You be the Judge on Dancing With the Stars Costumes!

Satin Stitches | Apr 09, 2008 | 0

Details can make or break a perfect dance costume!

As I have stated before, I LOVE watching "Dancing With the Stars!"  I have been on vacation this last week, seeing the sights in Montreal, Halifax and Quebec in our northern neighbor, Canada, with my husband.  I was delighted to be able to catch this week's episode, and thankfully not in French, as I do enjoy the judges and hosts comments.  I wrote most of this blog last week.  My observations can be applied to any of the episodes.

Glitz galore!  It is so much fun to see how the professionals costume the amateurs, along with their partners, on each new week of "Dancing With the Stars."  The costume shop for this television show has only one week to conceptualize and then create all the costumes for the dancers.  Last week, there were ten couples, which means that twenty costumes were needed. Additionally, I understand that the wardrobe is also found or made for all the judges and hosts and any guest performers that may need them.  All these rhinestones, feathers and spandex EVERY WEEK!  We have deadlines nearly every week at Satin Stitches, but they are not all seen by millions on national television.

I love that the costume designers tailor each costume to the stars personality or style, for many different looks during the approximately 60 to 90 minutes of the show.  I also love that the designers have the challenge of working with all different body types and shapes, not just the cliche dancer's body.  Anyone can design for the Posh Spice of the world.  It takes much more talent to design costumes that flatter less-than-perfect bodies.

But, do I like all of the designs?  No.

 

From hearing background information from previous seasons, I know that the stars have input into what they will dance in.  I appreciate the collaboration aspect of the show.  This is how all custom designers need to work with their clients.  Input is taken from all the dancers, but then the professionals work their magic for the final costume looks.

One thing that continues to bother me, especially with ballroom dance costumes, is the overuse of nude-colored or clear elastic straps.  My issue is that we all know that a decorative bra needs a back strap to stay on, so why not have a nice strap that matches the rest of the dress, maybe adding some rhinestones?  Way too many times, those blasted nude-toned elastic straps are there.  We are supposed to pretend that they are not there.  OK, but then how is that bra staying on?  This is one of my pet peeves.  Do not fight reality or physics.  Open backs can be beautiful, but we all know that fronts of garments needs support, especially for dancing. To me, this is one very visible difference between fashion design and costume design.  Straps that match the gown are so much classier looking to me.  This is my opinion.  What do you think?

I also do not like nude areas that should not be nude.  A huge mistake was Priscilla Presley's dress this week, where the entire bodice was rhinestoned covered nude fabric.  Come on, that made it really distracting!  At Satin Stitches, we use lots of nude fabrics to make costumes more modest, but we do not put nude over the entire bustline area!  Too unnatural for my taste.  I see that Randall Christensen of Randall Designs, has been the exclusive costume designer for seasons 1 through 5. I am not sure about this year, can anyone fill me in?   I searched online for quite a while and could not find the answer. Last night, the credits listed several people but they ran by too fast to read.

Other issues that I have with some common, current ballroom fashions would be too many drapes that obscure the silhouette of the woman's body.  Many ballroom styles have been created by nondesigners in search of something new or interesting.  Maybe a judge comments on it, so now many dancers copy this feature.  It becomes all the rage, yet is not flattering.  I swear this is how all the dangling fabric pieces attached to ballroom dresses got started.  Now everyone thinks these pieces are required!

Fringe. A current VERY popular decoration on ballroom costumes.  Shannon Elizabeth was wearing a gold fringed costume, dancing the jive last week.  A current style is to use very long fringe.  One thing to keep in mind, is how the costume looks when dancing.  Really long fringe makes a very wide silhouette when it surrounds a body.  If you watched her dance, the fringe swung out, making her look really wide.  Last week, Julianne Houge was wearing a cute little green beaded fringe costume.  The fringe was short, and was flattering when it swung out.  I have seen fringe as long as maybe 12 inches on a dance costume.  When the dancer moves, the fringe swings out, and you lose the silhouette of the dancer.  I think this is distracting and unflattering.  Watch for this the next time you see fringed dance costumes.  What do you think? Flattering or not?

Another drape seen on this show in past episodes, is a drape across the front bodice.  It is usually on a very slim, petite dancer, and looks interesting and stylish when the dancer is standing still.  But again, when the dancer is in motion, the silhouette is very bulky and unflattering and just not attractive.

All of these examples are listed to illustrate that you need to think about possible design details and trims.  You need to visualize how they may look when they are moving during your dance performance.  Just because something looks great when you are standing still, does not mean it will look the same when in performance.

Oh, and PLEASE drop all those nude and clear elastic straps and come up with a more fashionable plan!

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Ballroom, Teacher, Enthusiast, Parent, Studio, Costume Design, Costumes (all tags)