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There really is no right or wrong when it comes to fashion. As long as it fits within the boundaries of what society deems decent, inspiration for a look can come from just about anywhere – even food.
This was exemplified best when Indonesian beauty contestant Aurra Kharishma donned a Satay-inspired outfit during the preliminaries of the Miss Grand International 2020 pageant that took place on the evening of March 24, 2021.
IMAGE: @aurrakharishma on Instagram
Earlier in the day, Kharishma had provided a sneak peak of her costume on her Instagram profile in two forms. The first photo showed her wearing the costume with the front of her lower-half made to look like a grill full of chicken satay sticks, while the next two photos showed the grill flipped up and revealing a plate of satay chunks with accompanying condiments such as onion, chilli pepper, and cucumber slice.
Aside from the interesting flippable “grill”, Kharishma completed the costume with a headpiece made of chicken satay skewers and a bundle of satay sticks protruding from her back.
IMAGE: @aurrakharishma on Instagram
On her Instagram post, Kharishma proudly expressed her pride at being able to don the costume for the competition and represent her nation’s culture.
“Here I present you, out and loud, my precious Indonesia’s National Costume ‘The Edacious of Chicken Satay’,” she wrote in the caption. “Chicken Satay represents the rich food culture and how widely popular this dish is in Indonesia.”
A feast for the eyes?
The costume is apparently based on Sate Madura, a version of chicken satay hailing from the Madura island in East Java, and was designed and crafted by the team behind the Jember Fashion Carnaval – an annual fashion event held in the city of Jember, East Java.
IMAGE: @aurrakharishma on Instagram
Although fans have since voted her outfit as one of their favorites, it’s still unknown how much of a factor the costume will play in helping Kharishma progress to the latter rounds of the competition currently being held in Bangkok.
The Miss Grand International pageant was supposedly created to “make a stand for the betterment of humanity” by promoting a stop to war and violence.
Since 2013, it has had eight winners including Indonesia, who secured the crown once in 2016, and is so far the only Asian country to have won the competition.
The latest pageant was postponed from its original date in late 2020, and will now happen virtually with the finale taking place on March 27, 2021. Of course, Kharishma will be one of the 63 contestants hoping to make it all the way.
You can see her show off her costume on stage in the video below starting at the 33:18 mark.
Although the costume has so far managed to grab plenty of attention, this isn’t the first time a contestant has worn a costume inspired by food at a beauty pageant.
IMAGE: Oh No They Didn’t!
In 2017, then-reigning Miss Universe Malaysia Samantha Katie James boldly slipped into a Nasi Lemak-themed dress during the national costume segment of the competiton. Although she didn’t win, James still made headlines in her home country due to the unusual theme and design of her outfit.
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Cover image sourced from @aurrakharishma on Instagram and GrandTV on YouTube.
