Glamour, glitz and puttin' on the Ritz....

Ooh, loving all your thoughts on the dresses :-)

Interesting point about Gemma. I concentrated on the dullness/sameness of the shape she has for ballroom, but yes, there were some practicality issues too.  I agree than the grey wasn't the most exciting colour for the trassles, but the beading was v pretty.

Just been watching the results show and YASB wins again!  I neglected to notice her Charleston shoes which were divine - gorgeous littel pink n.umbers..  I want!  And then the dress she wore for the waltz with A.nton was everything I would ever want from a waltz dress.  Best dress of the series do far for me. The red poppies on the background of white was both dramatic and subtle all at the same time, and the shape of the dress was sublime.  Also, wrist waft thingies!  Haven't seen those since Erin left I think!  Welcome back! (They add nothing whatsoever to the dance, but I love a bit of arm waft drapery :-) )

And Claudia's shoes on the results show - also covetous... :-D

I know nowt about fabrics or their cut, but I do like colour, texture and sway. So I've added my 5 penn'orth.

I thought Katya's Rumba dress was a refreshing change, I loved the sandy colour and the shipwrecked floaty vibe.
Nadia's white poppy embellished 'Remembrance' ball gown was absolutely stunning.
Mollie should have got the red for her Paso, instead of Budgie who could have had yellow/orange saucy colours for her Salsa.
Don't like the pastel shades on Gemma, they remind me of a dirty grey sock left in with the whites.
Wasn't keen on Ruth's dresses. She always looked a bit 'matronly' compared to the older Budgie. Would have liked to see her in a floaty ballgown for her foxtrot.
Wasn't keen on Susan's 'twinset & pearls' Tango look. I think she might have looked classy in a dark blue, dark green, or aubergine colour. The eye make-up looked like an advert for a panda - far too OTT. Shame something wasn't done with her hair. Tea dance anyone?
Didn't like Alexandra's black AT dress or the OTT eye makeup. Looked like something even Ceri Dupre would pass on. With her skin tones, why not choose some enamelled type shades, or a more understated style. Check out Rachel's AT dress. Now that was class, pure and simple.

Looks like the budgets been cut this year, especially for the men. At least the jeans haven't reappeared yet.
Suit & dickey bow for An ton (his regular training gear)
Waistcoats for Alijaz & Davood.
A jacket for Jonnie - Hooray
The usual Paso bolero for AJ
A lounge suit for Gorka - Hooray!
Tails & dicky bow for Kevin - Hooray (but for a Tango, or is that just me?)
open shirt for Bio (saves on the button budget)
Black sparkly shirt for Joe (why don't they add some hip details or a belt so that it's easier to see the hip movement on the males?)

B4p wrote:Check out Rache's AT dress. Now that was class, pure and simple.

I think y'all got this week's frocks covered but another shout out to Rachel's AT dress. Possibly my favourite ever Strictly dress.

B4p wrote:I know nowt about fabrics or their cut, but I do like colour, texture and sway. So I've added my 5 penn'orth.

I thought Katya's Rumba dress was a refreshing change, I loved the sandy colour and the shipwrecked floaty vibe.
Nadia's white poppy embellished 'Remembrance' ball gown was absolutely stunning.
Mollie should have got the red for her Paso, instead of Budgie who could have had yellow/orange saucy colours for her Salsa.
Don't like the pastel shades on Gemma, they remind me of a dirty grey sock left in with the whites.
Wasn't keen on Ruth's dresses. She always looked a bit 'matronly' compared to the older Budgie. Would have liked to see her in a floaty ballgown for her foxtrot.
Wasn't keen on Susan's 'twinset & pearls' Tango look. I think she might have looked classy in a dark blue, dark green, or aubergine colour. The eye make-up looked like an advert for a panda - far too OTT. Shame something wasn't done with her hair. Tea dance anyone?
Didn't like Alexandra's black AT dress or the OTT eye makeup. Looked like something even Ceri Dupre would pass on. With her skin tones, why not choose some enamelled type shades, or a more understated style. Check out Rache's AT dress. Now that was class, pure and simple.

Looks like the budgets been cut this year, especially for the men. At least the jeans haven't reappeared yet.
Suit & dickey bow for An ton (his regular training gear)
Waistcoats for Alijaz & Davood.
A jacket for Jonnie - Hooray
The usual Paso bolero for AJ
A lounge suit for Gorka - Hooray!
Tails & dicky bow for Kevin - Hooray (but for a Tango, or is that just me?)
open shirt for Bio (saves on the button budget)
Black sparkly shirt for Joe (why don't they add some hip details or a belt so that it's easier to see the hip movement on the males?)

The bit;s I've bolded I am so very much in agreement with B4. Literally just before I read your post I was looking at Susan and thinking a dark purple would have been great for her tango, and then Mollie could have got red for her Paso (red and gold woul have been better than the gold and red she got, but red and black would have been even better). It seems weird she lost out on the red to people who really didn't NEED red...and in fact would have been better in other colours. BAH!

And poor Ruth - she may not have Budgie's petite frame, but she has a lovely hourglass figure and the outfits always looked, as you say, very matronly. She could have been Mae West but was May Be...

Re Susan's eye make up - a few comments on this (esp about it being more heavy on one side than the other) but I noticed no lopsidedness and actually... I confess I rather like it! Alex's eye makeup wasn;t my favourite but I thought it was ok for her dance......

But Ohhhh....*sigh*. YASB's dress! Totally wondrous ... MORE PLEASE!!!!!

Sid wrote:

I think y'all got this week's frocks covered but another shout out to Rachel's AT dress. Possibly my favourite ever Strictly dress.

It was my second best... I LOVED the backless rumba dress. Ooh - just had to check it out again and that whole routine sends shivers down my spine. SO rare for a rumba.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8LNxz51y2A

Tell me again ,why didn't Rachel and Vincent win??

PS (I watched the scoring and noted the date - alomnst exactly nine years ago today. And Arlene is givng out her first 10 of the series.... Verry in-ter-esting Meesterr Bonnd, no?

Great comments about the dresses - I agree that YASB's dress that she wore for the waltz with A nton was truly divine - the white with the poppy embroidery - one of the best dresses I've ever seen on SCD  (What a pity Queen Nathalie wasn't wearing it! )  

I think that Gemma's dress would have worked better had it been in ice blue to match with Alijaz rather than the silvery grey colour.   I actually liked Mollie's dress but I agree, she could have had red and Debbie could have had gold which is a good colour for the Salsa.  

For the judges and presenters the only horror dress this weekend for me was the one that Shirley wore in the results show - it looked like the dress had been made from a 1970s net curtain - most odd.  

I couldn't believe how horrible the colours were on Ruth's dress - so unflattering. Thumbs down I'm afraid, Vicky Gill.   The style was ok but she could have looked lovely - as she has done in most of the other costumes - in a better classic colour - the colours were so dull and odd - at least she could have gone out looking better

diamondsandpearls wrote:[
Tell me again ,why didn't Rachel and Vincent win??

I reckon it was a combination of things. For some reason or other which I could never fathom, she was quite unpopular in some quarters. Some people were quite vitriolic about her, I never understood why. Tom of course did a great comedy routine for his show dance which the GBP just loved. Rachel's was more dance based and very exciting but not so much of a crowd pleaser as Tom's though generally better danced.  There were a couple of tiny hiccups and one last very small point, she did fall over at the very, very end of the show dance. Just at the point where the final phone votes were being cast. A small point perhaps but it may have been influential.

Like a few others I've been having a look through Rachel and Vinc ent's dances on YouTube. They are so beautiful, so pure. No extras, props and very little in the way of "faffin' about" before dancing properly. They obviously got on well together and Rachel's enjoyment of the dances was quite evident. They're a joy to watch.

mauveangel09 wrote: 
For the judges and presenters the only horror dress this weekend for me was the one that Shirley wore in the results show - it looked like the dress had been made from a 1970s net curtain - most odd.  

I agree, that crocheted thing was so peculiar!! Looked uncomfortably starchy, and unflattering too.

Luckily Shirley didn't start to unravel! However re visiting past series 4, 5 , 6, 7 oh how gorgeous the costumes. Soft floaty dresses, tux & tails for the Gents. Serene music and omg footwork shown on camera! Hardly any props or faffing just simply dance

diamondsandpearls wrote:
Tell me again ,why didn't Rachel and Vincent win??

PS (I watched the scoring and noted the date - alomnst exactly nine years ago today.  And Arlene is givng out her first 10 of the series....  Verry in-ter-esting Meesterr Bonnd, no?

They used to call her Rachbot on the boards. And yet, where they saw robotic, I saw beautifully subtle and understated.

Speaking of 007, don't you think Katya's destiny is to be a Bond Girl some day?!

Sid wrote:

They used to call her Rachbot on the boards. And yet, where they saw robotic, I saw beautifully subtle and understated.

Speaking of 007, don't you think Katya's destiny is to be a Bond Girl some day?!

Yes, absolutely!

and

Hmm... not sure. Her Cockney Russian accent is not quite de rigeur....!

Sid wrote:

They used to call her Rachbot on the boards. And yet, where they saw robotic, I saw beautifully subtle and understated.

Speaking of 007, don't you think Katya's destiny is to be a Bond Girl some day?!

I remember that before the final there was a big controversy as to whether Tom Chambers should have been in the final. It was going to be a two couple final (someone must have dropped out along the way). There were three couples in the semi-final - and they let Tom through on some sort of voting technicality/complaints - can't remember exactly now - maybe someone else remembers the exact details. It really was one of those years that the series was won on the showdance as I don't think Tom had been previously tipped to be a winner and then B rendan and L isa crashed out half way through the final with a duff showdance (much to my disappointment and in my mind the runner-up to the E r in doll dance in terms of showdance fiascos!) and Tom and Camilla smashed it. Their variety style showdance seemed very different at the time - in the early series of SCD the showdances either seemed to be like the salsas or American Smooths that we see now. On another year, I remember Queen Nathalie getting told off for doing a lift that was too high (whilst dancing with Ricky Whittle) and being told by L en to 'save it for the showdance' - how things change eh??

The other thing I remember about the Tom/Lisa/Rachel year was that the BBC boards were really bitchy!! I remember the 'robot' comments S id - and a few more!! It was a full on fight and the series seemed much more competitive than the ones that immediately preceded it.

Sid wrote:Speaking of 007, don't you think Katya's destiny is to be a Bond Girl some day?!

She does all that 007 stuff in her lunchbreak. The girl's unstoppable

Yes Mauve - I remember the Tom Chambers controversy.  He was always banging on about getting married and having put it on hold due to Strictly, but he was still spending aeons of time organising it (as if!....) I found him very tedious and quite 'meh' as a dancer - he was in my Agin pile actually.  And then at teh last second it was decided that they couldn't have a two person final (Rachel v Lisa) and so, despite the voting already being done adn counted and verified bla bla bla, they just announced it suddenly, out of the blue, that it was going to be a three horse race after all. And I guess Tom was next on the leader board/had the most public votes?  Really can't remember, or care to remember.

But then he came out and did his tap dancing (which he was also always blethering on about - did I mention I was Agin him...?) and even I had to concede it was the most pleasing and best dance on the night.  Lisa's dance is actually WORSE than Colin and the doll - that was bizarre, but I can watch it and I know what Erin was trying it do even though it didn't come off, but I cringe and have to hide behind the sofa if Lisa's showdance comes on...  And Rachel did an ok Latin medley sort of effort with lifts that they are doing in week one these days, and then yes, had a bit of a stumble at the end.

And so Tom won....

And it all goes to prove my point that if EVERYONE was allowed to get to the end and not be knocked out, even the duffers might surprise us all.  Or at list the middle of the board meh crowd.  Based on Tom, absolutely everyone has a shot of winning if they are actually allowed to dance in the final...

But nobody listens to me.....  So a knock out contest it remains.  Unless you are getting married directly after strictly and you have your tap shoes with you... Then the rules can be changed and you can dance....  Simples innit?

Bitter? Me? You bet.

I recall the week they decided not to let anyone go! The week before someone had pulled out and a knickers in twist re a few phone He is. And we obey him. had stopped working. They decided not to let anyone go semi final week. I loved Tom all the way through and loved his showdance. Lisa and Brendan's showdance a bit of a damp squib in the end.
Quite a few finals have been Won and Lost by the showdance... I so, so haven't got over dollgate ....

Katya as a bond girl fab idea possibly a Bond theme dance for her?

saxonsiren wrote:Quite a few finals have been Won and Lost by the showdance... I so, so haven't got over dollgate   ....

Katya as a bond girl fab idea possibly a Bond theme dance for her?

me neither sax, Dollgate - somethings you never get over. By the way, tell Tango Erin is on ITT tomorrow.

It seems every week is showdance week now. I wish they'd strip it back to fewer props and more dancing again.

I mentioned on another thread but I would like to see some sort of hip marker on the males too. We have all the short layered dresses for the females and it's easy to see their leg/hip action, but not so easy when the males wear all black and wide legged trousers. Couldn't some sequins be put onto the side hip area of the males trousers or even a belt so you can see some hip/leg action or waist circles a bit easier?

We used to have some snazzy designs on the trousers down the sides or at the bottom of leg. We also had some fantastic chiffon shirts with a glittery pattern motif on...

Tomgate was tricky because the voting system collapsed - even if he'd topped the public vote, he'd have ended up in the dance off, which meant it was a waste of voters' money. They had no choice but to put him through. What with John Sergeant withdrawing, that was quite a chaotic year (and especially catty on the boards mauve, you're right!).

saxonsiren wrote:Katya as a bond girl fab idea possibly a Bond theme dance for her?

B4p wrote:She does all that 007 stuff in her lunchbreak. The girl's unstoppable

B4!

I know Bond themed ATs have been done to the point of becoming cliche but I'd so make an exception for Katya. Would a View To A Kill work? (probably not!). Not Goldeneye tho, as that belongs to Mark and Karen, always.

Blackpool....the perfect place for some sumptuous ballgowns and tails and some uber-sparkly latin outfits.
But no, the daft themes of many of the dances dictated contrived outfits, some of which looked particularly low budget. Such a missed opportunity.

Mollie - I quite liked this, a sparkly fringed leotard affair, and it worked well in the lifts. Liked the matching headband. It would've looked even better if she'd been dancing to charlston music
Susan - this looked very similar to something she's previously worn, or maybe it was just the shape of it. Looked rather downmarket compared to Kevin's outfit
Debbie - Prim Spice.  The wig fell right over her face a few times....theme overtakes dance
Jonnie - I liked the idea of a futuristic angle, but they could've really gone to town with it, rather than sewing neon yellow strips onto a cheap looking outfit
Gemma - really liked her dress though it jarred with Aljaz's orange shirt
Davood - waste of a Bond theme. I thought the transparent top looked gross on his physique
Alex, Gorka and backing dancers - as a set I think this was the  by far the best of the night. Liked Gorka's spangly trousers, the gold waistband on Alex's (rather plain) white dress, and the backing dancers's outfits. I also think they were given the best staging of the evening.
Joe - Sorry to sound like a fuddy duddy, but the jeans and T shirt look isn't for me, especially at Blackpool. I also have a thing against trainers in latin dances (same as in Susan's jive). I think they'd used some of the neon yellow from Jonnie's costume to tart up Joe's T shirt.

I do appreciate that making costumes for the opening group dance as well as kitting out the backing dancers must make Blackpool a nightmare for Wardrobe. But it was all too theme-driven. My perfect Blackpool would have classic music choices, fairytale ballgowns and sparkly latin outfits.

What is it with Vicki Gill's waiscoat obession this year? Has she got a job lot from the Eastender market?

Mollie - Lovely fringed leotard. Liked the colours. AJ - another waistcoat
Susan - I liked her Paso hairstyle better this week. Red is SO last week. Kevin had long trousers on (hooray) but didn't need the bare chest look.
Debbie - A novel dress, I liked the blue boa style hemline. What a wig. Gio's shirt looked like a tablecloth he nicked from one of the seafront cafes.
I thought the backing Spice girls looked the part and was glad to see Chloe amongst the dancers.
John - Black overalls with neon yellow stripes over his bum. Really?
Gemma - Loved her techni-coloured dream dress. Wasn't sure about Alijaz's shirt, looked like he's spilled his dinner down his front. Another waistcoat.
Davood - was wearing a smart dickie-bow and jacket in the pre show clips, then wore a tacky see through shirt for his Bond Paso. Didn't seem to go with Nadiya's pretty green dress.
Alex - Less is more and Alexandra's white dress with gold sash was beautiful. Gorka also dressed to match. His top jacket reminded me of Yul Bryner's costume in The King & I.
Joe - Another load of market tatt. Why are they dressing 40+ males up as 'the yoof'. Stop it.
It's bad enough the music choices but the costumes seem to be very downmarket this year particularly for the males.

Somebody please mention how well C laudia looked in that forest green dress at the opening? Thought she looked sensational

TANGOLERO wrote:Somebody please mention  how well C laudia looked in that forest green dress at the opening? Thought she looked sensational

I did mention it on the Presenters slot Tango. She looked a bit like a Christmas tree, but I really liked the colour, and tiering effect of the ruffles. I also thought Tess looked very elegant and statuesque in her understated gown. Yellow seems to be this year's Strictly colour.

I forgot to mention, I also loved Gemma's 'Pat Butcher' rainbow disc earings. I thought they were brilliant for Blackpool and really caught the light.

Some brilliant thoughts and comments on the costumes this week and I find I am pretty much in agreement.  I don;t think I can add much to what Jingle and B4p said except to expand upon a few things they said...

Jingle - I think you hit the nail on the head when you said Davood's tansparent top looked gross on his physique. It was as thought the theme got completely lost - shall we dress hims Bond?  Sahll we dress him Paso?  Shall we... just dig out something from a few series ago worn by someone more appropriate, add a weightlifter's support belt and call it Bond-meets-Paso....  Also, YASB's dress, though nice in and of itself, also didn;t scream either Bond Girl OR Paso.  Just a nice swirly green curtain dress (and let's face it, thought I'm agin her and her choreography, YASB could don a sequinned flour sack and pull it off).

Susan's Tango dress was meant to be a copy of Fran's....  But it was like I just raided my mum's wardrobe and found a red dress, stuck some bits on it and did some hair and make up - it looked a very amateur copy.  Now, Susan and Fran have very different physiques for sure, but Fran had beautiful embelleshment over the bust and a long v-necked back.  Susan probably couldn't have taken such a low back, but she could have taken a lower back than she was given.  Also, Fran's dress was shorter in the front than the back and had rufffles... Susan's was more a tango dress really.  Disappointing

I've said this elswewhere, but though Alex's dress was lovely, it paled in comparison with the gorgeous gold dresses worn by the backing dancers.  A bit of a shame not to give Alexandra the best dress. I know it is arguable, as we all like different things, but the song was from Gold Diggers of... some year or other.  The theme is right there...  Which is why, presumably the other dancers got gold.  Gold is much more razzmatazz and hollywood than the white and, for me, stood out more.  ALso, they had more of a thirties vibe. Liked the sparkles on Gorka, less keen onthe waistcoat.

Oti and Jonnie - oh the poor things.. For once even Oti struggled to looke gorgeous.  That thing in her hair!!

Really like Molly's dress and headress - though the dress was more cha cha cha really.  However, if her hair had been flapper-ised it would have made it all look a bit more charleston.  But she has such a nice, petite, neat figure and really suits cute little n.umbers, and this was no exception.

Debbie - yes, ahem....  A big wigtastic for me... Also thought the dress shape a little weird - neither straight up and down like Ginger Spice's original, nor big bum feathers like a Samba dress.  It was A line with a bit of lame feather trim on the hem (and knee length - again, neither Geri's nor Samba dresses are knee-length..).  Also a disappointment.

Joe and Katya mixed up the woman in the video of the song (who didn'
t actually do the vocals....) and a bloke who got lost on his way back from a rave in 1989 (before the song came out....),  For once Katya didn't come out of it well.  She must have upset Vicky....

For me Gemma's was the dress of the night.  When I saw it on ITT I thought the colours wee hideous.  But they worked on Gemma, they worked with Blackpool and they worked with a 60's tune.  And the style was lovely.  A proper wafty little n.umber with the waist where it should be - which suits Gemma so much more than the dropped waistline.  And yes, the earrings also tied in well with everything.  A triumph.  It was a shame about Aljaz's clashing shirt, which, as I have said before, hurt my eyes.

ANd yes - waistcoats!  Why?

Finally, Tess and Claud...  Loved Tess in yellow. The shape and cut of the dress was stunning on her.  The only bug bear was a bit of detail on the neckline which looked a bit messy (it was a sort of fold which flapped open).  I know everyone here is loving Claud in the forest green, but I wasn't so sure... I didn't NOT like it, but I didn;t love it either.  However, the length was just right as her legs looked amazing.  And her shoes!

I know Vicky and her team work their fingers to the bone and probably don't go home for ten days before Blackpool, so it I fell horrible being so critical.  But I just think the themes versus the actual dance got all mixed up and so a lot of the outfits ended up being neither one or the other, ie in keeping with the choreography theme, or in keeping with the dance theme such as classic paso costume. It all got a bit lost in translation.

I think the themes generally get in the way of princessy and hollywood style glamour. So I think for that reason alone they need to be binned. I htink Vicky is as tlaented as she has ever been, but I think her briefs have been getting weirder due to the themes and the designs are just not up to her usual standard. Not her fault but the stupid idea that every dance has to have a theme and a story.  It doesn't.  A dance is moving the body to the music, and yes, interpreting emotion through that medium, but you can feel the mood through the music and movement, you don't have to write a whole play...

Changing the subject, when Brendan was doing his CV I noticed how many amazingly gorgeous dreses Sophie wore.  She had a couple of lovely 1950's sticky-out with loads of petticoat ballroom n.umbers.  Divine :-)  Can we have more of those please?

What a turn-around for the males. Almost everyone was in a jacket this week. They all looked so smart. I particularly liked AJ's silver coloured velvet jacket.
I thought Susan really suited that purple colour with the pink under layers.
I was glad that the dancers were all dressed in similar fashion for the Paso Doble-thon.
I thought Debbie AT dress looked very classy
Nadiya's white ballgown looked beautiful and I liked her hair style.
Davood looked very dashing in his bow tie and tails
I liked Kevin's Captain's outfit
Gemma and Alijaz must have the contract for red this year. It would be nice to see her in other colours too.
Mollie looked stunning as always.

I wasn't keen on Tess's batwoman pink dress. I think knee length suits her better. Not keen on the knobbly knee display