Press Pen: Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant 2012

Dear Pennies & Pens,

First off, please accept my apologies for the lack of posts as of late. It’s been crazy with my clients, and all these other projects I am juggling. Moving right along, I’m so excited to announce that on March 11^th, I was a Guest Judge at the Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant 2012!

For those that don’t know, F.I.T. stands for the Fashion Institute of Technology and it’s a Fashion-focused college here in New York. I was actually a student at F.I.T. last year where I met F.I.T. alumnus, LeNia Jones. LeNia along with the committee asked me to be a guest judge and since I was super flattered to be invited to a part of such a fabulous event, I couldn’t say no!

The Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant was originally a pageant for women attending F.I.T. but when mostly men attended the auditions, Professor Uvenio, a professor at F.I.T. turned the pageant into a “Drag Pageant.” Six years later, the Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant has become F.I.T.’s most popular event. This year’s event was planned by Jay Scheuer, the VP of Programming for the F.I.T. Student Association at F.I.T. along with an awesome committee.

The Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant contestants were Sasha Blowmeay (aka Akeem), Vanessa Latrell (aka Marciano), Scarlet Envy (aka Jacob), Miss Perry Puchi (aka Jorge), and J’zel Grace (aka Josh) who won “Miss Congeniality”. My fellow judges were:  Professor Uvenio: current professor at F.I.T. and the Pageant Founder,  Ms. Gammaray: Ms F.I.T. 2011, Sam Kloeckner: Current President of the F.I.T . Student Association (aka Justin Bieber), and last but certainly not least, the fabulous Ongina, a contestant from RuPaul’s Drag Race season one.

The event hosts were: Comedian/Actor Jason Andors who has been featured on P Diddy’s Bad Boy’s of Comedy and BET’s Comic View; Augusta Falleta: current Advertising and Marketing communications major at FIT; and Jay Scheuer: Current Advertising and Marketing Communications major at FIT, VP of Programming for the FIT Student Association and coordinator for the 2012 Ms FIT Drag Pageant show.

The Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant contestants were carefully chosen through an audition process that occurred over a two-week period. Each contestant was required to give a short bio as well as learn a short choreography by acknowledged choreographer Violetta Galagarza, founder of KR3TS (Keep Rising To The Top dance company). The contestants were analyzed and marked on their presentation, talent and ability to communicate with an audience. The Miss F.I.T. Drag Pageant contestants were competing for the $500 prize, tiara and the Ms F.I.T. 2012 sash, access to all events on campus for free, a feature length post here on de la Pen, and bragging rights for the year.

The event was super fabulous and I had an amazing time judging the festivities! Also, since my client, Fashion Stylist & Personal Style Blogger: Paris Hatcher was in town for the weekend, she attended the event along with me. All of the contestants were so talented and it was difficult to choose a final winner. However, I’m very pleased with the Miss F.I.T. 2012 winner. Stay tuned for the official announcement post & profile on the winner!

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything.