‘Sweet memories’ from Yvonne

Dressing up for show and tell and participating in beauty pageants were strictly forbidden by her grandmother, with whom she spent most of her childhood in Woodbrook. "When she learned that I was taking part in the local Miss Universe pageant she told me I would be expelled from school." Browne is a past student of St Joseph Convent, Port-of-Spain. "I was already a candidate and the show went on without me."

The St Joseph Convent (Port-of-Spain) past student fondly recalled the times when she hid plastic dolls finely adorned in "designer gowns" a la Browne in her classroom desk. When no teachers were present, she showed them off to all of her friends. "I always liked designing since I was small. I used to take these plastic dolls to Mrs Lenore, of Lenore’s Business School just to show her. When I was 18 years, I designed a dress for Carol Walling (beauty queen) and she won Best Dress at the Country Club."

Her mother was a seamstress and uncle Jack, was a mas maker. In her teenage years, she worked alongside him, "getting ads for his programme books. He taught me how to get sponsors. When he had his Carnival Queen Show his mas was on trucks... I even had a J’ouvert band called ‘US Stokers’ and a truck band — ‘All the nations come forth.’"

Browne also recalled appending beads with needle and thread to Norris Eustace’s (deceased) costumed cape when he won his first King of Carnival title.

Yvonne Browne’s dedication to a career, quite unpopular among her peers of that time, and her benevolence towards charitable causes are indeed admirable. Her career in the beauty and fashion world spans over 50 years.

After successfully completing an advanced modelling course in Canada, with John Robert Powers, an inspired Browne returned to Trinidad with the intent of instituting the Yvonne Browne Modelling School. "This was the Royal Air Forces by the Savannah (Queen’s Park), and it was always for free," she said, sitting on a dining chair at her small Maraval apartment.

What followed was the staging of a host of beauty pageants and the grooming of numerous queens who would go on to represent Trinidad and Tobago at international shows.

Among the beauty pageants that Browne instituted are: Miss T and T Carnival Queen which later became Miss Republic TT Carnival Queen Show following our Independence in 1962, Miss Best Model, Miss Teen, Miss Teen Talent, Miss Cosmopolitan, Bridal Elegance, La Belle Mode, Miss Bathing Beauty, Miss Wet T-Shirt, Miss City of Port-of-Spain and Little Misses of T and T. The latter still exists today.

"I was the first person to take calypso to the mas camp because every time I had my show I would showcase a calypsonian like Poser, Prowler, Relator, Mudada, Funny and many others," Browne said.

She was also instrumental in grooming the first Trinidad and Tobago representative, Diane De Freitas, for the Miss World pageant. "Melanie Hudson (calypsonian) took part in my competition. She won Miss Teen Talent with a calypso. Denise Belfon was a Miss Bathing Beauty candidate." Other beauty queens with whom Browne worked include Margot Bourgeois and TT representative at Miss Universe Stephanie Lee Pack. "I also trained Shirley Bello who became Trinidad’s first model to go abroad to Switzerland. Others who did well were Zsa Zsa Woodruffe and Jackie Roone."

A selfless Browne also engaged in charity work. She enjoyed preparing "cooked food" for the homeless in her neighbourhood. And, in aid of the construction of Rebirth House, Browne staged a carnival extravaganza. Browne was also a member of the Twinning Association in Canada and conducted exchange cultural programmes with Canada and TT.

Today, she feels "happy" when she looks back on the work she loved. "I’m always reading my book of sweet memories written by all who have come to know me."

We’ve come a long way in grooming beauty queens, she said. "However, our girls could reach further. They need to be trained properly in public speaking and dress. Being a queen means always having a beautiful smile, greeting people with a hug and knowing how to speak."