Teen beauty queen hits the bricks

Where does a Lexington beauty queen go to shop? The Downtown Mall! Yesterday afternoon, Spring Street boutique welcomed Kelsee Grant, who was crowned Miss Virginia Junior Teen at Richmond's Scottish Rite Auditorium nearly two months ago. The 15-year-old (left) stopped by the boutique to pick up a dress for the 2008 Miss Junior Teen United States pageant in Las Vegas July 12-18.

"It just won me over!" Grant says of the white and black Helen Wang frock she chose– despite its $496 price tag. "It's unique, classy, fun. I had to have it, no matter what the cost."

Grant, a rising sophomore at Rockbridge County High School in Lexington, encountered Spring Street at a recent photoshoot for V Magazine for Women. The pageant director asked Spring Street's owner, Cynthia Schroeder, to outfit the recently crowned Miss Virginia, Miss Teen, Miss Junior Teen and Ms Virginia winners for the shoot. As a pageant contestant since she was one year old, Grant admits she "never was the best until one day it all clicked." Grant will wear the dress to the first day of pageant orientation– "There are always roaming judges," she says, "so it's important to look your best at all times."

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