Mrs. Buckeye State Plus America 2018, Jereatha Heriot, contacted me to create an Ohio State themed Costume to compete at the Miss Plus America Pageant in July 2018. Here is a little more info about this costume that took FIRST place at the pageant.
Her original idea was to be a ladybug to reference the state bug but I took it to that EXTRA place that I like to do.
I wanted to keep spots like a ladybug but to turn them into Buckeyes, I wanted to include the state bird (cardinal), the state flower (red carnations), and then I got super crazy and threw in a TON of references to all kinds of inventions that have come from Ohio or people born in Ohio.
Did you know that Ohio is considered the birthplace of inventions from the smallest everyday pop tab, to the brilliance of Edison’s light bulbs & the wrights brothers themselves! Here is some more:
Thomas Alva Edison from Milan Ohio invented the light bulb , Elisha Gray born in Barnesville oh developed telephone prototype at nearly the exact same time as Alexander Graham Bell... still hotly debated who used the “liquid transmitter” first , Akron is the rubber capital of world bc of Charles goodyear in 1839, Pop top can by Ermal Fraze in Kettering Ohio in 60s, the Wright brothers were born in Dayton Ohio…. and truly the list continues/I ran out of space on one look.
The light bulbs on the vintage airplane wings lit up, and her pop tab covered propeller spun around and revealed a Columubs Ohio Zoo license plate. In preliminary talks she would pair the costume with the silver telephone hat and rubber rain boots, however those were cut in the process. I had so much fun creating what in my mind would be the ultimate “Ohio State Costume” and I am so pleased that it won.