\u201cBut dressing in pin-up has given me the confidence where no one can take me down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the fashion and how the women look; with the hair and makeup, you feel like a film star.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want other girls in the same situation as me to think, \u2018If she can do it, why can\u2019t I?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynish\u2019s passion for bright floral colours and \u201ckitschy prints\u201d began around eight years ago, soon after marrying her husband, Gordon, in 2018.<\/p>\n
The couple were on their way home from their honeymoon in Paihia when they spotted a car show in Hikurangi.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said we might as well stop in, and I had a dress packed for that era.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I\u2019d give it a try and I\u2019ve never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynish is now well known in Dargaville and around the Northland classic car community.<\/p>\n
Her two daughters \u2013 Sofia, 8, and Izabella, 5 \u2013 are following in her footsteps, and her husband is a photographer at car events.<\/p>\n
Every summer, the family head along to shows and fundraisers; this season, out of the 10 they have attended, Reynish has won competitions at seven.<\/p>\n
She was the best-dressed female at the Blue September fundraiser in Whang\u0101rei, the Hukerenui Car Show, the Waip\u016b Classic Car and Bike Show, and Hikurangi Auto Madness.<\/p>\n
She was also the Miss Hibiscus Vintage winner at the Rodders Beach Festival in \u014crewa, and was crowned Queen of the Thunder at the Frankton Thunder in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Being a finalist in this year\u2019s Miss Vintage Australasia pageant is one of her biggest achievements to date, she says.<\/p>\n
Janelle, aka Lady Sugarbelle, has been dressing as a 1950s pin-up girl for nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super excited and nervous, not only to represent Dargaville but the whole Northland area on such a big stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully I can inspire others to do what they love and love themselves the way they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pageant organiser Sharvelle Poissonnier \u2013 aka Miss Chevelle Charlotte \u2013 said the event was a \u201cmid-century pageant\u201d held between New Zealand and Australia.<\/p>\n
Finalists would compete for the titles of Miss Vintage Australasia, Runner Up MVA, Miss Media, and Miss Personality, she said.<\/p>\n
There would also be international and national cabaret performers to keep audiences entertained.<\/p>\n
Poissonnier, from Canterbury, said the event was \u201cmore than just a pageant\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a family, a community and a place where we create relationships and togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynish said she would love to win a title or two.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the end of the day, I get to step on that stage and put my personality on show.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I get to show my girls that just because I\u2019m a mum, I\u2019m still out there chasing my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBut dressing in pin-up has given me the confidence where no one can take me down. \u201cI love…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24752,59118,7022,220382,12882,44997,26636,10808,6097,114351,8829,157488,9207,14574,2721,111,43,139,1067,31469,69,32891,220381,220380,131,27627,102,1530],"class_list":["post-430224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-ago","tag-australasia","tag-black","tag-blend","tag-chases","tag-clothes","tag-crowds","tag-crown","tag-down","tag-dressing","tag-fewer","tag-janelle","tag-lady","tag-miss","tag-mum","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-northlander","tag-nz","tag-pinup","tag-reynish","tag-sugarbelle","tag-than","tag-vintage","tag-with","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}