The room is outlined with racks holding dresses that prove there is more bling involved in the Miss Mississippi Pageant than just what is on the crowns.

Most every dress, shoe and bracelet comes with a shiny accent, and even those that sparkle without beads or jewels show how essential wardrobe is to making the pageant pop.

“You choose a dress that you feel like yourself in,” said Miss Mississippi State Meredith Thomas said. “With competition clothing, they want to see personality.”

And at a pageant, personality involves clothing choice. Some contestants said they look throughout the year for their clothes and others opted to shop during breaks from school.

“If I see something I like, I’ll get it,” said Miss Tupelo Alivia Roberts. “When it gets close to competition, I take stock of everything and I feel like I’m short dresses, but it all falls together every year.”

Roberts said she brought three evening gowns, five cocktail dress and two outfits for interviews.

“My mom always has extras just in case,” she said.

While some girls bring extra dresses, others just bring a few. Being able to adapt the competition to individual preference is a plus Thomas said many contestants enjoy.

“The great thing about this is that you can really find what works best for you,” Thomas said. “You can find a dress at Dirt Cheap or have one designed for you.”

Dressing room chairperson Michelle Coccato said though there are no official limits on how many dresses the contestants can bring with them, only so much wall space exists. Every bit of wardrobe involved in the pageant’s production or competition stays in the dressing room, she said.

“Each girl typically brings five to six dresses,” she said. “Some are really thrifty and can find something cheap and make it their own.”

Of course, dresses can also range in the thousands of dollars as well, but a theme among those in the dressing room is finding ways to reuse pieces to cut down on costs.

“They often buy that one really expensive pair (of shoes) and wear them multiple times,” Haley Herrod, a member of the dressing room staff, said. “Those shoes can go well above $100.”

“Sometimes you’ll buy (a dress) because you may use it again, or sometimes renting may be easiest,” Thomas added.

The contestants have chosen to wear an array of different dress and shoe brands on stage during this year’s pageant. Shoe designers include Chinese Laundry, Steve Madden, Michael Kors and Jonathan Kanye.

Clothing designers include Keith Pittman, Shelli Segal, who designed the dresses for the opening number and Kandice Pelletier, who designed the contestants’ swimsuits.

Miss Dixie Laura Lee Lewis, who brought six dresses for the pageant, is re-wearing a piece from her junior prom.

“They said turquoise dress, and I thought junior prom. It’s already hanging the closet,” she said, laughing. “I’m a banker’s daughter, so we budget. Reusing pieces is just one less thing I have to buy.”

Lewis noted that websites like pageantresale.com allow contestants from across the country to save money on pageant clothing.

“You can get a custom gown for half the price, (which is a plus) when you’re preparing your wardrobe until the last minute,” she said.

Lewis noted the feeling when putting a dress on is how she makes her ultimate decision about what to wear on stage.

“It’s like that bridal moment, though obviously different,” she said. “When you feel like the Miss Mississippi crown can sit on your head with a dress on, you know that’s the dress.”