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

I loved loved YASB dress. A throw back to the classy simple dances and gorgeous dresses from previous series. Davood in tails oh a Lil swoon and oh my the dance. For me my first goosebumps moment either that or the heating had gone off!.
Thought costumes this week so much better. Think Tess forgot her new cape wasn't a dress and too embarrassed take off to reveal Victoria's secrets instead.

I am a very naughty Diamond - I was so excited about being away that I forgot to comment on last week's dresses.  So I shall combine last week and this week in one post.

Last Week

Alex's dress would do nothing for very many women but it looked sensational on her - it really suited her and moved well with her.  Loved it :-)

YASB's dress was beyond gorgeous.  However, it looked just a tad too much 'Hollywood filmstar marries a minor prince' crossed with Elsa from frozen.  So, very beautiful, but a bit bridal and cold for the dance.  But I'd wear it any day....

Katya's dress was not at all to my taste - no glamour involved. But it fitted the concept so I won't be horrible.

Debbie's dress was also a winner - what was not to like?

Thought I would hate Mollie's dress when I saw it on ITT, but it looked fabulous on the dance floor and the famous yellow fabric from Joanne's Singing in the Rain Dress and Jannettes forties number from the beginning of this series still keeps on giving... It is truly wonderful.

Gemma looked wonderful in a nice little red dress, though it was more party dress than full-on Sambatastic bum-ruffle outfit.

Also loved Susan's dress - everyone has been saying purple, but it looks dark blue on my screen with lots of pink frou-frou underlay which swirled out fabulously

The chaps scrubbed up well with Gio in a forties style suit (very in keeping withe mood of the dance). Davood in tails (much preferable to the lacy blouse with his pecs and biceps popping out) and Gorka getting his man-tits out all in black.  Not so keen on Aljaz's matching red outfit to Gemma's red dress or AJ velvet long line jacket.

Paso thingummy bomb - they all looked good dressed the same with different colours for demarcation.

All the female pros were wearing gorgeous dresses in shades of peach and coral - but didn't dance in them!  I was beyond disappointed that we didn't get to see them do their stuff.  I liked the Fashion/Vogue pro dance (amusing and Oti looked sensational and really OWNED it) but I was lookign forward to the peach n.umbers doing a bit of wafting.  No idea why they wore them if they weren't going to dance in them. I'm v cross

But I think this is the best week for dresses so far.

This Week (Musicals

Well... when they get TOO themey it all goes pear-shaped, so it was bound to be a bit all over the place.

Debbie turned up in Miss Haversham's smoke-damaged wedding dress with some blonde ears stuck on her head.  Either be completely American Smooth and have a nice dress in a nice colour, or be completely themed and put her in a onesie-type cat suit (as opposed t the O.la type catsuit).  I've never seen Cats (I'm allergic to Andy LW) but I believe she may have been based on a specific cat (Rumtumtigger??) and that is where the tattered, smoke damaged idea came from.  But as I say, it was six AS and half a dozen Cat and ened up a mess.  Miaow!  Gio was all fuzzy hair and ears - not really sure what else he was wearing...

Katya WAS Sally Bowles! She looked amazing, and if she had been all set to do a Charleston or even a QS it would have been sensational.  But it was a bit weird for a Samba.  They seem to be moving away from the old bum-ruffles for Samba - but a Charleston dress is a move too far.  But at least they came down on the side of theme and stuck with it all the way, and both Katya and Joe looked the biz.

Poor Gemma!  Her dress was the oposite of Mollie's last week in that I thought it looked gorgeous on ITT an dthen was hugely disapppointed with it's performance on the dancefloor.  Again, they seemed not to be sure whether to go all out theme or just have a nice QS dress.  The dress had QS leanings in the skirt, but with the cottage loaf hair and massive feather it leaned back the other way towards Babs in Hello Dolly.  How Gemma managed to dance a QS without being overbalanced or weighed down by her hair and that enormous feather I'll never know.  She should have been given additional marks for that alone. But Alajaz looked wonderful :-)

Alexandra's dress was simply awful. It wasn't at all Charleston and it wasn't at all Mary Poppins.  The bit that WAS Mary Poppins - the boots - looked wronger than wrong with that short skirt.  As did the tight-in waist and the high collar with the neck ruffle.  And the colours were yuk too.  I hated that dress as much as I loved Alex's dress last week.  Not sure why they thought such a short skirt was either Mary Poppins OR Charelston?  Alex's rumba dress was way longer and could have passed more as a charelston dress than this monstrosity. Poor woman.  Gorka looked the part though, as did the rest of the staging.

YASB for once looked horrible.  The girly curls didn't go with the knicker flashing side splits and it really didn't say AT.  Whether it said Phantom of the Opera I will leave to you, as my Andy L Webber allergy gets stronger by the day.

Mollie - what can I say except...meh.  It was white, which suits her.  It had a bit of waft, which is required by the dance, but... wouldn't rush myself to try it on. Couldn't see, despite Vicki's explanation on ITT, how it was at all Sandy, and it didn't say rumba at all to me. It looked a little unfinished, actually.
Very little or no embellishment - ad I'm sure Vicki said that the top part was meant to look like a cardy - which they could have done with some beading on th eedges of the top.  Can't even remember what AJ wore - his hair took all my attention.  Looked like they were aiming for a new world record....

I just wish they would choose muscial n.umbers which go with the style of dance, eg something out of West Side story for a latin number and something from a 1930/40s Fred film for an AS - then the clothes would match both the theme AND the dance without trying to do both and ending up a complete mess.

Lecture over....

I was a bit puzzled by Debbays face make-up. It looked more like she'd got a 6 o'clock shadow under her nose a bit like an Adolf 'tache. It's a shame her make-up wasn't more visible. I thought Gio's cat make-up was a lot stronger

A very mixed bag with the costumes this week, some were stunning, others abysmal.

I liked Gemma’s dress on ITT, but it looked quite uncomfortable in reality, and I thought from the rear view the bacofoil material wasn’t the most flattering.  The hairstyle may have been in keeping with the musical, but it was hard to recognise Gemma underneath it.

Mollie – such a plain dress, not much to say about it.  Like Diamonds has said, I wondered was it even finished?

Joe – wowser, I loved Katya’s dress – the sparkly green bodice and the really strange skirt which looked like ribbons with pom poms at the bottom. I liked Joe’s quirky outfit too, and the fact that his waistcoat matched her green sparkles (ha ha, I’m a bit of a symmetry freak, I like there to be some cross-over of colour between outfits)

Debbie – it looked like the dress designer and make-up artists couldn’t decide whether to go for feline or not. The result was confusing. I didn’t even realise she was wearing cat ears until after the dance.

Davood – thought he looked OK, but I didn’t like the cut or colour of Nadiya’s dress

Alex – oh dear, where to start. The boots may have been authentic Mary Poppins, but they looked so clompy.  I didn’t like the dress when it was shown midweek on ITT,  and in the interim it’d got even worse. Surely they could’ve come up with something a bit nicer.

I really liked C.laudia’s black dress with the two rows of buttons, it suited her.

Katya stood out for all the right reasons.

Alex stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Gemma looked like a character in an Agatha Christie film.

B4p wrote:I was a bit puzzled by Debbays face make-up. It looked more like she'd got a 6 o'clock shadow under her nose a bit like an Adolf 'tache.

I never knew Mary Poppins wore bovver boots? That was what it looked like she was wearing. I didn't like Joe's outfit either - it looked like it was one patched together with left over material that didn't match and didn't even suit the dance. I loved Gemma's dress and headgear - it really caught the flavour of the dance and theme and she wore it well. Gorka looked great in the Bert outfit.

The boots a real flop and stomp. .. I thought they had found them from an ex miners house who enjoyed punk

saxonsiren wrote:The boots a real flop and stomp. .. I thought they had found them from an ex miners house who enjoyed punk

Sax that's too funny!

I haven't delved into the world of DS for about five years, but who knows what made me go and have a peek today.

Apart from all the furore over Alexandra in the dance off for the second week, there is a whole lot of stuff bouncing around about the less-than wonderful costumes this year. Obviously, being DS, there are the really harsh critics who think Vicky Gill should be sacked, but most are aware that it isn't her talent that is in question ,but either the BBC costume budget this year or the pros briefings - or both. There is a lot of concensus that the show has lost the glamour and glitz that it used to have and that was so loved as a bit of escapism from the drudgery of the real world.

So it's not just me, or a few of us on here who has been failed to be set alight by most of this year's outfits. It's a fairly mass observation.

Make a bow tie and and posh frock mandatory for the final. Don't know why men don't jump at the chance to wear evening dress; I actually love it (hired though, before you start thinking I'm posh . Worn the black tie full regalia a few times and felt like a king. ( Got mistaken fro a doorman a couple of times too, which was a bit embarrasing)

TANGOLERO wrote:Make a bow tie and and posh frock mandatory for the final. Worn the black tie full regalia a few times and felt like a king. ( Got mistaken fro a doorman a couple of times too, which was a bit embarrasing)

I agree about some posh gear for the final. It would be good to have one ballroom, one latin, and a show dance.

Talking about appearances making a difference - I knew a black consultant that used to slob about wearing casual clothes at conferences. I can't tell you how many times he was mistaken for a taxi driver when he tried to book in, rather than being one of the main speakers

Totally would love compulsory suited and booted for the men in the final and chiffon, floaty gorgeous dreamy dresses and long arm gloves for the ladies! I do despair when I make the effort to pop on a frock for a nice meal out a little more posh and find jeans and jumpers and tracky bottoms

saxonsiren wrote:Totally would love compulsory suited and booted for the men in the final and chiffon, floaty gorgeous dreamy dresses and long arm gloves for the ladies! I do despair when I make the effort to pop on a frock for a nice meal out a little more posh and find jeans and jumpers and tracky bottoms :no:

Add grandkids who turn up for family meals (hey, even weddings and funerals) in back to front baseball caps and using mobile phones to text each other. Our generation might be behind in technology, but we're streets ahead in dress and manners.

TANGOLERO wrote:Add grandkids who turn up for family meals (hey, even weddings and funerals) in back to front baseball caps and using mobile phones to text each other. Our generation might be behind in technology, but we're streets ahead in dress and manners.

Do you remember when you weren't allowed personal phone calls at work? Try explaining that to the mobilistas.

Mi like to people watch and lost count of families at tables all on the phone ignoring each other! Also babies in pushchairs given a phone to play with We now switch off phones when out in restaurants /pubs etc so a complete break phones/tablets stay downstairs not in bedroom of night too.
Trying prise my student from phone before meal a pain...

Normally I wait till after the Results Show to comment on costumes, if I have anything to say at all, but for once, the BBC Wardrobe did a really great job at dressing the ladies this week - well mostly. Even at the top of the evening, Tess and Claudia looked fabulous. I especially liked Tess's pixellated red dress. I don't always like her choices but I liked this. I wasn't sure about the hem line, but was assured by Mrs Twirlie, who deals in that sort of thing, that asymetrical hems such as this are the height of fashion at the moment! I presume they buy their own dresses (tax deductible of course) but then Darcy came on wearing... well something of a completely different standard. Showing off her gorgeous legs through the skirt, it looked as if it cost an arm and a leg!

To the dances...
Right out of the gate Katya's dress took us by surprise simply because it wasn't sparkly. It was a deep matt navy/midnight blue with a thin sparkly belt and cut through with the white panels in the skirt. It matched, blended and contrasted with Joe's blue suit wonderfully. The whole thing was utterly tasteful, suave and sophisticated, just like their dance. Very appropriate. A nice change from all the sparkles we normally see.

Alexandra's Viennese Waltz dress was likewise a triumph. The deep pink sparkling herring bone pattern set into a beautiful matt white dress which transformed into a white diaphanous skirt with feathers, was just magnificent. The less said about Gorka's disgusting white suit the better however. I find white tail suits tacky at the best of times and are best relegated to old black and white films, but if you must have them at least tailor them properly. The tails in the suit had no body whatsoever. I know they should be a little slack, but that was ridiculous. Hideous.

Mollie drew the short straw this week with her Samba dress. It was neither one thing nor the other. The bodice was OK, the colour a dirty gold but nothing terrific, but the skirt was pretty terrible. Standard stuff for AJ.

I loved Gemma's Rumba dress. The colour suited her so well, the length of skirt suited her legs (which are great), and I loved the strings of tassels all around the dress which made it seem to sway so much. Someone has remarked that Gemma's dresses often have a high front. This did too, with a plunging back. I wonder if it actually accentuates her shape, which is one of the most feminine in a wholesome way (if that's not too old fashioned a concept) that we've seen for some time.

I didn't think much of Debbie's Jive dress, and I didn't think it did much for Debbie nor Debbie for it. It seemed to be trying to make an "exited" statement, but just made a mess. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great.

Joe and Katya's AT costumes were - well I don't really know. They were good I suppose but they didn't have as much of a wow factor as some of the others I didn't think. The futuristic aspect to the clothes didn't really come across much and didn't seem to have anything to do with anything else.

Alexandra's Salsa dress was another of the great triumphs of the evening. Great colour and the shape formed by all the strings of tassels over a leotard was just glorious. It showed off Alex's figure wonderfully and both allowed and accentuated the movement of the dance. This time, Gorka's sparkly shirt in matching red fitted right in!

Mollie's Waltz dress was an improvement on her Samba one. The top half anyway was gorgeous. Body hugging with those beautiful spiral panels of see through material and solid material studded with crystals made it quite mesmerising. The skirt though was another disappointment. A little reminiscent of a toilet roll cover, the material was not flattering and didn't move well. The three strips of shine along the hem smacked of running out of ideas!

At first glance I thought Gemma's Tango dress was going to be horrible. I wasn't smitten with the green, but then it really began to grow on me. The way the seams of the bodice again showed off her shape and the full skirt suddenly revealed a split for part of the dance, I really thought it was very clever indeed. Not the greatest dress of the night, but not bad either. Another high fronted dress. I wonder if it just boils down to being afraid of falling out of her bra if the dress is too low? Who knows. Whatever, she has a lovely back and it's a joy to look at!

Debbie's dress for the Foxtrot was very elegant indeed. Shades of times past. The beautiful black lace with touches of pink petticoats underneath were a delight as the skirt moved back and forth.

Generally then, a feast for the eyes. Only Debbie's Jive dress and Mollie's Samba dress were real disappointments. All the others had something to recommend them or were totally spectacular. Roll on the Final.

[Edit.    Results Show... OMG Claudia's dress - What WAS she wearing? Truly awful!]