Miss Universe Costa Rica is Told to Change her National Costume!

Costume No-No: Miss Universe Costa Rica 2014 Karina Ramos in her "illegal" Daniel Moreira-designed "National Costume"

There's a bit of a Wardrobe ESCANDALO happening at the Miss Universe 2014 pageant taking place in Doral, Florida. It seems that the national costume Costa Rica's representative, the beautiful Karina Ramos's, had planned on wearing has gotten the No-No from the Costa Rican government. How do say Ooopsie en espanol.

Miss Universe Costa Rica 2014 Karina Ramos

While most the contestants have been dealing with fancy parties, dinners, photoshoots and enjoying South Florida in advance of the Finals on January 25th, Miss Costa Rica has also been dealing with a Wardrobe/Political Crisis. Last Friday, the designer of the National Costume in question--Daniel Moreira--received a call from the Department of Costa Rican Foreign Ministry Office of Protocol alerting him that Karina "Miss Universe Costa Rica 2014" Ramos, could not wear the costume that she brought with her designed by him, because it was adorned with Costa Rica's coat of arms and therefore was an inappropriate use of the national symbol. The "costume" in question was actually part of Daniel Moreira's collection shown at Mercedes-Benz San Jose (Costa Rica) Fashion Week 2013:

"Miss Universe Costa Rica 2014" "national costume, originally shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week San Jose (Costa Rica) 2013 Daniel Moreira's collection

Here's the Costa Rica flag and the coat of arms that he could not put in his design:

The spokesman from the Foreign Ministry cited an obscure 1906 law regulating the proper use of national symbols and also added that it was a "courtesy call". The designer got the message: CHANGE THE COSTUME.

Costa Rican fashion designer Daniel Moreira

Daniel--after a bit of huffing and puffing (I'd be miffed too!) agreed to create a new costume and have it shipped in time for the National Costume Presentation and Preliminary Competition scheduled for January 21st (a week from now!). He defended the original ensemble saying that it was a modern vision of patriotism, lacking all the over-the-top (and sometimes tacky) feathers and cheap sequins and "Parade Float" elements that one normally sees in these beauty pageant national costumes. In an interview, he even went on to say that "people who don't know fashion should keep their opinions to themselves" (Amen Sistah!). Anyhow...the new costume will showcase Costa Rica's rich biodiversity and in fact, the designer added, he was going to also hand paint it himself.

Here's a Look-Back at past "Miss Costa Rica" National Costumes at Miss Universe pageants:

Pre-Columbian Feathered Parade Float Queen: Miss Costa Rica 2013 Fabiana Granados at Miss Universe 2013

Mermaid From The Sea: Miss Costa Rica 2012 Nazareth Cascante at Miss Universe 2012

Pre-Columbian Goddess: Miss Costa Rica 2011 Johanna Solano at Miss Universe 2011

Peacock Flora and Fauna: Miss Costa Rica 2010 Marva Wright Urena at Miss Universe 2010

Yes, lots of feathers and Pre-Columbian Empress Flora, Fauna and Gold...it will be interesting to see what direction Costa Rican fashion designer Daniel Moreira ended up taking. He might resist the above "National Costume" types and go for a more folkloric look. Below are photos of what Costa Rican "traje tipicos" (traditional costumes) look like: