23 Insane (Amazing) Miss Universe 2015 National Costumes

The 2015 Miss Universe preliminary contest played out in Las Vegas earlier this week, with the 80 contestants showcasing their evening gowns, bikini bodies, and, best of all, their extravagant national costumes. Yay! These are all designed to represent some element of each contestant's country, and also sequins — they often don't make much sense (case in point: Miss Spain's half beauty queen/half old man look above) but they sure are pretty to look at. Enjoy, and remember to watch the pageant  Sunday night.​

1. Miss Spain, Carla Barber Garcia

2. Miss Aruba, Alysha Boekhoudt

3. Miss South Africa, Refilwe Mthimunye

4. Miss Denmark, Cecilie Wellemberg

It's a swan, and it looks sorta dead (or at least taxidermied). Sure, why not?!

5. Miss Nicaragua, Daniela Torres

6. Miss Lebanon, Cynthia Roger Samuel

This is a fabulous hat.

7. Miss Nigeria, Debbie Collins

8. Miss Canada, Paola Núñez

9. Miss Curacao, Kanisha Sluis

10. Miss Israel, Avigail Alfatov

All of the tassels, all of the fringe!

11. Miss France, Flora Coquerel

A tribute to the "Pray for Paris" movement and, in particular, the illustration which became its most well-known image.

12. Miss Dominican Republic, Clarissa Molina

13. Miss Indonesia, Anindya Putri

14. Miss Paraguay, Myriam Arévalos

15. Miss Singapore, Lisa White

16. Miss Ukraine, Anna​ Vergelskaya

Miss Ukraine is legitimately carrying a big pie here! Just give her the tiara now, basically.

17. Miss Hungary, Nikoletta Nagy

And while this Rubik's Cube-inspired dress is rather low on the sparkle factor, it's fun to see Miss Hungary's train handler in the background — and doing a great job, it should be noted.

18. Miss Argentina, Claudia Barrionuevo

19. Miss Costa Rica, Brenda Castro

20. Miss Thailand, Aniporn Chalermburanawong

Literally a tuk tuk dress.

21. Miss Panama, Gladys​ Brandao Amaya

22. Miss Angola, Whitney Shikongo

Fun fact: While not listed as such in her official Miss Universe bio, Miss Angola's full name is Whitney Houston A. Shikongo.  

And 23. Miss United States, Olivia Jordan

P.S. Also during the preliminary competition, Miss Myanmar fell over. Beauty queen down! It's unclear whether this footage will feature in Sunday night's pageant show, but it should? 

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