DWTS-Season 10: Week 5 Costume Critique

Satin Stitches | Apr 21, 2010 | 0

Ba-Bye, Kate!

It is Movie Night on DWTS. And the drama continues. The dancers are getting tired and emotional.

Nicole was really good. Evan danced really well. Kate was. Well, Kate was sick and tired. And difficult to watch. Again. Not only because she really cannot dance, but her dress was over done.

I will just talk about her dance costume this week-NOT her dancing or annoying demeanor.

You know that I LOVE diagonal lines. Diagonals ARE great, but there was way too much zig zagging going on, on Kates lavender and blue printed dress. Plus, there were lavender and blue rhinestones on the lavender and blue print sections of her bodice. Not to mention, ruching here and ruching there! Just TOO MUCH.

I guess she has not been getting along with Randall! It was not his best look tonight. I generally appreciate sleeves to cover up not-so-nice upper arm skin, but the matronly slit-sleeves that gathered to their cuffs, were too mature-looking for Kate. The chiffon skirt floated nicely.

Speaking of floating. What was that? Something was floating around in Chelsies bosom area. Oops, a wardrobe malfunction. And Jake was thankful it was not with his lack of pants. Three words. Hollywood Fashion Tape. Great product to glue down your various unmentionable costume items that can float around and out of your costume. Buy it at satinstitches.com!

Back to the costumes...

Best Dress this week!

Best use of Fringe, this week!

Critiquing the additional dancers and performers this week, well, they generally looked great! During Maxwells performance, I spied a very nice little silver costume with a silver to black chiffon drape. The drape was done so you could see her cute little silhouette. Not big and bulky, like Pamela and Nicoles sad draped costumes last week.

Brooke-nice! Her black and white piano keyed-tight gown on Monday night, was very attractive. Then those colors were combined to create a shiny gunmetal gown for the results show. Her ruched, Grecian gown made it two for two. Both gowns were classy and tasteful, with interesting details. Bravo, Brooke!

We were treated to Macys Stars of Dance, spotlighting many dancers, who danced to musical movies. Puttin on the Ritz. Saturday Night Fever. Austin Powers. Fame. Minimally costumed, but all the costumes were chosen to be evocative of the eras they portrayed.

My favorite part of the show? No, I LOVE glitz, and these performances were not glitzy. But very well done and appropriate. I know that when budgets are of utmost importance, you need to pick silhouettes and iconic details that will tell your story.

As I have always said-your costumes should ENHANCE your dance, not DISTRACT from your dance. Less can be more. And sometimes more, can be too much. Case in point-the zig-zag mess of a dress on Kate.

Debi Nova performed, wearing a beautiful dress.  There was a huge draped cowl in front. This neckline is great for a thin, small-busted, hot and stylish singer. It would not have worked so well on a big-busted dancer. Did you notice it looked a little weird when she started to really shake it? Better for voguing. I LOVED it! And yes, I watched Glee, right after DWTS!

Next week, watch out-the celebrities are designing the costumes for themselves and their partners. In the effort to fill in the show, we were treated to this preview announcement. It was fun to see the costume shop and Randall again, with all the bolts of fabrics, yards of fringe and-what IS the difference between sequins and rhinestones???, someone asked. Think plastic and flat or glass diamonds, OK? Of course, then there are those rhymestones, right? One of my very dear customers once kept calling the crystals, rhymestones. It was difficult to not correct her, as I am sure that I have mixed up some words and embarrassed myself. And no, I really cannot spell, either! And my grammar aint always so good!

Back to the costumes. My BEST DRESS award goes to Nicole. Her Pretty Woman iconic red dress was absolutely stunning, as was her dancing. And just how many red rhinestones were called into service to embellish this beautifully danceable dress? And I did not even mind the nude elastic that kept it in place. But her black cover-up, satin coat was over done, and not necessary.

My SECOND BEST DRESS award goes to Cheryl. I loved the sleekness of the silhouette of her tiger-dress. Very sexy and sensual and beautifully cut. And I love the use of a perfectly placed print or plaid. The random use of plaids, stripes or prints sometimes work, but they can be stunning when the designer WORKS them. The faux tail from her collar to her lower back was a fun touch.

Anna wore a classic sleek and sexy, sheer navy mesh costume with lots of rhinestones. Pamela wore an impeccably tailored themed dress, also loaded with rhinestones. I LOVED the ruching at the center front where it looked like the dress zipped up. The butterfly sleeves and red petticoat added to the look of 9 to 5-her movie. Accenting the plaid with the colored rhinestones is time consuming, but very visual. Tailored glitz!

Being a THICK girl myself, I enjoyed Niecys fringed costume. And I LOVE incorporating color schemes that are right next to each other on the color wheel. Her dress blended from red to orange to yellow. The fringe was well done. The fringe on the bodice was held in check. Her entire bodice was NOT covered with fringe.

As I have blogged many times, never cover an entire area with long fringe without being aware of what it will look like when in motion. Too much fringe will expand and create a really large-wide silhouette when dancing. Us thick girls do NOT need features that expand our silhouettes. And the matching studded suspenders on Louis were very fun.

I am going to stay in my lane and keep competing. Wow, what a fun statement! Thank you Niecy. This is what Niecy said when asked how she was going to try and compete with, as Niecy put it-those two thin children-Evan and Nicole. Very well said. We cannot always compete directly with others who are at a totally different level from us, but we CAN compete with ourselves, and try to push ourselves and do our very best!

Chelsie was also wearing a fringed costume. Hers was silver beaded fringe, with a very open back. The horizontal fringe lines were very noticeably on Chelsie, which is fine, because she is so petite, whereas Niecys costume made use of diagonal lines for their slimming effect. I know I am biased, but I liked Niecys vivid colors and dynamic tailed skirt better than Chelsies. Gold star for the THICK girl!

Erin was wearing a studded white shirt over a black studded bra, with plain spandex Capris. Suitable for their Pulp Fiction themed dance, and nicely done, but pretty ho-hum.

As far as the boys? Well, except for Jake in his tighty whities and Chad with his bare, muscled arms, not much excitement, this week. They must have all decided to tailor themselves to not compete, visually, with their ladies.

As the show closed last night, I am thankful that we do not have to watch Kate dance any more. Oh, but I did shed a tear or two. Kate said that she is a cry-baby. Well, I admit that I am also! One of those things that I inherited from my Mom.

Yes, I loved to hate Kate! I am really looking forward to a higher level of dancing next week. I am not so sure about the level of costume designing, with input from the Stars. But, as always, it should be entertaining!

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Jazz, Tap, Broadway, Ballroom, Teacher, Enthusiast, Parent, Costume Design, Costumes, Dancing With The Stars, Reality Shows (all tags)