Beauty pageants, by traditional standards, are filled with perfect-looking women, saying all the right things and showing off their talents.

But some beauty pageants aren’t so skin deep.

Michelle Kimbrough knows this firsthand. She had the opportunity to compete in “Elegance in Full,” a pageant for full-figured women.

Kimbrough said she is working on her doctorate degree in educational counseling while working in the time-consuming position of hall director for Lincoln Hall.

It had never crossed her mind to compete in a pageant like this, but it did cross the minds of her friends. Kimbrough said her friends saw an ad in a Chicago paper asking for contestants for the upcoming BMW fashion management pageant.

“My friends entered me in the pageant and I didn’t find out about it until pageant officials contacted me about competing. Instead of backing out, I decided to give it a try,” Kimbrough said.

Rehearsal for the competition started in this July and went up to the date of the pageant this past Sunday. “It was hard work, but you get the opportunity to make close friends with other women competing in the pageant,” Kimbrough said.

She said the hardest part of the pageant was competing against people who had become her friends.

There were different categories which the contestants competed in. The first was called “Off your Rack” where contestants dressed in clothing they felt reflected their personality.

There also was an evening-wear competition, a dance number and two speeches the contestants had to present on why they were competing in the pageant.

Kimbrough did very well in the competition. She was named first runner-up, was crowned, given a $300 gift certificate and a trophy. “If for any reason Miss Elegance in Full cannot fulfill her duties, I will be responsible for them,” she said.

When asked if she would ever compete again, Kimbrough said she would not because of all the work involved, but she said she felt it was a valuable experience.

“I would urge others to seek out similar experiences,” she said.