Hutsell’s journey from straightening her hair to celebrating her natural texture is helping young girls rethink narrow ideas of beauty
By Kayelee Rosales, Fashion Times UK
September 15, 2026
A 10-year-old girl was so worried that her natural curls made her less beautiful that she became upset at the thought of washing her newly straightened hair. After getting the sleek style she had wanted for back-to-school, she feared that returning to her natural texture would mean losing the version of herself she considered prettier.
Then her mother showed her a photograph of Regan Hutsell, the Houston native who had just been crowned Miss America 2027. The image offered something that words alone had struggled to provide: a young woman standing on one of America’s biggest stages while proudly wearing her natural curls. For a child questioning whether her own hair could be beautiful, Hutsell became a powerful example of what was possible.
Hutsell, 25, was crowned the 99th Miss America on 6 September 2026, becoming the fourth Miss Texas to win the national title in the competition’s 105-year history. The Miss America Organisation also confirmed that she became the first woman of colour to win the crown while wearing her natural hair.
Hutsell Once Felt the Same Way
What makes the moment particularly striking is that Hutsell knows exactly what the little girl was feeling.
Before she became Miss America, she had her own complicated relationship with her natural hair. As a child, she wanted her ponytail to move from side to side and believed straight hair made her look more beautiful.
‘I was that 10-year-old girl who wanted my ponytail to bounce from side to side,’ Hutsell said. ‘I felt most beautiful when my hair was straight. I didn’t equate my curls with beauty.’
Her own change did not happen overnight.
While living in England and dancing with Birmingham Royal Ballet, Hutsell found herself surrounded by women who embraced their natural hair. Following a dance injury, she was also no longer required to keep her hair in the tight bun traditionally associated with classical ballet.
That allowed her to experiment with her curls rather than constantly trying to control them. She began working with a specialist, learning how to care for and style her natural texture. Eventually, she said, she began to see her curls differently.
‘I started working with it and trying to figure out how I could make my curls really pop and shine,’ she said. ‘And, slowly but surely, I started to accept and love them. It took time.’
From Ballet to the Miss America Stage
Hutsell’s career before pageantry also helps explain why her natural hair has become such an important part of her public image.
The Houston native trained as a dancer and joined the Radio City Rockettes before moving to the UK. Birmingham Royal Ballet says she joined the company in 2021 and performed in productions including The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake. She later became part of BRB2 before leaving the company in 2025.
Her transition from professional dance to pageantry was relatively recent. She won Miss Houston in 2025 and went on to become Miss Texas before taking the national crown in September 2026.
For Hutsell, however, the crown represents more than a career achievement.
It gives her a much larger platform to speak to young girls about self-acceptance, including those who may feel pressure to change their appearance to fit a particular idea of beauty.
Why Seeing Her Mattered
The little girl had already been told by her mother that her natural hair was beautiful. But seeing someone with similar hair celebrated on such a prominent stage offered a different kind of reassurance.
Hutsell had previously met the family at a Houston community event, where the girl noticed her coily hair and commented on how beautiful she looked. That memory made the photograph especially meaningful when the child began struggling with her own curls.
Representation cannot solve every insecurity, but seeing someone who looks like you succeed can challenge the idea that beauty has only one definition. Hutsell herself has spoken about wanting young girls to feel comfortable embracing their natural appearance rather than believing they need to change it.
‘I feel really, really honoured to be a part of a bigger conversation now,’ she said, ‘and hopefully encouraging and inspiring little girls to embrace the beauty that exists within themselves, too.’
A Crown and a Message
Hutsell’s Miss America victory came with more than a historic title. She earned a $50,000 scholarship as part of the competition, while Birmingham Royal Ballet reported that her scholarship earnings through the Miss America Opportunity had reached nearly $90,000. She plans to pursue her ambition of becoming a physical therapist.
But for one 10-year-old girl, the most important part of Hutsell’s victory may have nothing to do with the scholarship or the crown.
It was seeing a woman with natural curls become Miss America.
The lesson was simple: curls do not have to be straightened before they can be beautiful, and changing your appearance is not a requirement for belonging on the biggest stage. For a girl who once feared that washing her hair would make her less pretty, Hutsell offered something far more lasting than a hairstyle.
She offered proof that the curls she was learning to accept could be part of her beauty, too.
Read the article here: https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/miss-america-regan-hutsell-natural-curls-1764004