CHINATOWN’S TRIPLE CROWNS
When the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Pageant hit the stage Feb. 22 at Herbst Theatre, it was with a new crowning glory for the three winners. This year, the pageant’s signature headpieces for Miss Chinatown, Miss San Francisco Chinatown and Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce were created by designers Renee Degner and Rosalina Lydster of Bijoux Pour La Papesse. “I’m a local girl and a third-generation jewelry designer,” said Lydster, a longtime S.F. jeweler who is also coproducing the pageant. “Miss Chinatown has the biggest crown,” Lydster says. “It’s a tall crown, and when we both thought about it we wanted it to stand out. It’s statuesque — think of the Statue of Liberty.” The Miss San Francisco Chinatown crown starts with
“a yellow gold tone, but it’s also made from clear stones,” Lydster says. In the spirit of the Lunar New Year, there’s also a floral cherry blossom homage in the crown’s construction. The Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce crown “utilized a lot of big stones,” including a larger pearshaped center stone. “We wanted something more like a princess.”