Costumes 2013

Thanks Hatlady, what will I read during my Monday lunchtimes once Strictly's over?!

The two Quickstep dresses were my personal favourites this weekend. Abbey looked so pretty and Sophie's dress was simple, yet stylish - and the colour was fabulous on her.

Fiona's dress, much like her dance, was fairly uninspiring

Great review Hatlady! I too thought that Fiona could have had a better dress, she has had some nice dresses during the series and the outfit didn't seem to match A nton's pilot outfit - to me this routine needed to have a more sophisticated dress with a stronger colour.

I loved the three 'similar' dresses - Abby, Sophie and Kristina - I much prefer the slimmer sleeker ballroom dress lines - at the beginning of the series there seemed to be more of the round skirted/puffball/shorter skirts which are not so flattering IMO glad they seem to be going with the more sophisticated longer styles now. Loved the colour and simplicity of Sophie's dress - it really suited her. Abby's was quite unusual but again suited her. I thought it was interesting that both Abby and Sophie had their hair loose and had quite a modern look for a QS, whilst being stylish.

Liked Iveta's 'hairspray' costume and Patrick (rarely) for a celeb man had a decent samba costume. Didn't care for Anyas 'get up'!

I also think that there has been a big improvement in T ess's dresses this year - different designer perhaps?

Thanks to all for compliments and support.

re: Sockgate. Could the fact that Kevin appeared to have his shoes wired for sound have had anything to do with it?

Don't think so......black Latin trousers , the solution I proposed would have actually made wiring him up easier.

I thought Matador/Flamenco shoes would be similar to tap shoes!? I do love the male dancers wearing spatz style shoes just look devine to me.
Re sockgate, why would black tape make more noise than a metal toe/heel? A bit confused.

Matador shoes don't have loud heels. Flamenco shoes have serious heels (Latin/cowboy etc). No relation to tap shoes. in Haste.

thanks for clearing that up for me

saxonsiren wrote:I thought Matador/Flamenco shoes would be similar to tap shoes!? I do love the male dancers wearing spatz style shoes just look devine to me.
Re sockgate, why would black tape make more noise than a metal toe/heel? A bit confused.

In flamenco dance cuban heeled boots or tap style shoes with nailed heels or metal toe/heel plates are worn. These wouldn't be suitable on ballroom floors as they would scar them badly ( take note of the floor area in any flamenco bar) Michael Flatley always wore shoes with microphones in the heels because his dance was accoustic, like flamenco. Kevin's heel stamp was of very short duration and was miked for effect. Hatlady had it right when she said normal black trousers would have been far more effective with those shoes. Flamenco representation needs a slightly different approach than say a ballet version would where authentic matador costume could be worn.

Despite the lightwieght nature of the film Strictly Ballroom, the choreography for the paso-doble in it was truly excellent.

Thanks Mr D for information.We went to a flamenco dance show during a holiday & the acoustic effects very dramatic! Btw loved Strictly Ballroom the film

hatlady28 wrote:
Ashley and O.la:  I liked this theme, it allowed for wild emotion.  Cowboy boots have lovely heels for stamping.  I do agree about the cape which looked “stuck-in”.  If they hadn’t gone for the black and red satin it would have been better.  Possible solution: A slippy fabric that would move, in Clint Eastwood poncho colours which would have gone much better with Ashley’s Brown waistcoat and neck scarf. 

I liked the cowboy concept  and thought Ashley really notched his dancing up a gear this week. The cape was the fly in the ointment for me. I could imagine L en flactulating about bl**dy capes. Why black and red silk? It was like seeing Jesse James wearing a Rolex.  A Drovers coat, poncho or even a large patterned horse blanket could have been given an airing and wouldn't have looked so much out of place.

I thought O la's hair was fantastic even though her gurning Paso/Tango faces scare me a bit.  I wasn't keen on the 'hair straight and down' style of some of the celeb girls. The lack of hair styling didn't seem to reflect the complexity of the gowns to me. I understand a big floor space needs big movements but I prefer to see hair free faces. Not sure how, either partner can see where they're going sometimes when the girl's hair is over her eyes or whipping bits off her partner's face.  Just a personal bug bear.

Glad it wasn't just me that wondered about Kevin's ankle-biter trios and those socks. The trousers needed to be shorter or longer but just ended up looking petrified of his shoes. They seemed to have a mid shin peculiar flare like a sailor's cut-offs.

I thought Tess looked elegant in the black dress.

Mundane? Boring?

This review is difficult to write because there isn’t much to say....Men in Black?...several nightdress bodices to dresses, spaghetti straps etc....No interesting interpretations no really shocking errors.....just a lot of so what. Wardrobe department exhausted after Blackpool?

Susannah and Kevin: Looked like they’d re-used Holly’s Cha Cha skirt. The line didn’t work on her very well, somehow or other she ended up without a waist. A more clearly defined waist would have given her more a sense of her hips and hip action. Kevin, in black with a yellow tie.

Ashley and O.la: O.la may have had the most interesting dress, pink again, but a shorter overdress with not a lot of tulle underneath. The costume lady said she had asked for this, The big dresses do demand attention and when the pro women are wearing them they definitely take focus from their partners. Well done to O.la for keeping the focus on Ashley in white tie and tails.

Natalie and Artem: the shiny Quality Street brazil with the lingerie top and large tulle skirt. Artem in black suit and purple shirt.

Mark and Iveta: No I didn’t get the pajama top either.....smacked of desperation from the production team. Iveta clearly likes a sleeker look that the other lady pros. Because Mark is a big guy the HUGE skirt is not going to take focus from him. Liked the long gloves. Another classic white tie and tails.

Sophie and Brendan: Almost not quite.....Guys, if you look at it again, she looks virtually naked under a transparent black nightgown. And it had huge thigh splits! What could be sexier than that? This was Audrey Hepburn sexy, not Lillian Russell. Making it shorter would have just made it look tacky. However there was between a quarter and a third too much fabric in the skirt which muddled it. Further, I’m not sure I would have made the sleeves fitted at the bottom. They didn’t need to be big, but they should have been loose. More black from Brendan.

Ben and Kristina: I’m sure we all could have designed this ourselves, black wife beater with blue braces.......Kristina extremely obvious in what was more carnival than circus.

Abby and Aljaz: Okay, electric blue dress, front blue sequin panel, high in the front and big cut out oval at the back, full skirt, thigh splits. What’s to say except you would have no idea what dance she was doing. Could have been: foxtrot, quickstep, ballroom tango,no clues at all. Aljaz......more black.....black sequin bolero top and black satin cumberband. He was wearing a different top at the dress rehearsal.....see the still at the beginning of the SCD clip.

Patrick and Anya: Patrick the untied black bow tie which has become as much of a uniform as the standard black tie and white tie. Anya’s dress moved a treat......why though did we get the Gothic Virgin who has been tearing her frock while wandering through the woods.

Wake me up for the next show......

Hi Hatlady

I think you have summed it all up! I preferred the Pros dresses last night to the celebs.

Agree with your key points that the cut of Susanna's dress really didn't flatter her legs or her middle - they could have given her something so much better - I really liked the samba dress that she wore earlier in the series.

Yes - I thought that it was the skirt of Sophie's dress that caused the problem and you have helped me to realize why I didn't like it - it didn't need to be shorter but there was too much material, it would have looked better if it had been sleeker so that you could see more of what was going on in the dance. As for Abby - it was a beautiful dress but again I agree it was more of a ballroom dress and certainly contributed to the feel of the dance being less paso and more 'tangoesque' for me.

I feel you are right Hatlady wardrobe exhausted after Blackpool's show. I thought Suzanna looked chunky & realised it was the cut of the dress.It could be the budget for costumes has reached a limit & saving the big dresses for the semi final & finals?

Hi Hatlady - just catching up with this forum - I started Strictly late this year.  Anyway, that is the reason I have only just discovered this wondrous thread of costume....

Can't go back and comment about all the other shows now, but just wanted to bring up a few dresses (who cares about the bloke's stuff - unless they look stupid like Ben's appalling sailor-boy outfit - meant for a three year-old - and that so-called strongman outfit from last night - what had that got to do with the 1920's and Charleston...???) from last night.

Firstly Sophie's.  Love, love loved the dress.  But it made me twitchy as a rumba dress.  I thought that it was because it was too long - disguised some of the beautiful leg movements and shapes she was making -but perhaps you are right, it was merely the volume of the material that was wrong.  However, I still think the neck to toe coverage added to the Audrey Hepburn demureness of it.  Demureness is all well and good in a waltz but was a little out of place in the rumba.  I don't think she needed to do a sexy raunchy number dressed in a O.la catsuit, but I do think with that sweet chorography the costume needed to be amped up just a little to get the feel.  One of my favourite rumbas EVER is the one in Strictly Ballroom.  That was a very sweet rumba too, but even HER dress was a bit shorter and had a reasonably low neck.  I wasn't asking for filth, just not a neck to toe prissy number (as I say, as a dress it was GORGE-USS, but as rumba outfit it unsettled me.) Also, I thought it was midnight blue, you thought it was black - and Heidi Stephens of the Guardian described it as "aubergine".  Amazing what our different screens do to the colours!  Would love to know what is the true colour....

Abby's dress now.  Again - gorgeous, beautiful dress which looked stunning on Abby.  But it just didn't have the feel of the Paso.  Although she managed to look stern in a pouty model sort of way, I feel that a dress with more volume and layers to throw about and a more passionate colour would have added to the drama required for the paso - which I think Abby's paso lacked.  If you have a great flouncy dress then you are more incline to flounce around, and that is what is required for paso. (I do GREAT flouncing - anyone wanna see it.... No?  You surprise me)

Kristina's.  Shocking.  Absolutely shocking.  As in, shockingly awful.  Had nothing to do with the Charleston, did nothing for her - colour was totally wrong on her....  Has she upset that nice lady in the costume department?  If I was her I would say sorry pronto...

Susanna's. Agree about the chunky leg, disagree about the chunky middle.  Just thought it was going with the quality street theme - looked like that gold penny one that always gets left when all the others have been eaten... (Also, hate to disagree with you Hatlady, as you are revered and admired by me in spades, but I really didn't like her Indiana Jones Samba dress - so definitely don't want to see a repeat of that any time soon!)

Natalie's.  Not bad.  But not good either.  Again, had the quality street quality - but at least it was the one most people want....  Just wasn't sure of the colour on her or the colour for the tango - but so much better than "ocean blue" for the paso...  Although Natalie is dark I think, judging from the shades of lipstick I have seen her in, that she looks best in the midtones - not to pale, not too dark, not to bright, not too dull.  She had a lovely deep rose-coloured lippy on in one of the VTs and she looked lovely.  The bright red lipstick looks too vampy and nasty.  And I imagine a pale one would wash her out....

I'm all done now - it was most definitely a "meh" night and the only two stand-out dresses for me were Sophies and Abbys - although for some of the wrong reasons as well as the right reasons.

Marvellous job Hatlady - keep 'em coming!

Loved Claudia in shocking pink.....Susannah's samba dress gave her both hips and tits, vital for Latin dancing.

I choked on my tea reading that HL!

Sorry Sax.......famous song from A Chorus Line. Tits and Ass....."got myself a fancy pair, tightened up the derriere. Did the nose with it, all that goes with it." Wonder if anyone will do this next week.......

I hadn't heard that before.I shall remember that now

Don't normally watch the results show, but was tempted by the promise of Clauds in hot pink....

(I know this isn't the right place but... that opening sequence! It was like Willy Wonka on acid...!!!)


Yes, Clauds and hot pink go well together but... It's still a sack. A hot pink sack. But a sack nonetheless.

Tess Tess - nice I thought. Until it was revealed that the outfit was a jumpsuit with that unfortunate 1980's length trouser leg which makes even leggy people look very wrongly proportioned. Hideous.

Darcey. Looks like someone scribbled all over her arms.... Also, when she stood up it appeared that her waist had disappeared. Has it walked off in a huff at the lacklustre show? I do hope it will be back soon.

Got a second look at Iveta'a dress. That is actually probably the dress of the night. Didn't really notice it last night amidst the yawning, but yeah, nice. I like. Great colour, great shape. When am I getting mine?

That's it. :-)

Forgot shoes.

How remiss of me.

Clauds - the best in show. Absolutely gorgeous griege ones (see, I have been paying attention Hatlady. Armani.)

Darcey - Made her instep arch out in an alarming way. Not taken with those.

Susannah - I want. Now.

B runo - Cuban heels? Really?

C raig - didn't see yours. Am disappointed  

And now to the colour of Sophie's dress. Once she was sitting still I could see that it was indeed a very deep purple. Not sure I would call it aubergine, but that's close enough. Heidi Stephen's is clearly never to be doubted.

IMO Susanna's samba dress was one of the costumes of the series.

T ess's dresses  have been 100% better this year - perhaps a new designer? Perhaps the:D  same person who persuaded C laude to wear something other than a black bin bag tonight?

diamondsandpearls wrote: And now to the colour of Sophie's dress.  Once she was sitting still I could see that it was indeed a very deep purple.  Not sure I would call it aubergine, but that's close enough.  Heidi Stephen's is clearly never to be doubted.

Hardly dare comment on fashion, but I'd call that violet rather than aubergine D&P. I do a bit of amateur painting and violet can be very dark...like Sophie's dress?

I think you can comment Tanglero! And yes, I totally see where you are coming from, though I think things that actually get called violet in the fashion world tend to be a bit lighter and brighter.  But what does fashion know?  Artists christened the colours so they are the experts....

I actually couldn't find any fault at all with Tess's white Grecian dress, which was astonishing.

I am in the pro-camp on the Susannah Samba dress issue.

I am no expert just a person who, for no apparent reason, tends to obsess about the nature of colours, so I can't resist an "is it aubergine?" debate. I think that, though, dark, aubergine is less muted than Sophie's dress, and that violet is too warm for it, though it is close to both. Hmmm - I am going to give this some thought!