TL;DR
- Miss Norway shut down the Miss Universe 2025 costume runway in a giant salmon look that sent the internet spiraling.
- Fans praised the camp, drag energy, and full-on spectacle.
- Miss Vietnam, the pageant’s only trans contestant, wore a traditional outfit tied to a childhood dream.
- Miss Universe continues its new inclusive direction, removing marriage, age, and gender restrictions.
MISS NORWAY SERVES SALMON REALNESS — AND THE INTERNET LOSES IT
The Miss Universe 2025 national costume showcase has dropped, and let’s be honest — the winner of camp, chaos, and cultural commitment wasn’t even up for debate. Miss Norway, Leonora Lysglimt-Rødland, strutted onto the Bangkok stage dressed as a giant Norwegian salmon, and the audience collectively ascended.
This wasn’t a wink-wink nod to tradition. This was full fantasy, a fish couture moment that said, “Yes I will embody my nation’s biggest export, and yes I will look glamorous doing it.” The costume shimmered, glimmered, and sashayed across the stage like Poseidon himself was her stylist.
The crowd? Fer fer.
The internet? In a chokehold.
RuPaul? Probably somewhere whispering, “Shantay, you slay, you Scandinavian salmon queen.”
Fans immediately turned social media into a seafood celebration.
One user declared:
“Miss Norway’s RuPaul’s Drag Race runway challenge — shantay you slay queen hunty down.”
Another couldn’t resist the pun opportunity, shouting:
“LITERALLY SERVING FISH!! THIS IS CAMP DRAG B****!”
Others didn’t need to see another contestant. For them, the sash, throne, crown, and tiara were already Norway’s to lose. When your national costume inspires strangers to scream into their phones at 3 a.m., that’s impact.
MEANWHILE, MISS VIETNAM HONORS HER PAST IN A MOVING MOMENT
While Norway delivered camp excellence, Miss Vietnam Nguyen Huong Giang brought pure heart to the runway — and made pageant history in the process. As the only transgender contestant in Miss Universe 2025, she stunned in a traditional Vietnamese student-inspired outfit that symbolized a dream she never got to live as a child.
“The dream may come late, but it arrives in the most beautiful way,” she told fans. And honey, she wasn’t lying. Her look paid homage to Vietnamese youth, cultural pride, and the simple beauty of heading to class — a memory shared across generations.
Where Norway served spectacle, Vietnam served soul. And the audience devoured both.
For the LGBTQ community, Giang’s presence was more than representation — it was resilience. A trans woman standing proud on one of the world’s most-watched stages, honoring a childhood she wasn’t allowed to express, is the kind of global visibility that saves lives.
MISS UNIVERSE IS CHANGING — AND THE WORLD OF PAGEANTRY WITH IT
Miss Universe 2025 marks the pageant’s new era of inclusivity. Gone are the days of restrictions that kept countless women out. No more upper age limit. Married women welcome. Mothers welcome. Trans women welcome. Anyone over 18 who identifies as a woman now has the runway — literally.
And let’s be real: the pageant is far more interesting for it. Camp costumes, heartfelt cultural tributes, and a broader definition of womanhood than the pageant has ever embraced.
THE LGBTQ IMPACT: WHY THESE MOMENTS MATTER
Miss Universe isn’t just glitz and walking in heels while balancing 40 pounds of sequins. These cultural flashes — whether a giant salmon or a trans woman claiming her story — ripple out far beyond the stage. LGBTQ youth worldwide watch this pageant. Queer adults who grew up without mirrors watch it too.
Miss Norway showed that femininity, beauty, and national pride can be utterly unhinged and utterly fabulous.
Miss Vietnam showed that trans womanhood is real, dignified, and deserving of the spotlight.
Both are victories.
FINAL WORD
Between the fish, the fashion, and the fierce trans representation, Miss Universe 2025 is shaping up to be one for the queer history books. And frankly? We’re obsessed.