Costumes 2013

Wardrobe seem to have recovered from Blackpool.  Even with the dancing props they seemed to have everything under control.  There weren’t any howlers (except the cold coloured Xena dress that Tess was wearing) and there were some very pretty details.  This week’s links were the back split seam in the bodices of otherwise very modest, almost prim dresses (Anya and Sophie) and lots of see through chiffon (Sophie,O.la, Natalie and Susannah). The VERY strong blue seems to be a wardrobe favorite this year.  Last week we saw it on Abbey and this week on Natalie and O.la.

Patrick and Anya:

Nice grey and white waistcoat with a collar.  The trousers were very high-waisted (I think there were probably braces under the waistcoat) making Patrick’s legs look very long., which in a Charleston contributed to a scarecrow rubber legged look.  Anya was in soft pink chiffon, a shorter interpretation of one of Truly Scrumptious’ dresses with two rows of deep ruffles on the skirt and the previously mentioned back bodice split.  The Strictly edge was provided by a sequined bra.

Natalie and Artem:

Wonderful one shoulder bright blue dress, hard to make this specific to the musicals theme.  Dreamgirls/The Supremes wore evening dresses.  They decided to make Artem special, putting blue sequin patches onto his jacket, making him ‘magical’.  I’ve never seen them do this to a male pro before.  Natalie’s dress also had the sequins in patches.

Mark and Iveta:

There was no way that given The Lion King theme for a samba that Mark was going to look serious.  This worked MUCH BETTER than the horror that was Bond.  Samba is a carnival dance which by definition means over the top costumes.  Lion’s mane provided by tan ostrich feathers (also cuffs on shirt)  Brown trousers.....I can see why they didn’t want to use the same fabric in the shirt as trousers.  It would have made the whole thing look like pajamas.  However, Mark doesn’t do well in thinnish fabrics.  They look cheap on him. Iveta’s dress was a real carnival spectacular: bigger ostrich collar and cuffs, veed fringe skirt and very successful hair.

Sophie and Brendan:

Hmmm, well, she was actually wearing another of Truly Scrumptious’ dresses, not a Maria dress.  Having said that, very pretty and pure in her Audrey Hepburn way.  White chiffon with tiny tuck detail at the neck and wide waist band.  Brendan did the European minor royalty look.

Abbey and Alajz:

The lead outfits from Saturday Night Fever, white suit, black shirt on Alajz and red dress for Abbey.  Abbey’s dress was better than the original: more fabric in the bodice ruffle (good for Abbey in that it gave her more bust), the skirt was fuller with an extra subtle ruffle at the bottom.

Ashley and O.la:

An interpretation of the Disney cartoon characters.  Ashley’s was virtually exact: wide white trousers, orange waistband and purple open waistcoat.......but O.la was definitely Olafied.....a brighter, darker blue, cutouts in the top half and splits in the harem trousers.  Personally, I think that to make this a more grown-up rhumba that they should have moved further from Disney and not succumbed to the Olafication which in the end looked a bit carnival.

Susannah and  Kevin:

We heard from the costume lady that the geometric design on the bodice was taken from Debby Reynolds’ original dress......added to that we had yards and yards of purple chiffon and pink chiffon for the underskirts.  All fine except they also gave her the dreaded chiffon wings.....lovely for slow romantic waltzes but a bad idea for a quickstep.  I am not sure that they didn’t throw her off a bit.  Chiffon wings have to be managed and used (like Paso skirt swishing).  She would have only had the dress rehearsal to practice with them.

Great review as always HL.  I agree that costumes were much better than last week.

These themed events seem to get the best out the costume department.

Thank you David.

Iveta had the costume of the night for me - what a stunning Lion!

Abbey not far behind - managing to carry off a look so much better than the original in the film (and Aljaz didn't do too badly!)

Big mistake to put the frills on Sophie's shoulders as they drew attention to the neck tension/shoulder-hunching which was already a problem in its own right and the frills only heightened.

Less said the better about the disney-put a vest on you strumpet-rumba-horror. Well Ashley I suppose managed to carry it off, but dear oh dear, O.la... *shakes head in exasperated fashion and walks off muttering *

Oh the pain......Darcey should not EVER wear that shade of pink......

Never ever?

She can wear it if she wants to look dreadful.

I had to play fast forward to get a glimpse of the dress as I never watched the pretence show & pink dress FOUL!
Agree Hatlady made her washed out & look putrid.

Great review Hatlady and some great costumes this weekend. I think the problem with Sophie replicating anything from the 'Sound of Music' is that Maria never wore anything glamorous until the wedding scene!!! It was all very plain prior to that scene. I loved the dress and the 30s style of her hair - matched very well with as you say, Brendan's look of 'minor european royalty' - very apt..................

Couldn't find fault with any of the other costumes, given the themes. Loved Nathalie's blue dress, and you are right, blue seems to be a recurring theme this year on SCD whereas some years it has hardly been seen at all. I seem to think that Nathalie's blue dress was quite similar to something Lisa Snowden wore for her Tango with the one shouldered bodice. I will look it up..................

Just looked it up.............very similar dress, blue with lines running through. Slightly different neckline. Will post a link - I just clicked off it.

hatlady28 wrote: There weren’t any howlers (except the cold coloured Xena dress that Tess was wearing).  Iveta’s dress was a real carnival spectacular: bigger ostrich collar and cuffs, veed fringe skirt and very successful hair.

I said 'Xena' as soon as Tess appeared this week! A cross between a dalek and a gladiator.

I loved Iveta's outfit. I've taken to her over the last few weeks and hope she gets a chance at the glitter ball next year.

Great review as always HL.

Thanks Hatlady

I thought generally it was a successful week costume-wise. Despite all my complaints about her dance and scores I did love Abbey's Salsa outfit in particular.

You are most welcome gentlemen. B4P, should have creditted you for the Xena comment. It was very apt.

Agree re Tess' dress & it didn't help or shape her bosom looked as if they had headed south

saxonsiren wrote:.... her bosom looked as if they had headed south

In search of those "Fame" leg warmers no doubt

Big News! Claudia wearing a colourful dress with a WAIST? Actually could be described as pretty and feminine. Smelling salts needed.

Not many themes: Sophie and Susannah both had the same basic bodice in that the backs were done with a warm net, looking backless from a distance but actually very secure. Then there was the “Hide Male celeb hips from judges”

Ashley and O.la: His pink shirt over the basic black was LONG.....the better to hide hips. O.la was too predictable in her pink bikini and silvered fringe. She is starting to look dated in these things......I think a sit down with wardrobe and a make-over is in order. She is a pretty woman. I love her rehearsal look: No heavy make-up. She looks very young, The make-up she wears for the show is making her look very old.

Natalie and Artem: Wow! Gold and black for both, very elegant and grown-up made the interpretation for Susannah and Kevin look like teenager costume party. They solved the trouser problem on Artem by giving him a ‘gaucho’ feel at the bottom, rather than the tight matador pants.

Patrick and Anya: If Patrick had been the pro, this costume concept would have been alright. The Rhumba, as has been said, is the woman’s dance with the guy showing her off. Anya’s dress was one of the simplest most beautiful Rhumba dresses for a younger woman that we have seen in some time. (Either we get shameless O.la He is. And we obey him. or then there were the dust sheets that Kara wore) CREAM, she took all the available light. A black man in a black outfit, even with a few sparkly bits is going to disappear......another way to hide hip action?

Susannah and Kevin: possibly the sexist dress she has worn in the serious, one shoulder black lace top with the aforementioned net back and splits in the skirt. Kevin was a bit of a dog’s dinner....wearing black red shirt and blue tie turned him into a back-up dancer rather than the Michael Jackson lead in white. Must say, given the theme, this was a tough one.

Abbey and Aljaz: Beautiful classic white dress; the top was one of those fitted down past the hips, 60’s brocade texture to the top. Then we have the full godets, feathers, VOLUME galore that every one loves. Aljaz was the prince in crisp hair, white tie and tails.

Sophie and Brendan: Nice interpretation of the Material Girl dress: tougher darker pink with black facings on the skirt split and black lace applique on the bodice. Red gloves and the required diamonds all suggested the Madonna dress but this was edgier....right for a fierce tango. Brendan in black suit white shirt and red tie (same colour as her gloves)

Swingathon: As promised the colour blocking connected....often the girls cumber-bands and knickers.....but still a connection.

Smelling salts indeed! A change to see C.laudia oit of a smock!

Very interesting analysis, as always Hatlady.

I hadn't thought about it before, but I think you're absolutely right about the predictable styling for O.la. I also think her choreography is getting a bit repetitive, especially the knee slides and leap frogs.

My favourite dress of last night was Abbey's white VW dress. Has Abbey had any fashion disasters at all this series? (maybe she's one of those people who could wear a potato sack and still look good)

It certainly was a lovely dress, but I thought it was very similar (too similar in fact) to Kristina's waltz dress earlier in the season. Abby also wore white for her first ever dance which was the waltz.

I think costume department did a good job this week by and large - I liked all the dresses - I know what you mean about O la - perhaps a slight change of style would do the trick in certain dances, instead of looking predictable.

Abbey is a model and knows how to sell clothes.....having said that I will also say that they have given her traditional crowd pleasers this season.....Sophie has had more disasters as has Susannah.

I thought Natalie, Abbey, Sophie and Anya all looked stunning. I liked Susanna's hair, but wasn't that keen on the outfit. O.la's look was standard O.la.

Lovely post Hatlady, such an interesting insight.

I didn't like Susanna's or Kevin's outfits but I thought hers was right for the dance. I love almost all of Anya's dresses tbh, beautiful. As for O..la, she does look so very pretty when natural and when made up a little 'overdone' but more than anything this series I've thought she's looked peaky. Hope all is okay with her.

Thanks all for support and reactions! It makes it worth doing.

This week’s colours: a pinky lilac, Sophie’s skirt for American Smooth, Anya’s waltz dress, Natalie’s salsa dress, although the fringe was grey.....there were lots of pink lights, Susanna’s petticoat , a brighter pink, but pink, Susanna’s salsa dress, Abbey’s American Smooth dress.....Even Patrick had lilac/purple applique trim on his Paso top. We also got the intense blue that has featured this series: Susanna’s dress, and Sophie’s dress.

Natalie and Artem: She is slim enough and tall enough to be able to carry heavy fringe dresses, certainly it complimented the salsa. Artem has a couple of salsa uniforms; either black trousers and jacket no shirt or black trousers white jacket no shirt. With Kara he had a white cumberband and with Natalie a black one. Their Argentine Tango outfits were the boldest designs of the evening. I doubt anyone but Natalie could have carried that flaming orangey red. Wonderful bit of detail up the spine. It was all very eye-catching, particularly with the prevalence of pink and blue. Artem’s matching costume was very noticeable in that rarely this season have the male pros had full specialized outfits made for them; only really Kevin and Artem for their Pasos. How many times is it just a shirt with black trousers or white tie (all the guys must have their own set of tails, black suits, black trousers.) As I stated in an earlier review, Pasha seemed to be completely done in things from the back of the cupboard. Not sure why Artem was given a black tie negligently draped.....his shirt had no collar. Curious thing......Natalie’s AT dress and Susanna’s salsa dress were essentially the same shape. Natalie’s was grown up and strong. Susanna’s was a bit tacky and girlie. This is the same difference as there was between the Natalie/Artem Paso designs and the Susanna/Kevin Paso designs.

Patrick and Anya: Anya had the pinky lilac with chiffon wings attached base centre back for the waltz. Pretty without being memorable. Patrick in white tie and tails. With the Paso, again we had the “hide the black man in a black outfit” while Anya swirled around him. Given that Paso should be a place for the male to shine..... Patrick’s lilac/purple applique trim was a dyed version of the white applique on Anya’s black robe. Her robe also boasted a red waistband and a red-faced skirt slit.

Sophie and Brendan: The intense blue does suit her along with the bits of black detail. Once again a modest covered front......with a very deep revealing back, double split skirt. Brendan’s black top had black jewels around the front and on the sleeves. For the American Smooth, Sophie had fan pleated grey lilac with a Deco inspired black jeweled bodice and Brendan had white tie and tails. Both costume sets were classy and clean.


Susanna and Kevin: As hinted in the section on Natalie and Artem, the costume department have decided to make this the cutesy couple......to their detriment I think. Susanna is not 18. The foxtrot dress was basically a really nice sophisticated design with the angled gold jeweled yoke and the one gold jeweled sleeve together with dark blue tulle. The overall effect was spoilt by the pink petticoat and the pink ribbon around the waist. Kevin does nerd in waistcoat, bow-tie and the black framed glasses. Susanna’s salsa dress; bright pink with blue decorative ‘bits’......and the most unflattering blue ribbon around her, hitting at her widest point making her look like she has toddler tummy. Kevin in a matching pink shirt with blue sleeve trim and a blue belt. Throughout the series, Susanna has had some of the worst costumes. I do wonder why. I have worked for designers who have made beautiful costumes that they know will not suit a disliked actress. I also wonder how much effect this design approach has had on her dancing. If one is portrayed cutesy, does that encourage forced expressions and messy footwork?

Abbey and Aljaz: The light blue samba dress with the angled feathered hem we saw in the ITT costume spot. It was a very soft baby blue, I would have thought samba requires more aggressive colours. But I was interested to see that they brought in the denim (remember the costume lady talked about the dress was originally planned to have a denim feel) in the shirt on Aljaz. Was not sure why they gave him such a 50s vibe with the wife-beater and the shirt. Abbey’s American Smooth dress was our last view of the pink. It had a classic Come Dancing layered skirt where the hem is pulled using fishing line. The whole thing moved a treat. Loved the detail of giving Aljaz a lavender ruffled prom shirt.

The four remaining couples have all got very particular design styles. Will these continue for the final?

Whilst admitting to knowing little or nothing of fashion, that was an interesting and well written piece Hatlady.
I do like to see men in tuxedo/tie and tails outfits for ballroom although a white jacket would help the likes of Patrick. Get a wee bit tired of the "let's show lots of flesh" to the extent where it detracts attention from performance, both in male and female latin dance.