A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Kerstin Margareta "Kiki" Håkansson (1929–2011) was a Swedish model and beauty queen who was the first winner of the Miss World beauty pageant after being crowned Miss Sweden World in 1951.
A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of the contestants. The Big Four international beauty pageants have included examples of such a competition.
Miss United Kingdom is a title held by the highest-ranked contestant from the UK in the Miss World pageant. The winner sometimes competes at Miss International and Miss Supranational the following year under the Britain, England or United Kingdom banner. From 1958 to 1999, Miss United Kingdom was a national beauty pageant held to choose a representative for the Miss World Pageant. In 1999, Scotland and Wales had their own contestants at Miss World, and in 2000, England and Northern Ireland sent their own representatives. The existing organization now runs the Miss England competition.
Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England.
Miss World 2000, was the 50th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, held at the Millennium Dome in London, United Kingdom on 30 November 2000. Portions of the pageant were also filmed in the Maldives.
Julia Evelyn Morley is an English businesswoman, charity worker and former model. She is the chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, which organizes the Miss World and Mister World pageants. She is the widow of Miss World creator, the late Eric Morley who organized the pageant from its inception in July 1951, until his death in 2000.
Eric Douglas Morley was an English television host and the founder of the Miss World pageant and Come Dancing programme. His widow, Julia Morley, is now head of the pageant and his son, Steve Douglas, is one of its presenters.
Miss World Sweden is a national Beauty pageant that has selected Sweden's representative to the Miss World pageant.
The modern bikini first appeared in 1946, and since then it has become a part of popular culture. It is one of the most widely worn women's swimsuits, used for swimming and in a variety of other contexts. Today, bikinis appear in competitions, films, magazines, music, literature, and video games. Despite the availability of more revealing glamour wear, bikini modeling remains popular and can still create controversy. Portrayals of the bikini in popular culture led, to a large extent, to its acceptance by Western society at large. In 1960, Brian Hyland's pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the 1962 James Bond film Dr. No has been cited as one of the most famous bikinis of all time. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol. Playboy first featured a bikini on its cover in 1962. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue debuted two years later. This increasing popularity was reinforced by its appearance in such contemporary films as How to Stuff a Wild Bikini featuring Annette Funicello and One Million Years B.C. (1966) featuring Raquel Welch. Raquel Welch's fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. became a famous moment in cinema history. Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida and Jane Russell further helped the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin up posters of Monroe and Mansfield, as well as Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch distributed around the world contributed significantly to the popularity of the bikini.
Miss World 1970 was the 20th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, held on 20 November 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. 58 contestants competed for the Miss World title. Jennifer Hosten from Grenada won the crown of Miss World 1970. Although Miss World 1969, Eva Rueber-Staier of Austria, was present and took part in a dance routine before the announcement of the winner, the new Miss World was crowned by Bob Hope. The event was marked by controversy in the days beforehand, during the contest itself and afterwards.
Miss World 1955 was the fifth edition of the Miss World pageant, held on 20 October 1955 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom. 21 contestants competed for the crown. Eunice Gayson crowned Susana Duijm of Venezuela as the new Miss World. The previous year's Miss World, Antigone Costanda of Egypt, did not attend because of hostilities between Egypt and United Kingdom over Suez Canal. That was the first time Venezuela won the title of Miss World. This was the first time that a winner had been crowned with the crown on her head. Duijm also placed Top 15 in Miss Universe 1955.
Miss World 1953 was the third Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 19 October 1953.
Miss World 1959 was the ninth edition of the Miss World pageant, held on 10 November 1959 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom and was the first to be televised by the BBC. 37 contestants competed for the Miss World. The winner was Corine Rottschäfer, representing Holland. She was crowned by The Chief Barker of the Variety Club of Great Britain.
Miss World 1965 was the 15th edition of the Miss World pageant, held on 19 November 1965 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, UK. The winner was Lesley Langley of the United Kingdom. She was crowned by Miss World 1964, Ann Sidney of United Kingdom. The UK became the second country to win the contest two years in succession. The first country to achieve this was Sweden when winning in 1951 and 1952. Former British winner, Rosemarie Frankland performed a dance routine alongside Lionel Blair as part of the show's cabaret.
Evidence of bikini-style women's clothing has been found as early as 5600 BC, and the history of the bikini can be traced back to that era. Illustrations of women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events in the Roman era have been found in several locations, the most famous of which is at Villa Romana del Casale.
Miss World 2013, the 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 28 September 2013 at Bali International Convention Center, South Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. It was the first time in Southeast Asia and it also was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in a Muslim majority country. Contestants from 127 countries and territories competed in this year's Miss World pageant, marking the biggest turnout for any beauty pageant globally as of 2024. Yu Wenxia of China crowned her successor Megan Young of the Philippines at the end of the event, marking the only time to date that the Philippines has won the Miss World title. This victory also made the Philippines the third country to win all of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss World 2019 was the 69th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom on 14 December 2019.
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