The Most Jaw-Dropping Costumes of the Miss Universe Competition 

Coco Chanel famously said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” If the 74th Annual Miss Universe pageant offered any fashion advice, it’s this: Don’t leave the house without your giant wolf head. 

Miss Mexico took the crown on November 21, but the high point of this year’s event was its costume competition. Miss Estonia did indeed wear a gigantic headdress in the likeness of a wolf — a reference to Libahunt, a 1912 play about a nonconformist girl — and hers wasn’t even the most outrageous outfit. 

The competition took maximalism to new heights with its “everything but the kitchen sink” approach. (Or maybe there was a kitchen sink and I missed it?) Along with the sequins, glitter, and feathers — so many feathers! — the contestants honored their countries, and their local craft stores, with an array of accoutrements.

These ranged from bedazzled musical instruments (see Miss Sweden’s Abba tribute, which incorporated a fake keyboard and guitar, and musical notes) to bedazzled sea creatures: Miss Bonaire showed that a mermaid can become a Vegas dancer, in a colorful ensemble complete with netting, neon coral, and a mini octopus, while Miss Venezuela was flanked by two faux tortoises. And Miss Norway proved that she’s the fishiest queen of all, cloaked in a shimmering cape that disguised her as — you guessed it — a salmon.

The best outfits were ones that tread the fine line between glamour and prop comedy. Miss Chile channeled Frozen in an icicle-like headpiece and a cape seemingly held aloft by two doves, while dolls of different races hung from Miss Curaçao’s “Small World”-themed cape, and Miss Sri Lanka stood inside of an enormous brass teapot that evoked Disney World’s famous spinning teacups. Miss Great Britain took a planned fall dressed as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, complete with a flower cart.

And just in time for Thanksgiving, Miss USA, Audrey Eckert, appeared as a giant bird (or maybe the Chicken Lady?) Eckert’s designer, Simon Villalba, modeled the costume on our national bird, the bald eagle. You know you’re in Trump’s America when eagles start to look like they’ve been plucked right out of Showgirls.

This year’s event was also significant as the first time in its history that Miss Palestine has competed. Explaining that she wanted to change “stereotypes of Palestinians and Arabs in the media,” Nadeen Ayoub wore a beaded headdress inspired by a shatweh (a traditional Palestinian headdress), with a gown to match — though the real stunner was her cape painted with images of the Dome of the Rock and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

As The Met draws criticism for its 2026 Costume Institute show, which promises to explore “the inherent relationship between clothing and the body” (and which, spoiler alert, might include clothes on bodies), the Miss Universe competition should be applauded for celebrating clothes that have virtually no relation to the body. Well, a human body, at least.