The Miss Universe 2016 pageant is nearing and we finally have a first look at the dress which will represent Malaysia in the “National Costume” category.
While several outfits from past years have successfully wowed the online community, like 2013’s “Princess of Perak” outfit, a majority of the netizens aren’t too fond of this year’s Twin Towers-inspired costume.
Designed by local fashion designer duo Rizman Ruzaini and Wan Ruzaini Wan Jamil, the dress is a silver jumpsuit filled with more than 100,000 handsewn Swarovski crystals. Geometric designs which represent the country’s traditional basket weaving craft is also showcased on the dress. However, what caught the eyes of netizens were the Twin Towers-replica sewn on both sides of the dress.
The dress will be worn by Miss Universe Malaysia 2016 Kiran Jassal, an aspiring dentist, to represent our country during the pageant. She said of the dress, “The costume symbolises our Twin Towers on my shoulders, it has me bursting with pride because it is the icon that best represents Malaysia.”
Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation national director Elaine Daly was also equally impressed by the dress, as she described the endeavour as a “huge risk but a worthy one”.
However, not all netizens shared their sentiments. Comments on Facebook were fairly harsh, with John Lee commenting, “I think this beautiful and stunning lady would have look impeccable and stunning in a Kabaya (sic) instead of this Halloween costume. What is the organiser thinking? She is going to a beauty pageant not a Halloween party!“
Other users obviously agreed with Lee, as his comment has garnered 45 likes as of time of writing.
User Calvin Chia made fun of the situation by saying, “Please…during these Monsoon period..stay indoors if you are wearing this costume. Especially when there is thunder & lightning. To win another award for Innovation & Creativity…try attaching propellers to the tip of the 2 towers so it can be transformed into a Transformer Robot.
Then you can make kids size…sure it will sell!”
Meanwhile, Gene Vgl simply wrote, “Look like some sorta Ultraman monster costume…Can don’t ah? Sia sui leh…(it’s embarrassing)”
Other users also left some fairly harsh comments:
That’s not to say that all netizens were critical of the decision, as they were some who were extremely supportive.
What say you? Do you think that the costume looks tacky and fails to portray the essence of our country? Or do you think that the designers deserve praise for coming up with a unique design?
The 65th Miss Universe pageant will be held in the Philippines on 30th January.
For more info, visit their website.
Sources: New Straits Times, The Star Online.
