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But we decided to change our stance after a Thai beauty queen won the prize for best costume in the Miss Universe pageant yesterday. Our self-proclaimed feminist's heart melted after learning that the winning costume came from a Thai college senior. What great news for Thailand!

We have comforted ourselves all along with the notion that curves or long legs don't matter because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, even though most of those beholders often prefer the looks of beauty queens from Latin America. Even so, we don't really see the point of watching the pageant because Miss Thailand has always been a prop in the pageants, while the Misses from Latin America take the leading role.

Thus, when a Thai student won the national costume award, we thought it was a good reason to cherish this title as much as we would if a Thai beauty queen won the Miss Universe crown. Miss Thailand, Gavintra Photijak, wore the outfit, designed by Sathapat Moonma, a senior-year architecture student from Khon Kaen University. The costume was inspired by Thai boxing and called "Spirit of Fighting". While the other beauty queens wore outfits that enhanced their curves and accentuated their feminine sides, Thailand's Gavintra came out on stage dancing in traditional Thai boxing style, while showing the world how Thai girls throw hooks and jabs.

Sathapat's success should also encourage the Thai pageant committee to give members of the public the opportunity to showcase their works. This is the first time the Thai pageant committee has decided to use an outfit that came out of an open competition rather than choosing the work of a well known designer.

Sathapat's design beat thousands of others. The result was a combination of his creativity and his perception of the modern Thai woman. He said he chose the concept of Thai boxing because it is known worldwide, but instead of choosing boxing shorts, he chose Thai silk for his work, which was cut by local designer house "Noriko". The Thai boxing concept should also show the world that Thai women are capable of kicking ass.

Gavintra did a decent job in modelling Sathapat's outfit. While the other girls twisted their hips or smiled while wearing their national costumes, Gavintra stood out by making her debut in a traditional Thai boxing dance-style to maximise the theme of her dress. The result was that the Thai boxing costume was the sensation of the contest. People dubbed it the "Thai boxing dress."

We think, if subjectively, that viewers of the Miss Universe pageant will remember the "Thai boxing dress" most. Hello! Who can remember what dress newly crowned Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela, wore during the national costume portion of the event?