PICTURE OF THE WEEK

"World Tour '99 -
The Sound of Music"

This week, Beauty School's World Tour '99 takes us to enchanting Austria, the land of "The Sound of Music." And Austria surely heard beautiful music 30 years ago, when on Thursday, November 27, 1969, their representative at Miss World 1969, Eva Rueber-Staier, won the coveted title.

A few tidbits about Eva and the contest that year:

1. Eva is one of several Miss World winners who first competed in Miss Universe. In July 1969, she represented Austria at the Miss Universe Pageant in Miami Beach, Florida, where she made the semifinals (top 15). Other women in this select sorority are Susana Djuim (Miss World 1955), Corine Rottschafter (Miss World 1959), Rosemarie Frankland (Miss World 1961), Madeline Hartog Bel (Miss World 1967), Helen Morgan (Miss World 1974), and Gina Swainson (Miss World 1979). All of these women placed in the semifinals or better at Miss Universe.

And what about Miss Universe winners who first competed in Miss World, you ask? This sorority includes Georgina Rizk (Miss Universe 1971), Angela Visser (Miss Universe 1989) Michelle McLean (Miss Universe 1992), and Mpule Kwelagobe (Miss Universe 1999). Of these women, only Michelle placed in the semifinals. In fact, Michelle placed in the top five when she competed in Miss World, in 1991.

2. "Miss Austria wins as feminists chant" was the headline in the London Times the day after the contest. The feminist chanters were from the Women's Liberation Workshop, who according to the Times, "wore flesh pink banners stencilled with Mis-Fourtune, Mis-Laid (?), and other slogans."

There was another group of protesters outside Albert Hall that night. These protesters were criticizing South Africa's participation in the pageant because of that country's segregationist (apartheid) policies.

3. The article in the Times, written by the newspaper's fashion editor Prudence Glynn, had a tongue-in-cheek tone and understandably focused on the "fashionable" aspects of the pageant. Ms. Glynn wryly noted that there was nothing "...less flattering than a one-piece bathing suit. It looks like a cross between a corset and a vest, with none of the daring of the former or the camouflage of the latter. But for some reason it had been adopted by the twentienth century as the ultimate in clothing sex appeal."

Ms. Glynn was completely unfazed by the feminist protesters, saying the name of their group, the Women's Liberation Workshop, appeared to be "...something of a contradiction in terms." She also said the contestants, "...for all the bold talk in their biographies about collecting rare spoons and breeding hamsters...hardly looked suitable material" for the group.

Ms. Glynn closed her article-cum-review with the pressing question: "What I want to know is, is Miss World's world round - or flat?"

(Prudence, dear, with all due respect, Eva's world was most assuredly round, with her 36-23-36 measurements.)