Katie Da Silva Talks Styling: from bikini, shoes, jewellery, hair, to make-up!

Styling for a bikini competitor can be a daunting task! I mean half the fun of competing is the glitz and glamour of stage right!? But the endless decisions of hair styles, shoe styles, jewelry, makeup and bikini colour can become quite overwhelming! This blog post will hopefully give you some insight and make some of the decisions easier for you!

COMMON ERROR: Over-icing!

The saying “less is more” can definitely apply to stage jewelry, especially in bodybuilding style competitions (model/fashion feds tend to see more bling!). Stage jewlry should add to your overall look, but should never been so over the top that it drowns out your physique, you don’t want to be a sparkly mess who distracts from the rest of her look!!

JEWELERRY

Jewellery is the perfect way to bring everything together and feel confident on stage! Although you aren’t outright judged on it, you want your whole “look” to flow and these tips will help you choose what is right for you! As a minimum you are going to want to have at least one pair of earrings, one bracelet and one ring!

The first thing to consider is your federation. None typically have limitations but there are slight trends that will be seen depending on what federation you are competing with. Bodybuilding style federations tend to go more with the less is more as mentioned above. I would advise selecting more minimalist pieces of jewelry if you’re competing with something like PCA, UKUP, UKBFF etc.

Fitness model and fashion style federations often see more extravagant choices and girls tend to express their personality and style more in these shows! Although I would recommend blinging up a little more for this style of show I would still stay understated as again you don’t want to distract too much from your physique.

If you have long hair you can pretty much get away with most jewellery styles. With long hair long and sparkling earrings can look perfect with flowing hair flicks! On the other hand if you have short hair you may want to consider choosing slightly shorter earrings to ensure they don’t swamp your facial features and overall look. You don’t want the earrings to overpower your hair. 

If you are short and petite you may want to consider smaller jewelerry in terms of bracelets etc. A super wide bracelet will drown someone very petite, whereas on someone taller it will look good and anything smaller may look a bit lost on a taller frame!

BIKINI

Now you might be thinking, how on earth do I choose the colour of my suit!? Your suit colour selection should compliment your overall look, complimenting your skin tone and hair colour. A good place to start is to look at what colours you would go for on a night out. If you’d typically wear a red dress for example then that is a colour you feel good in and suits you! It’s completely your decision what colour you go for and don’t think “the girls wearing blue won last weekend so the judges must like blue” because it again is irrelevant to your judging! 
Eye colour doesn’t matter in terms of bikini colour, as the judges won’t see your eyes colour on stage!! Hair colour will matter though so make sure it doesn’t clash - for example blondes shouldn’t wear yellow, but are often well suited in greens, blues and reds.

SHOES

The most important thing with shoes is what you are going to be confident in. 5 inch posing heels might look great but if you’re going to be walking like bambi it will totally ruin your stage presentation! You need to be honest and ask yourself whether you will feel confident enough walking and posing in them. 

Platforms can be worn to help with heel height but make sure your federation allows a platform. For example UKBFF don’t allow a platform to be worn. Straps can be fab for securing you in your shoes and I personally always wear heels with a strap on stage now just so I have that extra security! You can choose between plain heels and sparkly ones to compliment the look you’re going for!

HAIR

Competitors tend to mostly have long hair and although this isn’t a rule, it is a trend and I have witnessed it being suggested as feedback at a 2Bros show. Extensions are a great way to switch up your style from short to long hair, but also to add thickness and length to already long hair! 

You can go for either straight or curled/wavy hair on stage. Fashion/model federations often have more curled hair to add glam whereas bodybuilding federations, especially UKBFF often go for slick straight hair as to not distract from your physique. Hair is ultimately personal choice again and however you feel most confident! Look again at how you wear your hair on a night out and what makes you feel great!

MAKEUP 

Makeup should be over exaggerated in terms of coverage and product so that it is visible on stage however you still want an even, natural look. You can seek the help of a makeup artist on the day of your show or do it yourself. I would recommend if doing it yourself going into somewhere like MAC and getting a tester pot of a dark shade of foundation! You’re going to want it to be slightly lighter than your tan on show day, but this is still going to be very dark!! You don’t want your face to be washed out on stage!

Eyeshadow we tend to see on stage tends to be neutral and gold tones and sometimes matching the suit colour for example blue or pink tones with that colour bikini. The safest suggestion would be to stay with neutral colours, all shades of brown smokey eyes, whether light or dark, work well on everyone. Lip colour should either be nude or red, but be sure the nude isn’t too light as again you don’t want it to be washed out under the stage lighting!