Meet the Anti-Pageant Queen Who Almost Won Miss Teen USA

by Amber Katz

Pageant princesses and lengthy Rapunzel locks go together like Taylor Swift and breakup lyrics: They have a long, storied history. But one of this year's Miss Teen USA contestants stood out in a sea of sausage spirals. You have to admit that the go-to pageant aesthetic, while gorgeous, feels a bit homogenous and, frankly, boasts all the edge of a strawberry Skittle. So this year, we were taken with the stunning Miss Teen Pennsylvania/Miss Teen USA 2nd Runner Up, Sydney Robertson. With her pert platinum pixie and penchant for snakes, this model is a veritable disruption of the stereotypical beauty queen. She was even elected Miss Congeniality, a sizeable accomplishment considering 50 gals with whom you're competing for the crown are voting on the matter. So we just had to know: What's the story behind that pageant pixie?

For starters, Sydney always had a crop, never longer than her shoulders. Every summer, she'd cut it to about ear-length. "My dad is a hairdresser, so he cuts it. I want something easy, but that still looks good. We chopped it super-short a few years ago," she says. Shortly thereafter, Sydney saw a Facebook ad and signed up for her first pageant. "I did it as a joke at first; I'd just started my Facebook account a month before, but I got a phone interview a day later!" Her application to the 2012 Miss Teen Pennsylvania pageant was accepted only six weeks out from the competition and she wound up winning 2nd runner up the first time she competed—all without any professional coaching or training. "I got into modeling because of that pageant; one of the judges was an agent," she reveals.

Surprisingly, Sydney wasn't given any pressure to change her look to reflect the typical Teen Queen. In fact, she says that people have asked if she cut her hair purposefully for the competition. "One of the nicest things about the pageants I've done is that no one has ever told me I needed to change something in order to win," she says. "Granted, I've had some coaching on my walk and stopping and posing and all of that, but it's been nice because I've been able to stay true to who I am and just grow as a person."

Nonetheless, long hair has its advantages. Pixie cuts, believe it or not, require more in-salon maintenance—most professionals recommend getting a cut every four weeks. Luckily, Sydney has an in-house stylist in her dad. His best tip? "My hair is naturally straight and fine, but I have a lot of it. If I want it to be volumized, he taught me to blowdry it and spray dry shampoo for extra lift. It keeps my hair from falling down throughout the day." Still, Sydney maintains that Rapunzel-status strands wouldn't have changed her chances of winning one iota. "Long or short, I was confident in myself. I've been lucky because I've rarely gotten rude or hurtful comments. But when they happen, I just brush them off," she says. "As long as you're confident in yourself, that's what they see on stage."