A woman from Swindon is in the finals to represent England on the world beauty pageant stage. Emma Trollen, 25, hopes to go to Vietnam for Miss Earth 2024 having started her pageantry career only one year ago. Being one of the largest competitions around, it is a big step up for Emma despite previous regional success.
She said: “It felt like as a part-time job that I don't get paid to do in a way, but I love doing it.” (Image: Emma Trollen) Emma will be competing against pageant veterans who have been competing for 10 years, while she only started last year. Unlike Miss World, the world’s biggest beauty pageant, Miss Earth is focused on promoting environmental values.
Emma explained: “I like that everyone's going for the same cause, so you have to show you're advocating for something. “I'm advocating for sustainable fashion choices. It's so easy to buy a £200 dress and then the next pageant you want a different £200 dress and then you never end up rewearing any of them.
” She has sourced all her clothes second-hand, which she says has saved her a lot of money too. She said: “I think in all honesty, the dresses I've got for £10 look better than some of the ones I've spent 50 or 100 on.” Emma has also organised a clothes swap for her work and hopes if she makes it through to the international rounds to do a bigger one.
Out of all five pageants Emma has taken part in, this is the hardest pageant she has done so far, saying: “It’s felt quite a lot more compe.