2020 Gowns, Glamour, and Glitz

I wonder what the theme will be this year - more bugle beads or the return of the dreaded jeans?

Yiu have been SO busy B4p! I really appreciate all the effort you have gone to of opening up new threads for 2020. (Especially this one, of course!)

So, dresses...

In a shock move Tess gets a dress. A real, live, proper dress. Not a fancy dress costume where she gets to go as a dfferent Quality Street each week, with only one shoulder and an a-symmetric dress. No, an actual elegant, simple dress that left Tess looking stunning. It was a simpe shape - basically a tailored tube - and it let the busy, dalmation-spotted fabric do the talking. Her shoes were also fabulous.

Poor Clauds drew the short straw and had to borrow her mates glam-jams. Sadly her mate is a fair few inches taller and bigger than Clauds.

There was a lot of pro dresses - too many to go through thoroughly, but I'll try and give some impressions...

Lovely wafty dresses at the beach. But I worried when they got wet - all that salty water The indoor dresses were nice, but not amazing.

Nadja's pink shorts were cute.

Janette's speakeasy dress stood out for some reason.

Amy's blonde hair is gorgeous. Gorka's is unsettling.

Of the Tabloid love fodder...

Clara and Maisie had practically the same dress in different colours. Felt Clara just edged it. Caroline had a horrible skirt which did nothing for her in the opening VT. I was telepathically shouting for costume to put her in a full skirt, and miraculously, they heard me. It wasn't as glam as it could have been, but it was certainly a few nothches up from the frumpy shockers that Ranvir and Jacqui-not-the-charlie's-angel-one was wearing.

They were both exactly the best length on each of them to achieve maximun unflattery. Each needed to be either longer or shorter. Both of them have very decent figures and they deserve to have some glamour in their lives. Compare with Her Ladyship of Somewhere in the South West's launch dress from last year. I know she is a skinny minny but that style would have looked good on both of them. It showed off the waist - whch they both have- and flowed over the hips and bum, and could have been ballerina length, to the floor or to the knee, depending on which was the most flattering for their proportion. Anyway, feel they have been shortchanged in the glamour and glitz stakes.

I thought they could have done more with Nicola's. I envisaged her in a really cool Janelle Monae-style tux. Her very short cross-over jacket just looked half hearted. I imagine her in dark purple velvet guacho suits, some military inspired chic, a gold bolero/matador jacket... I could go on and on, but what she was given last night was lame rather than lamé.

I liked Judith's son's mauve suit. The rest of the chaps were... meh.

I feel the budget has already gone on all the group dances, leaving very little money or creativity for the sleb's dresses.

But still - Tess!

Well done Diamonds. A good round up as always to start the thread off.

I liked the beach opening, and also wondered about how cold the girls must have been wafting sodden salty fabric about their bare legs.
I think whoever designs Oti's dresses does a fabulous job. She manages to wear some great creations but is always securely fastened in.

I hope Katya and Nicola will wear the occasional dress and mix things up a bit costume wise. If it's flat shoes and trousers every week, I think I'll use their slot to make a cuppa and catch the rewind later!

I liked Karen's short hair cut last year, but I'm not a fan of the his n hers matching grey skull caps, and Gorka's hair just looks bizarre.

Tess looked much better in that understated classic style. Claud looked like she was either heading off for a Strictly Sleepover, or to interview as a stunt double for Andy Pandy.

I agree very much about the so-blonde-they-are-grey his'n'her hairdos of Karen and Jamie.

I also agree that Oti has amazingly constructed dresses which keep her altogether!

But I think that wardrobe could have hours and hours of fun with outfits for Katya and Nicola.  They don't have to be either ultra femme or ultra masculine - it can be totally mixed - even all in one costume.  I really think Janelle Monae should be their inspiration - she is femine, masculine and androgynous all at the same time and has worn some amazing clothes. She has worn an amazing suit which is both trousers and a jacket with a long hem at the back which looks like a train (as in the dress type, not the choo choo type... )

(I just tried to copy and paste a photo but it totally refused to work.  Here's a link to the page I took from instead: )

http://sandrarose.com/2018/03/celeb-style-janelle-monae-wearing-christian-siriano/2018-vanity-fair-oscar-party-hosted-by-radhika-jones-arrivals-2/

I look forward to seeing what designs they come up with for Katya & Nicola. Hooray for Saturday - let the games begin

So....  (or sew....) Week One's dresses!

I think you all know by now that I love a beautiful waltz gown and Amy's ticked every single box for me.  I am still firmly of the opinion that a) she understands that you need to give a clear, precise brief to Vicky and her chums and not leave it to chance (where you may end up with the offcuts of many outfits cobbled together [which is what Karen often seems to end up with], or someone else's costume with a different furbelow stitched on it and maybe the hemline altered) and b) she realises that the way to Vicky and her chums heart, as with most of us, is via sweetness, both in personal form and in homemade brownies and cookies form.  Hence Amy (mainly - theme weeks are different) gets the gorgeous fabrics and a beautifully cut gown.  

Dress of the week for me.

Honorable mentions go to (in no particular order):

Caroline's tea frock.  I know Mauve said she thought it charity shop frumpy, but she got it in the end... It is a beautiful homage to a tea dress of the Foxtrot era (late 30s) and the shape suited Caroline.  She is full of bust and slim of hip and thus she needs a bit of skirtage and frou-frou on the bttom half to balance out her top half.  Anyway, I loved it.

Ranvir's sensational red dress.  She looked (sorry I keep using this word but it's the only word that does it justice) MAGNIFICENT! And she used it to such good effect, throwing around the awesome skirtage like a red rag to a bull (see what I did there...?  ) I was so, so, SO pleased that they had embellished with crystals that awful not-nude-at-all panel that they insert to keep the very low necklines decent (why not just do a family-viewing-decent neckline in the first place?)

Maisie's saucy samba dress.  I'll admit it's not my style, but I loved how thrilled Maisie was with the dress, and adored how she said that it personified Maisie herself - "It's me, in a dress".  I understand this mindset completely and feel that at some level, Maisie is actually my spirit animal.  Although not my style, it was a perfect samba dress - how those feathers moved! And I thought the way the hemline had been cut, and the length of it, was very flattering to Maisie's legs, which are fairly short and tremendously muscular.

Janette's pink jive dress.  She really worked those feathers too!  Nicest I've seen Janette for a while.

I also loved JJ's dove grey tousers and waistcoat ensemble.  He is a very elegantly built chappy I find.

Dishonourable mentions:

Many people on twitter loved Clara's dress.  I was disappointed.  It was the same as her dress last week - except that was gold.  Which is much more exciting.  Also, Maisie wore that blue version last week - see what happens when you don't brief/beg Vicky properly?  You get someone else's cast off from a week ago. Mean.  Clara doesn't deserve that.  She seems very nice.  She just needs to get tips from Amy (and, it seems, Maisie...).

Jamie's trousers - my eyes!

Gio's fringe (or 'soft quiff' as someone tried to tell us. ). Disturbing.

Gorka's blondeness.  Very unsettling.

Luba's dress.  It had all the elements I like in a frocky frock.  But it just didn't come together.  I think there were too many elements; less is more...

Dianne's white tango get-up.  It just looked all wrong.  More Duran Duran video from the early 80s than tango.  And the cherry-red hair screamed out in contrast to the white and quite honestly, I found it a little offensive to my aesthetic sensibilities.

Disappointing also was Nicola.  I didn't like the fact were dressed the same, just in opposite colourways and with different embellishments in the shoulder area.  It was an incredibly Katya outfit, which meant that for me we weren't really seeing Nicola. It was a 'me too' outfit. I am ITCHING to design some outfits for Nicola.  She could be sensational!

The presenters:

Tess.  Back to the one shouldered look.  Not the worst she has worn by a long shot, but I so loved that dress from last week.  It was good whilst it last I guess...

Claudia.  Borrowed one of Lily Allen's dresses, and although she turned up in the trainers that Lily always wears with her prom dresses, the producer pulled them off her and jammed her toes into pointy stilletos ten seconds before they went on air (bet she was wearing the trainers when the camera's wer off her feet...)

The judges:

Motsi. A one shouldered (what is it with one shouldered outfits on strictly?) full body cast.  She carried it off beautifully, I must say.

Our Shirl.  It was something black.  I think.  Dunno.  Didn't really make any impact on me.

I realise I haven't mentioned Oti or Karen.  I expect Karen was wearing something, but I was blinded by Jamie's trousers so I have no idea what. Similarly with Oti, I know it was yellow and samba-y, but I was concentrating on Bill, willing him to be better than he actually turned out to be, so I didn't pay enough attention to the details.  Apologies, Oti - I'm sure you loked amazing.

Oh. Not The Charlie's Angel Woman - I forgot her.  It was long. One shoulder? Navy?  Hmm.  Unmemorable.  And I was't even concentrating on her partner...

To early to tell if Vicky has a theme this year. I kind of hope not.  I think themes can just get in the way of true creativity and wonderfulness.

That's it for now...

This week it was all about the dress that wore Janette.

A cunning plan was hatched by myself and members of my extended family and it is now nestling safely in my wardrobe and will be worn every Thursday during lockdown whilst dancing songs from my Spotify Playlist entitled "Tunes I like".  I am very fortunate that my fellow members involved in the heist are a) taller than me and b) have boobs.  So the dress could only fit me (although I will have to do some more running to get it done up...)

Second on the leader board was Karen's dress (yes, I know!  Karen's dress!). I was indifferent to the gold tassels on the shoulder, but it upset one of my cousin's greatly, so it was never a real contender against the dress that adorned Janette. In fact, if my cousin had her way, then Johannes' Matador outfit wouldn't have tied in second place, but edged Karen's dress into third.

As it was halloween, I suppose it was only fitting that there were some horrors. We didn't like Dianne's dress at all, and though we love Caroline, that dress was too flouncy and frumpy and unblanced her proportions so she looked stumpy.  Shame on you Vicky - cruel! Amy looks good in pretty much anything (although even she couldn't carry off that Stranger Things weirdness from last year) and that paso outfit would have been abominable on anyone else, but she managed to make it not hurt my eyes (but such a contrast to last week...)

Ranvir's dress was pretty - for a picnic or a garden party, but not glamorous enough for a ballroom dance.

Clara's dress was... problematic.

Maisie looked amaising without me actively liking the dress - if you know what I mean.

I liked the pretty mauve of Nicola and Katya's outfits (a colour I associate with my sister who looks gorgeous in it) but it was just a meh collection of fabric attached to their bodies.

Claud's trousers were bordering on a criminal offence and Tess's dress was one of those where each bit of the dress was actually fine, but all together was just wrong and unflattering.

Shirley looked better on Sunday night - we were not enjoying the squished boob look from Saturday night.  The orange dress itself was fine - it was just the squishing that disturbed us.  Motsi is always so overdressed that I almost don't see it.  I know one of the nights she wore something purplish and glitteryish and one shouldered?

And I never can seem to remember what Oti is wearing this series. She normally looks pretty wow, but she isn't making and impact on me this time around.

I hated RV's suit - the colour, the cut - everything. In contrast Jamie (pedantry alert- it's definitely Jamie and not Jaimee) looked very dapper in in his tails.  

Which just goes to prove that clothes maketh the (wo)man...

diamondsandpearls wrote:
I hated RV's suit - the colour, the cut - everything. In contrast Jamie (pedantry alert- it's definitely Jamie and not Jaimee) looked very dapper in in his tails.

I decided to award Jamie, an extra vowel to balance the excess vowels that HRVY has discarded.  Henchforth, to me he shall be known as Jaimee (next week I might add the other vowel and rename him Jaamiee).

I thought Mr EV (extra vowels) looked very dapper in his tails which must have been hot to wear under the studio lights.

I like your extreme fairness. It does seem only right that RV's discarded vowels get redistributed.

You are of course at liberty to distriute the bounty wher you see fit, but I am wondering if you could be more democratic and divide them up a little, and rotate them through the weeks.

Thus perhaps next week JJ could become Jae J and maybe the following week Jason, Jaeson, and so on...

Watch this spaacee

Top of the frocks for me on Saturday was Karen's dress, though yes, probably didn't need the gold shoulder tassels.

I did wonder whether Johannes' matador outfit was from his personal collection rather than the SCD wardrobe. Whatever, I felt his outfit and red socks rather out-shone Caroline's dress.

I found JJ and Amy's paso outfits a bit peculiar, the neon stripe reminded me of sports gear.

Looking forward to movie week (although gnomes...Homer Simpson....I 100% agree with whoever suggested a dedicated Bond theme)

jingle wrote:
I found JJ and Amy's paso outfits a bit peculiar, the neon stripe reminded me of sports gear.

Stripes down the legs have been used a few times before, but to see hip/waist action, it would be more useful to have a stripe or some sort of marker on the hips/waist of the male celeb dancer's trousers. Sometimes it's not easy to see what's happening when the men are often dressed in black, particularly for the rumba.

I keep forgetting to do this!  And I often get carried away with my critique of the sat show and include my dress-watch comments in that - mainly because for me, the dress is 49% of the score to the 51% of the dance...

Anyway.  I shall start with... Tess! That red dress on Saturday was gorgeous.  All three of my cousins and myself gave a big fat 10 for that dress.  We feared that it would go downhill on Sunday, but it was a very nice black gown - and 8s and 9s.

Clauds looked better this week, but that's all I can remember.  So probably 7s?

Big disagreement about Shirley.  Two cousins loved her powder blue frou frou (my cousin in law didn't express an opinion) and scored it 9s.  I thought it was very Glinda (the Good Witch) - which could be good in the right setting, but possibly not for a judge past 30.  I was very sneery about it.  But do you know?  As the show went on it grew on me, to the extent that by the end of the show I had a grudging respect for it and could happily award it a 7.  I think Shirl's Sunday dress was just black and dull?  Can't remember - and none of us exclaimed, so it was neither good nor bad.  6 or 7?

Motsi.  Again I just have no recollection of what she wore.  Something with big shoulders?  No matter how big and loud her outfit it really can;t compete with her own personality and it gets overshadowed.  We'll just give her 7 for getting dressed.

The dress of the week was undoubtedly Ranvir's.  It fitted so welll with the theme of Dream Girls but didn't go too far down that route at the expense of Ranvir looking good.  The colour and cut suited her to perfection and she looked amazing.  Add The Flavia Memorial Wig with a bit of back-combing and she looked utterly SENSATIONAL!  

I wasn't keen on Clara and Aljaz's hair and makeup and Clara's dress could have been better.  But it wasn't awful.

The Greased Lightening Bacofoil Boilersuits were oven ready and Katya looked liek she was already starting to cook (or had been lightly greased ready for the oven perhaps), I am SO over them looking like Mrs Binnsie's Twinsies,  Vicky needs to get more creative/imaginative.  One of them should have been wearing a leather jacket I feel (no it's not in the film version of the routine, but who cares?  Harry Judd wore a leather jacket over a bare chest for that song, and it did nobody any harm....)

I will pass delicately over trolls and simpsons.  We need never mention them ever again.

Amy looked sweet in her dress and it was very true to the film, but I want a glittery version of whatever is in a film, thank you.

I liked Karens white outfit and gold boots very much - kinda wanted them.  But her wig was horrible.

Oti looked amazing in her suede-look skirt.  It really shouldn't have worked and yet... it did. It wasn't sparkly, but it certainly exuded a certain wagon-train glamour...

Maisie looked lovely in her dress.  Apparently it's not the right colour or something, but I really don't care. As long as there is a decent nod to the source film Vicky can just glam it up and do her own thing.  Her problems seems to be NOT glamming things up a bit.

Luba looked like a warrior queen, which is good if that is what you want to look like. She did look good in it, but ... where's the sparkle eh?

Wasn't keen on Caroline's dress.  Agian too much authenticity with the film.  I want glamour dahling.  I think it might have been B4p that said she loked like Victoria Wood's character in Acorn Antiques (especially with the wig) and now I can't unsee it.

Hoping for a return back to spangles and glitter (and godets, boa trim, arm wafts, chiffon overlays, zillions of crystals - which were sorely lacking this week - beading, crin and all the other technical terms) this week.

diamondsandpearls wrote:The dress of the week was undoubtedly Ranvir's.  It fitted so welll with the theme of Dream Girls but didn't go too far down that route at the expense of Ranvir looking good.  The colour and cut suited her to perfection and she looked amazing.  Add The Flavia Memorial Wig with a bit of back-combing and she looked utterly SENSATIONAL!  
The Greased Lightening Bacofoil Boilersuits were oven ready and Katya looked liek she was already starting to cook (or had been lightly greased ready for the oven perhaps), I am SO over them looking like Mrs Binnsie's Twinsies
Oti looked amazing in her suede-look skirt.  It really shouldn't have worked and yet... it did. It wasn't sparkly, but it certainly exuded a certain wagon-train glamour...
I think it might have been B4p that said she loked like Victoria Wood's character in Acorn Antiques (especially with the wig) and now I can't unsee it.

Agree about Ranvir. She looked sensational and classy without all the flesh-fest that some of the previous shows have had.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum - what a lost opportunity. Could have had Pink Lady jackets and some glittery capri style pants and still involved dancing next to the car. The slider things that go under the car were superfluous. Could have done a bit of hand jiving or 'tool-ography'. Bit of a waste really. What were those horrendous doughnuts glued to their foreheads? Are they going to do every dance in flat shoes and trousers? Clara is used to wearing mostly trainers, but even she has put some dance shoes on. Even 'Widdy' wore low heeled dance shoes.
Oti looked brilliant. Understated, multi-layered, but strong visually.

I didn't make the original Victoria Wood comment, but I did agree, as the same thought had also gone through my mind. She reminded me of one of the big bears (Bungal?) in a children's TV series with Zippy.

A Pink Lady jacket was sorely lacking! Fantastic idea B4P

But I'm fed up of them being dressed the same, so the other could have worn a leather jacket. There is SO much playing around that can be done of mixing up the gender stereotypes - so a leather jacket with a fifties style net-skirt and stompy brothel creepers with hair in a short quiff for one of them, and a Pink Ladies jacket over a boiler suit with softer shoes, or even heels, and hair in high pony tail for the other. But make them look different from each other!!

Yes Pink Jackets would have been perfect B4p great idea.
One could have worn with Trousers or a frothy skirt for Katya.
For me I felt Karen would have been a better partner for Nicola.

Wonder if Nicola have an automatic spot for next year due to being out re Covid?

Missed your Glamour thread Diamonds, really do light up my day reading your thoughts re wardrobe, make up, hair.
Tbh you remind me of Marian Keys re style of writing and humour, I love it.

saxonsiren wrote:Missed your Glamour thread Diamonds, really do light up my day reading your thoughts re wardrobe, make up, hair.
Tbh you remind me of Marian Keys re style of writing and humour, I love it.

You flatter me much to much Sax. I adore Marian Keyes, and i daren't even dream to aspire to her heights of of humour and writing quality. She is very overlooked in literary circles, but I very much hope that future generations will look back on her work and realise her genius and talent. She tackles really deep, dark subjects - such as domestic abuse, additction and depression - in a manner which has you laughing and crying all at once. She never belittles or diminishes those subjects, but her way with words and humour lightens the mood sufficiently so that we can digest what might otherwise be heavy.

Anyway, I can't thank you enough for the comparison. And though I don't desrve it (at all!) I find I am terribly chuffed all the same!

Now that I've picked myself up off the floor I should get around to the business of this weeks dresses! I shall post below...

It has been noted in other places that this year Tess, and to a lesser extent, Claudia have been allowed to choose decent dresses.  

Saturday night displayed this strategy admirably, with both of them looking gorgeous.  Tess had a simple black velvet fitted dress which sparkled and showed off just enough of one of her admirable legs too be pleasing rather than slutty.  The only downside was the polo neck.  It unbalanced the dress somewhat.  Claudia's dress was simpler - a black, sleevless dress with a full drapey skirt cut to mid calf - a good length on Claudia.

Sunday was less good.  Tess had gone back to having strange proportions on her short (what looked like) navy (but could have been black) dress.  Claudia fared better in a gorgeous red dress.  I loved it - the colour looked really good on her and I approved of the fact no fabric was spared in the making of the skirt or the sleeves (the sleeves!  Lovely, blousy, puffy long sleeves).  However, it was less evening glamour than going out for a posh lunch. But it suited her and she looked lovely, so I will take small mercies where I can find them.

Shirley in contrast seems to have drawn the short straw this series and all I can rememer is that she was wearing green (and only because it set off a discussion amongst my cousins and myself about wearable shades of green for each and every one of us.  I will spare you the details.) I'm not even entirely sure how to describe Shirley's shade of green, even though I am usually never at a loss on how to describe a colour.  We'll just go with green.

To the dancers!

Janette was in unremarkable, very pale yellow fringeing. It was inoffensive, but that is all I can say in its defence.

At first I thought Ranvir's dress was alright.  It made the most of her gorgeous curves.  But the colours people! Those colours...  It was like an explosion of tutti frutti sweets - and not at all in a good way.  Peach with pink is... sickly.  Add in some mauve and some other colour I can't remember, and it just looks like someone in Vicky's team was really hating her this week. The colours really didn't suit her.  And the length was wrong.  She needed a bit of length to the fringing, but this stopped at exactly the most unflattering place.  I didn't like the 'V' shaping of it either - I know it reflected the bodice shaping (which was flattering, but it was too much V and ended up elongating her top half too much to the detriment of her leg proportions.  It needed to be cut off straight across at the point where the V was at it's shortest.  I didn't like her hair either - no idea why they thought it necessary to pin a black cat to her head.  Ranvir is a woman at a place of low self esteem at the moment - last week she looked a million dollars and it was SO unkind to give her that dress when they can do so much better.

Dianne's dress has flummoxed me.  When Vicky displayed her drawing on Thursday's ITT I thought it looked divine.  And then... the real life version popped up.  I liked the colour, I liked the fabric, I liked the design of the contrasting detail.  But not all together.  There was something... off about it - it didn't quite hang together. I think if the fabric had been soft and slippery satin, then the contrasting detail would have worked.  However, the rich, dark green velvet was gorgeous, so maybe they should have kept the velvet and got rid of the art deco strip and just added some sparkly crystals somewhere in the same colour.  I think, as well, that once more the bright red hair fought with it.  The overall effect was... Christmas.

I got the whole Amy outfit, but it was on the sludgey brown side of khaki (rather than the olive green side, like JJ's uniform) and her shorts needed more 1940's flippiness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj4d4OT4qes (By which I mean that there is some pleating so that the bottom of the shorts flip out and move with the dance. - Rita's shorts in the video amply demonstrate what I mean.)

I feel I can't really be bothered with Maisie's outfit.  It is what it is - barbie doll. And I think you all know how I feel about Gorka's socks with those shorts.  I've been trying to wipe the inage from my mind, and now I'm typing this the whole horrible mess has reappeared in my minds eye *shudder*

Bill and Oti's styling was lifted straight from a Janet Jackson video from 1990 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8UidwWPin4) which in itself was lifted from 1940s.  They were both dressed as Janet Jackson, but had swapped her dark hat with white band for a cream hat with a red band, which jarred for me. I confess to being confused about the styling, because they were dancing to Rappers Delight from 1980 and it was meant to be a homage to 1980's style street dancing ('on street corners' according to Bill...).  Well, this wasn't it.  This was a 1990 (decade later) homage to the 1940s.  But... whatever. Hats aside, they looked good. (But let it be noted, I am a decade purist).

Caroline doesn't have a defined waist, but she is nowhere near as boxy as some past contestants (Letitia Dean springs to mind) yet they never manage to give her some shape in the way they managed with those.  She is also short-waisted, so the waistband tends to sit almost under her bust, but because she is short, there is never enough length of skirt to elongate her.  So she ends up looking swamped by the dress, shorter than she is (not helped either by Johannes being very tall...) and very, very frumpy.  All unnecessrily.  So the dress itself was unobjectionable (though very, very plain and undetailed - no sparkle), but it really did nothing for her.

Jamie and Karen in Mexican outfits for a Brazilian dance.  Hmmm.  Strange concept. (Having said that, they both looked pretty good...)

Clara...  Well, it wasn't the best Charleston outfit in the world, but it more than did the job.  The fringing made the shorts part nice and flippy and both top and bottom emphasised the movement of the dance.  That palest of pinks looked lovely on her dark skin and her hair, styled in a Josephine Baker homage, looked good too.  I think she loved this outfit and it contributed to the joy and confidence she displayed when dancing.  Although not mind-blowing, this was the outfit of the week for me. (And Aljaz looked good too...)

Overall I was disappointed and underwhelmed this week.  What should have been the dress of the week - Dianne's - very much missed the spot.

A great run-down diamonds. Thank you for keeping the thread going. I know nada about costumes, but I know when I see something I like.

I liked Jeanette's outfit, particularly the blue border around the bottom. The style seems pretty regulation now for the faster latin dances. Despite being skimpy, compared to the things O la nearly wore, they looked pretty well covered up!
I wasn't keen on Ranvir's dress. It reminded me of a laundry disaster - putting coloured clothes in with a white wash.
Diane's dress - I liked it. I've always liked that shade of green and love velvet. I also like the contrast strip. I do find her hair colour jarring though. Strange, as I used to like Aliona's red hair. I wasn't a fan of Max all in black. He looked like he was going to a funeral.
Amy's shorts - I agree they were a bit too short for the era. A nod to combat khaki that almost but didn't quite work.
Maisie and Gorka's clothing - Vile
Bill - smart in a gangster way. At least they didn't dress him up like the rappers who used to wear those awful low gussets poo pants.
Caroline - boring dress and quite forgettable.
Jaaaaameeeeeees mariachi outfit - a tad over the top so it suited him.
Clara - 'goldblinger'. I liked it. Practical but not as 'workwear' as some of the previous Charleston clothing has been.

Sometimes I think T ess and Claudia have hit the mark and they look very smooth and sophisticated then other weeks they looks like they've been diving into the bargain basement.
Cr aig and An ton looked very smart in their bow ties and black jackets. I wondered if Cr aigs hips were starting to hurt him again. He doesn't stand much during the show, his favourite turns have become less frequent and he looks like he's sucking a lemon.
Shirley - sometimes she looks fabulous. There's a dress coming up for ITT I think where she's wearing black with a slashed top. I find her deep, open 'look at my apples' bosom flashing dresses distracting.

Good comments and reflection on last week's outfits B4p - and it has made me realise that I am well behind on posting my opinions (because that is all they are) on the week just gone.

The good

Oti's dress was by far and away the winner of the night.  Great colour, great cut and shape.  Wonderful nod to Ginger, with Bill repaying the compliment by Fredding it up in top hat and tails (but no spats - Fred always wore spats in the 1930s).  Anyway, loved Oti's dress.

Amy also had a lovely dress.  At least, the fabric was gorgeous, and the shape was nice, but I felt the long sleeves turned from sheer glamour into something more formal dinner party.  Lovely, but could have been lovelier.  

The bad

Tess and Claudia...  The both came dressed for bed, with Claudia in her second child's leopard skin onesie and Tess deciding to give an outing to her favourite nightie, seeing as Vernon's away.

The Ugly

Clara dressed as the chef from the Muppets.  So cruel  So very and unnecessarily cruel.  I have NO idea why anyone would come up with that theming.  To be fair, Clara carried it off as best as she could, but even she was defeated by a chef's jacket with big sleeves and half a swan hanging onto to her hem. I have called a summit meeting with Vicky Gill to get to the bottom of this.  It's really not on, no matter what the brief is.


As for the rest....

Ranvir could have been sensational but the hem landed in the absolute wrong and most unflattering place.  It was a very Flavia-esque AT dress - if it had been cut off just at or just below the knee.

Karen (understandably) keen too show off her abs.  A lot of work gone into those.  Jamie dressed appropriately.  What can I say?

Janette and RV had dramatic tango outfits but I'm kind of squinting this way and that way, from all angles, to determine whether I actually, actively, liked them.  There's something not quite adding up aesthetically for me.  The colour perhaps?  Dunno.

Caroline... She was wearing a wig.  With curls.  And she had a hem at a flattering point on her leg.  Beyond that I can't remember, because... Johannes!  In A FIREMAN'S HELMET!

Maisie looked very Maisie and I can't fault the outfit for that.  The colours are very much not my cup of tea and though I like fringeing this was a bit weird fringeing, but I can recognise when someone feels good in something and for that i can only applaud the Vickster.

Shirley was wearing something on Saturday, I think?  And then she joined Tess and Claud on Sunday in funereal black. My cousins and I were not impressed...

I started doing some, ahem, research into past outfits.  B4p mentioned put a vest on you strumpet wearing very little, and Aliona and Kristina were also very fond of a fringed bikini.  They defintiely cover up more now.  However the ballroom gowns are severely lacking - Rachel, Kara, and Alesha all wore incredibly princessy dresses, with sleeve hankies/arm wafts.  There is nothing as absolutely gorgeous those.  Rachel also had some fabulous latin outfits- slinky yet not skimpy.  I am chosing a favourite outfit to 'wear' each week when I watch.  Just so you know, last week I was wearing this:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/f5/ca/48f5ca3ae88099f05711fe2d994c0a4a.jpg

Once again a splendid summary of Wardrobe pros and cons.
If you ever write a book re experience of an SCD viewer. I shall most definately buy it!
I can see the cover now of Mr T's new delightful profile pic and your words inside
oh please make it happen Diamonds x

diamondsandpearls wrote:
B4p mentioned put a vest on you strumpet wearing very little, and Aliona and Kristina were also very fond of a fringed bikini.  They defintiely cover up more now.  However the ballroom gowns are severely lacking - Rachel, Kara, and Alesha all wore incredibly princessy dresses, with sleeve hankies/arm wafts.  There is nothing as absolutely gorgeous those.  Rachel also had some fabulous latin outfits- slinky yet not skimpy.

Agree about Rachel's dresses. I particularly liked her A.Tango dress. It was interesting that Vicky Gill said that Louisa Lytton had to wear those bikini type jobs even with modified ball gowns because she was so slightly built but then Rachel had some lovely outfits.

Arm wafts - Yuk x3. Whilst I bow to your immense knowledge of all things dance clobber - I cannot abide those silly arm wafts! Ridiculous, wasted bits of material off cuts that usually end caught in a heel, in the man's eye, or covering his face. Remember the cricketer who won the year Colin became the victim of Erin's 'dolly-gate'?

omg Darren should never have won if it hadn't been for Doll Gate
E.rin I just couldn't believe would risk the Glitter Ball but she did. I just recall sitting there like a Guppie Fish mouth wide open and eyes staring!
shudders not to be repeated

saxonsiren wrote:omg Darren should never have won if it hadn't been for Doll Gate
E.rin I just couldn't believe would risk the Glitter Ball but she did. I just recall sitting there like a Guppie Fish mouth wide open and eyes staring!shudders not to be repeated

Colin, a great dancer, could have gone out that night in a navvy's outfit of of flat cap, army and navy waistcoat, corduroys pants gaily gathered in at the knees with string and wellies and still walked it if they'd done any sort of conventional dance. I loved Erin, she could do no wrong, but that night......