Elvera Patrick, a competitor in senior pageants since 2013, walks through her Ward 8 home wearing a silver, studded cat-eye mask and a matching sequined dress that reflects off the chandeliers as she prepares for her next competition.

Patrick sees the pageants as a way to celebrate womanhood and sisterhood. “You feel like a star. Like with all us ladies, when you get ready to go out, you pull out your dress. You get your hair done and nails done. You look in the mirror,” she says, while striking a pose for the DCist camera one evening in mid-August.

Patrick grabs her friend, Hadiyah Muhammad, by the hand, and they both pose in the mirror, serving looks and calling each other “Queen.”

Early next month, Patrick, 65, and Muhammad, 66, will compete in the Pure International Pageant in Columbus, Ohio where the runway will become a metaphor for living life freely and paving the way for those coming after them.

Muhammad says she became interested in pageants a few years ago, but finding the confidence to enter wasn’t easy at first.

In 2016, Muhammad considered entering the Ms. Senior District of Columbia Pageant, an annual pageant for women ages 60 and older run by the city’s Department of Aging and Community Living. (The winner of the pageant advances to the Ms. Senior America Pageant.)

Muhammad shared her interest with a former contestant, and says the former contestant’s response was unexpected: the woman criticized her for wearing a “mop” on her head, referring to Muhammad’s hijab, and implied that she might not even be eligible to participate because of it, Muhammad remembers.

That year, Muhammad showed up to Ms. Senior DC as an attendee instead. But there was a silver lining, she says, because that’s when she and Patrick met for the first time.

Patrick, a contestant that year, was awarded Ms. Congeniality. After the pageant, Muhammad congratulated her. Ever since that day, the two have been inseparable, Muhammad says.

Muhammad entered Ms. Senior DC in 2017 and won the Ms. Congeniality title that year.

That was when Muhammad decided that joining the pageant had a deeper meaning: “I was breaking ground for the senior Muslim pageant sisters.” (In 2018, Muhammad was featured in the Washington Post for paving the way for senior Muslim pageant contestants.)

Now, Patrick and Muhammad are entering other pageants. In February, they competed in the regional competition for Pure International, where they both placed, so they are now advancing to the upcoming September national competition.

They plan to cheer for and celebrate each other during the pageant.

Claudia Scott, a pageant coach for Pure International, says the pageant is like a family reunion and women lift each other up, strengthening the values of sisterhood. The pageant allows for contestants ages four through 90.

This year, Muhammad and Patrick look forward to the Ms. Classy division for women 45 years and older, which has at least 24 other women signed up to join. The prize for the division includes the title of Classy Ms. America, a full rounded crown and sash, and a cruise to the Bahamas. (Scott says she hopes that the cruise goes as planned and is not changed due to COVID.)

While the show will still go on, it will be different this year.

The pageant is open to people across the globe but there are fewer contestants this year, Scott says. She attributes the decrease to coronavirus travel restrictions—about 40 international contestants are not able to attend this year due to the pandemic, per Scott.

During this year’s event, pageant participants are required to wear face masks, with the exception of when they are on stage and during pageant dinners.

For Muhammad, the pandemic has already hit home. In April, her husband died of COVID-19. Muhammad says that her husband’s passing was a difficult reminder to live life fully.

“I have 27 years of amazing memories with my husband, but he’s gone,” says Muhammad. “He wouldn’t want me to mope and pope … He would want me to live my life out loud.”

She says Patrick, her Muslim sisters, and the Pure International community have been a strong support system.

The pageant’s executive director, Patricia Miller, told the international pageant community about her loss, and asked everyone to upload a photo of Muhammad wearing her crown for their Facebook profile pictures. That made Muhammad feel the solidarity and unwavering support of the pageant community, she says.

That is one of the reasons Muhammad and Patrick look forward to early September, when they can meet their pageant family in person again. In the meantime, they’re practicing.

Before the competition, Scott flew out to D.C. to coach Patrick and Muhammad to make sure they felt comfortable and sure of themselves for the upcoming pageant. Scott gave them pointers on their walking patterns, speeches, dances, and advised them on wardrobe and accessories.

Having regional pageant coaches like Scott travel to contestants’ homes is part of the pageant’s $699 entrance fee for people 18 years and older. (Contestants under 18 pay $100 less.) The costs add up — the fee doesn’t include accommodations during the three-day event.

Muhammad and Patrick say they mainly paid their own way. They also fundraised by sewing face masks and asking family members and neighbors to support with donations. Together, they raised about $1,000.

While Muhammad acknowledges that the pageant is expensive, she says it’s worth it to be an inspiration and to strengthen sisterhood amongst all contestants.

“I want to inspire the elderly and children that they are never too old. Pure International is for people all ages. So we all have a time, and the time is now, no matter your age,” says Muhammad.

That’s why both Muhammad and Patrick are bringing younger relatives to participate. Patrick says her 10-year-old granddaughter, Heaven Winborne, is signed up for the pageant as well. Muhammad, great-grandmother of 13, is taking her great-granddaughter, Keimora Walker, 10, and granddaughter, Kaidyn Walker, 5, as well as a family friend.

Patrick says that she wants her grandchildren to see her confidently on stage and know they can do what their grandma is doing. Muhammad hopes her grandchildren will see her and Patrick encourage each other and know that two women see each other as partners in the pageant, not competition.

“We are friends. We don’t bash each other. I tell her what she should improve for the pageant, and she tells me. We are two queens together,” says Muhammad.

From giving each other pointers to sewing outfits, Muhammad and Patrick are preparing everything together for the pageant.

Patrick designed and sewed almost every outfit for her and Muhammad. (The pageant categories include evening gown, interview, and state wear, and there are additional optional competitions like spokesmodel, supermodel, and talent.)

Patrick says the intricate silver dress she wore during the DCist interview was simple to make: “I can make it in one day. When I get on the sewing machine, I do not play. With this dress right here, with small breaks, I made it in about three hours.”

Muhammad, who’s learning to sew, designed one of the outfits that she is wearing during the pageant. (Patrick and Muhammad asked DCist not to take photos of the outfits they plan to wear to this year’s Pure International, as they don’t want outfits to be shown publicly before their pageant debut.)

Patrick says she cannot wait for the day of the pageant to come. Before going on stage, all the “pageant sisters” are excited, she says.

“You’re so excited that you want to hurry up and get it over with because you’ve done did so much and now this is the day,” says Patrick. “Whatever happens, happens. But we are going to claim it.”

Muhammad says that she looks to her religious pendant necklace before going on stage as a reminder of her purpose and why she entered the pageant in the first place: to break ground for the senior Muslim sisters. Muhammad hopes to place in the top five or ten.

Patrick has high hopes for the D.C. entrants, too. “There are six in our group, including our grandkids. As long as one of us brings that crown back. If my friend right here [Muhammad] brings it, I’m going to be loving her and hugging her to death. No cut cards up in here,” she says. “We are repping D.C., and we will bring it home.”