The contestants in the Miss Universe competition have been showing off some bizarre dresses
designed to reflect their country's culture.
Thousands of spectators packed the Reforma Avenue in Mexico City to watch the striking, beautiful and in some cases strange costumes, worn by the hopefuls to win the beauty pageant, which will be held in the Mexican capital on May 28.
The loudest cheer was unsurprisingly for Miss Mexico, or Rosa Maria Ojeda, whose dress was decorated with images of Mexican food, including corn on the cob and tropical fruit, alongside symbols of ancient Indian cultures.
Miss USA, or Rachel Smith, showed the United States' love for rock and roll, dressing in an Elvis Presley-style white suit and holding an electric guitar.
A dreadlocked Miss Jamaica, or Zahra Redwood, the first Rastafarian to compete for the beauty prize, went for a reggae theme with a T-shirt of singer Bob Marley.
There was some protests, with one group of women wearing white dresses covered in fake blood trying to draw attention to towns or states in Mexico where women have been raped or killed, in some cases with alleged involvement by police or soldiers.
