Bookish Buys: The Pink Dress by Jane Little Botkin
Bookish Buys
Inspired by The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen by Jane Little Botkin
About The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen by Jane Little Botkin:
For fans of Little Miss Sunshine and Secrets of Miss America, this memoir from a national award-winning author reveals the reality of being the first Guyrex Girl in the 1970s. Beauty pageant stories have never been this raw, this real.
Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off.
A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs.
The Pink Dress awakens nostalgia for the 1960s and 1970s, the era’s conflicts and growth pains. A common expectation that women went to college to get “MRS” degrees—to find a husband and become a stay-at-home wife and mother—often prevailed. How does one swim upstream against this notion among feminist voices that protest “If You Want Meat, Go to a Butcher!” at beauty pageants, two flamboyant showmen, and a developing awareness of self? Torn between women’s traditional roles and what women could be, Guyrex Girls evolved, as did the author.
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Bookish Buys: The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen by Jane Little Botkin
Slip into the confidence of a beauty queen by wearing a pink dress inspired by Jane Little Botkin's The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen. Whether you're stepping onto the stage of a beauty pageant or simply strolling through a farmer's market, the right outfit can make all the difference. A pink dress, with its blend of softness and boldness, can capture that unique mix of vulnerability and inner strength, making you feel like the main character in your own life. This vibrant yet elegant color symbolizes self-assurance and grace, reminding you that no matter the setting, you can command attention and exude charm. Embrace the feeling of royalty in your day-to-day life, proving that with the right dress, every moment can be your crowning achievement.
