Martha Lehmann and Ramona Tong competed representing the still Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, respectively.
Corine Rottschäfer (Miss Europe 1957) was ineligible to compete for Holland due to winning another international pageant. She was allowed to compete at Miss Universe the following year.
Leona Gage represented Maryland at the 1957 Miss USA pageant and was crowned as the winner. Nonetheless, later she confessed that she was 18, not 21, and had been married twice and the mother of two young children. When Miss Universe officials were informed of the situation, Gage was expelled from the competition, and Mónica Lamas of Argentina, who had placed 16th, replaced Gage as a semifinalist. This was the first time that a Miss USA did not compete at Miss Universe.
This was Martinique, Morocco, and Paraguay's debuts. Jacqueline Bonilla, Miss Morocco, placed among the semifinalists.