To Backup or Not To Backup

I know that almost every coach out there is going to disagree with me on this, but I am offering this to you because of my experience. It is a common opinion amongst competitors that you should bring a backup of everything you wear on stage from swimsuits, to jewelry, to evening gowns, to sportswear outfits; but I strongly disagree and here are my 3 reasons...

1. I feel it is far more important to carry-on all of my bags when traveling; the airlines can lose your luggage.  So I have to pack light and I just don't have room for all that stuff.

2. Every time I have traveled with a backup (or seen fellow competitors travel with a backup) I have second guessed my decisions. Literally, 5 minutes before walking on stage I am still asking myself if this is what I should have worn and not fully committing to it. This is one of the worse things I can do. Make a decision and own it on stage.

3. The more stuff I have with me the more stressed out I am when I can't find something. Especially when I am sharing a room with 2 other competitors. Ladies you know who you are. We can't even figure out who's stuff is who's by the time we leave after a show.

There are a number of reasons why people suggest you bring back-ups so let's talk about them.
1. What if you get tanner on your garments?
BE CAREFUL....I think the more experienced you get the less this happens. I wear white almost every show and I don't put my outfit on until I walk on stage and I take it off as soon as I walk off. I would be more likely to get mustard on it then tanner.

2. What if it breaks?
I can speak for myself (an avid seamstress and costume designer) and probably most of the seamstresses out there, if you are paying for a garment it shouldn't fall apart.
What if it does? safety pin it. Judges are 30 feet away and with the glitz and glam of the stage lights they are never going to see a safety pin.

3. What if you don't know if it is going to fit?
I agree for your first couple of shows you might not know how things fit. Even as a beginner this only ever really effected my swimsuit, so who cares if you bring a second one of those. My outfits and evening gowns were never unwearable because I was bigger or smaller then anticipated. This is where we have to be honest with each other, packing is not the issue here. You really have to be honest with yourself. The day before you leave for your show you should try everything on and if it is too small then you need to really think hard. Is it ever really going to fit. By this time you should be within a pound of your stage weight. I find that beginners are hopeful they are going to fit into it when they wake up the day of a show, like the dream time elves are going to come while you are in bed and you are going to lose 5 pounds over night. Not likely. AND....how stressful is that to have to wait to wakeup the day of a show in the hopes it will fit. Make sure everything fits before you leave when you have time to really fix the problem.

So, there is one thing that I always bring a backup of and that is shoes. I always bring 2 pairs of shoes at 2 different heights. If my legs are wobbly or the floor is slippery then I might need a shorter pair.

So these are my ideas on Backup or Not To Backup. The old adage you can never be too prepared doesn't always apply to me and I like to formulate a plan well in advance and stick to it.