gowns for various Miss Venezuela pageant title holders as well as Venezuelan TV personalities. I thought this was a very nice impacting gown with all its hand-sewn beading and sexy-but-not-tacky-sexy effect. It is one of the best of the Miss Supranational 2016 Preliminaries Evening Gowns.
Score: 9.65

Turkey Damla Figan: I thought Damla's sequin-and-tulle gown was exquisite. I loved the covered up neckline and lack of slit (what a novel idea!?). I also liked the cascading beaded paisley "petals" and how they were all clustered in the midriff. This is a GORGEOUS and very red carpet-worthy gown. And Damla looks serene in it.
Score: 9.70

Chile Maria Trinidad Rendic Munizaga: Miss Supranational Chile wore this silver gown with draped "cowl-like" shoulder/arm details. the dress--from far away--looks as if it was made of chainmail but in fact, it's all silver mini paillettes. The gown fit perfectly (perfect length!) and definitely made an impression in my Evening Gown book!
Score: 9.40

Ukraine Lenna Anastassia: OK, first off--WOW! This woman is beautiful and in this photo and pose, she looks like someone should give her a crown ASAP! Lenna wore this golden tulle gown with sequin appliques featuring a high center front slit and illusion-covered front neckline. While she does look like a Perfect Pageant Queen, there's nothing extraordinarily High Fashion about this style. But I do admire the perfect length of her dress, elegant hair styling and simple modern makeup.
Score: 9.35

Bolivia Yesenia Barrientos: Miss Supranational Bolivia wore this blue sequined halter-style gown featuring a front nude illusion mini panel. I love the varying blue and silver colors of the sequins in the gown as well as how they curve throughout her dress. Once again, I have to give praise for the correct length (no shoes seen, Thank You Very Much!). I wish she had not done her hair that way (it doesn't do her any favors!) but since this isn't a gown issue, I'll pass on that.
Score: 9.25

Romania Sinziana Sirghi: I thought this was one of the most modern and interesting gown choices of the Miss Supranational 2016 Preliminaries. It wasn't nude, or blush, or didn't have any sequin appliques...or slits for that matter. The design was runway chic with its dramatic voluminous side volants and"Mermaid Lite" shape. This is DEFINITELY NOT a typical "Pageant Gown" and I liked it because of that!
Score: 9.25 

Spain Estilbe Hernandez Afonso: When I first saw this photo, I said "Go On Girl!".  I do love a dramatic one shoulder cascade arm cape! I love the royal blue/purple color and the dramatic silver applique sequins. The gown says "España!" without a single mantilla, red color or castanet! On a helpful styling note: Lose those oversized earrings. Ahora!
Score: 9.20

Ecuador Maria Isabel Pineiro: Blush and pretty. That's how I can describe this blush-colored gown worn by Miss Supranational Ecuador. These nude/blush gowns were all the rage several seasons ago on the red carpet and runways and are now gaining strength in popularity in the pageant world (it always takes several years to catch up darlings!). I like the one shoulder style and the cascading ruffled bottom section. I also think that the scroll-like sequin appliques look quite nice with this style of a gown.
Score: 9.10

Indonesia Intan Aletrino: I adore how GOLD this exquisite gown is. Not only does it look expensive, it looks incredibly made and the multi-sequin detail is stunning. I also like the surprise of the golden "leafs" at the hem. If there was one critique it would be that I was not  a fan of her hair styling; it looked WAAAY too casual for this type of gown. She should have slicked it back or had it blown straight and chic because what she's doing now says "Shopping at an outlet mall at 3pm" . Her hair need to say 10pm VIP black tie gala!
Score: 9.10

Angola Maria Moises: Simple, elegant, modern and chic. Miss Supranational Angola looks red carpet ready in this royal blue/purple-hued column gown with silver closed "bolero" style top. While this look may not be as dramatic and fabulous as Miss Vietnam's striking red gown, it still got my attention for its elegant simplicity and good fit.
Score: 9.00

Paraguay Viviana Florentin: Gold gowns are popular this season in the pageant world and here's an example of a good one. Miss Supranational Paraguay chose well with this nude and gold sequined applique design featuring godet panels on the skirt section for movement. I liked the correct length, the style and the fit. The gold/nude also worked well with her skin tone. BTW: She looks like a younger Melania Trump in this photo: Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm just stating the somewhat obvious.
Score: 9.00

Here's an Extra...

Mexico Cynthia de la Vega: I wanted to put Miss Supranational Mexico's gown here in my "Best Top 15" as No. 15 1/2, because it was such an impacting gown, principally for its silhouette and BEYOND-BLINDING paillette fabrication. This gown could have had a super high slit, or a plunging neckline...or some tacky skin-revealing side peek-a-boos or nude illusion insets...but it did not. And while the length was correct, I was NOT a fan of those TACKY nude platform heels. Those shoes are  NOT to be worn with a Gown. Can we PLEASE tell all pageant ladies this??!!! Anyhow, I did like this gown even if she might have looked like a GOLD Disco Ball (I guess I like gold Disco balls!).
Score: 8.75

**UP NEXT: My "Uh Oh"/Ayyy Mija! List of "Miss Supranational 206" Preliminaries Evening Gowns!