DWTS - Season 10: Week 10 Costume Critique

Satin Stitches | May 26, 2010 | 0

Our Finalists!

For those of you who decided against watching this Season 10 of Dancing With the Stars-I think you really missed out. It turned out to be a really fun show, with lots of drama, lots of talented and UN-talented dancers, and of course-LOTS to talk about, with their costumes!

None of us were surprised, with the most talented Nicole and her partner-Mr. Kooky Personality-Derek. I felt that the non-winning finalists were really gracious and humble that they had achieved so much, even without winning that oh-so-wonderful Mirror Ball Trophy!

I know you are ALL waiting, with bated breath-for the winners and losers in the Best and Worst Costume category, right? Drum roll, please!

Best Hostess Dress, during the finals-the beautifully ruched purple gown from Monday night, was the winner. It was sassy and classy. The definite LOSER-the nasty golden yellow miss-mash of this and that, which unfortunately left not enough to the imagination.

Brooke-did you not notice how much more sophisticated you looked, with just the right amount of cleavage showing with the purple dress? The yellow dress looked like amateur night at the Prom Dress Follies.

Best Extraneous Dance Costume by a Non-Finalist, goes to Niecy and her HOT pink costume. All her jiggly parts were shown off in fine style! Her co-dancer, Pamela was wearing a not very flattering costume. I loved the little ruffled panties and seamed stockings, but the bustier-looking top was not really attractive. Too much unattractive fabric, I think!

But, the Worst Extraneous Dance Costume by a Non-Finalist, goes to Buzz. Oh my!  I would like a count on exactly HOW MANY rhinestones were used to decorate his silver-gray flight suit costume?

Worst Extraneous Part of a Dance Costume by a Non-Finalist goes to Kate. When she transformed her costume by removing the long skirt to reveal a little black glitzy panel skirt, I was dismayed. It fit too tight and the sides of the skirt dipped down, rather than maintaining a nice parallel to the floor. This is how amateur patternmakers create a skirt. Must be that Kate and Randall are still not getting along!

Now on to the MAJOR awards-

One of this week's best costumes!

One of this week's worst costumes!

Best Redemption Dance Costume goes to Erin. Her costume was a redemption costume, in my book, as well. This weeks orange-red, muy caliente Samba costume had a similar silhouette to her funky, purple feathered costume from a few weeks ago, but this version looked SO MUCH better!

Because Erin is so tall, the wideness in the hips was fine. On another note, if you are not as tall and thin as Erin, do not opt for a hip-heavy design. I loved the skirt dangling ruffles. If you do not know how these were created, they were lots of circles of charmeuse satin that were sewn together into long strips. Then many of these were attached to the rhinestone encrusted hip-band in varying lengths, for a very dimensional look. The only improvement, for me, would have been to have had a matching orange-red base, rather than nude, for the bra-top and hip-band, for a more intense look.

A close Runner Up for Best Redemption Dance Costume goes to Nicole. And, as with Erins costume, Nicoles Rumba costume this week was much more attractive. Her first Rumba costume had a bulky drape that covered her curvaceous body, and was VERY unflattering.

Nicoles HOT, red slip dress with red chiffon drape was beautiful. It was sultry and DID show off her bodacious body. The sleek and sensuous satin was embellished with beaded lace at the hem and neckline, similar to Pamelas black slip dress from this season. The drape worked this time, because it was more sheer, and it was precisely placed on her costume so that when she danced, you would catch many glimpses of her silhouette.

Worst Redemption Dance Costume goes to Anna. At Satin Stitches, we have incorporated piano keys into costumes, and much more successfully that this Viennese Waltz gown that Anna wore. Her dress was too simple and too cute-and not in a good way. The bodice was totally plain, except for the horizontal stripes that morphed into the piano keys on part of the front. Her simple skirt consisted of a layer of black mesh, or chiffon, over a layer of white chiffon, which of course made it look gray. No, simple is not always a bad thing, but this dress was very ho-hum. The only thing I liked, was that Evan played her keys in their final pose!

Best Pair of Costumes in the Free-Style Dance goes to Erin and Maks. Erin and Maks started the Free-Style competition off with a gutsy routine. They brought in Mandy Moore to choreograph a SYTYCD style dance. The costuming was more street apparel than dance costume, which I liked and it made sense.

The bedroom was the stage, so lingerie was the apparel. Maks wore an interestingly simple long-sleeved shirt with some narrow banding trim. It matched Erins outfit made of a light silver-gray, woven double-georgette skirt with uneven tiers cascading to her knees. Her bodice had the look of a black stretch lace bra-over gray, with a little glitz. Did you notice that there was a matching silver-gray leotard, attached at the empire seamline? Many times, in street-style dance costuming, this is forgotten, and a dance brief or boy-shorts are pulled on, under a dress or slip. Easy to do, but what you miss out on, is a nice sleek, unbroken color line, when the skirt of the dress flips up during the dance action. The second function of an attached leotard is to keep the costume in place, so it does not shift.

Best Single Costume for the Free-Style Dance goes to Anna. Her 80s, punkish skirt combined red tulle and a stiff woven red fabric-maybe satin, for a very fun look. Her stoned bra under a matching red mesh bodice was just the right finishing touch. Anna-I LOVED it.  Evan wore a tuxedo shirt and bow tie with vintage 80s cuffed and rolled tux pants with his high top white shoes. Simple styling that evoked the 1980s period of their music.

Worst Pair of Costumes in the Free-Style Dance goes to Nicole and Derek. They took their places to start their Free-Style routine in matching rhinestone-studded pinstriped suits and lime green shoes and white shirts. The outfits looked a little contrived, and yes, as I suspected, they removed these boxy duds to reveal a different outfit.

Derek simply removed his jacket and tie along with his faux white shirt to reveal a studded lime green shirt. Nicole stripped down to a studded lime green bra-top and Capri pants. It was NOT a surprise, because the camera panned away to the judges for several beats too long. I imagine chaos as they stripped out of camera range.

Then they botched their last lift. I am thinking-perhaps too much to do, with stripping off their clothes, to concentrate on their really difficult moves. The revealed costumes were adequate, but if you are on a budget-skip the double money spent on the costume change and put as much money into your basic costumes. IF MONEY IS NO OBJECT, by all means contract your costume designers for twice as many costumes! We will appreciate the order.

Worst Use of Fringe in a Costume goes to Utah Valley University Formation Team. Their red chainette fringe was WAY TOO LONG! There was too much of it, including the deeper red at the V-hemline, as they stood still. BUT, did they look at themselves when they moved? The fringe swung out so far from their bodies when they spinned and moved, the silhouette was VERY unflattering. And the white trim did nothing to add to the appeal of the dresses.

Purdue University Formation Team also chose fringe for their costumes. They used gold beaded fringe that was shorter than their rivals fringe, but it still showed a too-wide silhouette when they moved. Again, the design was great for posing, but always test your costumes for what they look like, for your routine. This is ALWAYS part of our costume critique at Satin Stitches, while we are creating custom dance costumes, whether it is for a group or for an individual.

Best Use of Fringe in a Costume goes to Nicole, for her final dance performance costume. Her Proud Mary, gold beaded fringe was shorter and much less thick than the other contenders for this award. Did you notice how much more FLATTERING it looked on her, when she danced? This is a classic case of Less Is More. It was much more flattering to use the more minimal fringe, and also the placement of the fringe on the diagonal was much more flattering than just placing it horizontally-the traditional use of fringe.

You can choose chainette fringe, which is much less expensive than beaded fringe in the shorter width. The thinness of Nicoles fringe was achieved by gluing on tufts of fringe. It was not the full beaded fringe-by-the-yard. This takes much more time to create, but it gives you a much more minimal look when you do not use the fringe trim as it comes strung by the yard.

Worst Costume of the Week goes to Anna. What on earth was she and-or Randall thinking? TULLE GONE BAD, is all I have to say! Some of Annas dresses, this season, were beautiful, but so many were futzy and prissy and unsophisticated. This last dance costume really showed this! Come on, gather some netting together and throw it over a black leotard and strap on a belt and glue on a few rhinestones? OK, maybe if you need a costume in a pinch, it could work, but I like classy and sophisticated. This awful costume won its award-hands down!

I thoroughly enjoyed Dancing With the Stars, again this season, and I really enjoyed doing these critiques! Now I will have to think a little harder and deeper to come up with fresh ideas for my occasional blogs. But, as with summer, I can work at them when I feel the urge, and will not be on a weekly deadline!

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