DWTS Season 14: Week 8 Costume Critique
Double-Elimination Week on Dancing With the Stars! Brooke’s apparel, both nights didn’t leave her in jeopardy this week, as both dresses were winners. They were both asymmetrical, classy and not trashy at all.
But not all the outfits this week were winners. I’ll start with those in jeopardy: Melissa and Maks wore questionable outfits for their Fox Trot. Maks was trying to channel his inner nerd. I don’t think he HAS an inner nerd! He wore something many guys wear to work. Come on Maks, show us your outer dancer! Melissa tried to show more skin, this week, but it wasn’t skin, it was nude-toned Lycra. Her animal printed costume was generally attractive, with a nice silhouette and visual flow, but the unnaturalness of the faux skin was just a little weird for me. And something wasn’t quite right, as she seemed to need a little ‘perkiness’. Don’t we all wish for a little more ‘perkiness’?
But the outfit that should have been kicked off the show, was Derek’s dull and boring (and wrinkled) gray shirt paired with gray pants. He looked frumpy, shlumpy and suitable for sitting it out, at home, in the Barcalounger, not for dancing with top scoring (both in dancing and in costuming) HOT and ‘stylin’ Maria! And he and his Samba/Bollywood trio partner didn’t score any points with me with their miss-matched costumes. They should have been identical-as bookends, surrounding Maria, but instead their pants were the same, but they wore different colored and trimmed shirts. Mark’s ‘news boy’ look for his and Katherine’s Viennese Waltz wasn’t very exciting, either.
So much for the boy’s lack-luster outfits. The good guy’s outfits? Well, I LOVED Donald’s flashy, classy gold boucle/lame jacket for his Tango presentation. The double-breasted jacket was impeccably tailored, and worn with basic black tuxedo pants and a matte-finished, gold shirt.
I enjoyed Roshon’s nerdy plaid jacket, as I can believe ‘nerdiness’ from him (rather than Maks) and the colors of the plaid matched his khakis, white shirt and black bow tie. Come on, he was cute, and this was a nicely done ‘themed’ look. His and Troupe Trio partner’s black matador outfits were textured and manly. The jackets didn’t match perfectly, and I would have preferred that they did, but they were similar enough that they accompanied Chelsie nicely.
Mark and Tristan, along with Katherine, looked great in their black suits with blood red pocket squares, until Katherine tried to rip off her suit, resulting in one of her pant legs dangling from her foot, where I just read that an un-choreographed kick sent it sailing across the floor. Bravo, Katherine!
More fabulous guys outfits? Donald again, with his red lame jacket for his Trio Jive dance, and of course Maks and Val looked great in their satin-trimmed vests (which gave an edgy-ness to a standard costume piece) sans shirts, for their Trio Samba with Melissa. And then William and Tony, in their Zorro Paso Doble Trio costumes! Ooh, la la…men in satin charmeuse – my FAVORITE! There is something about a feminine fabric and style on VERY masculine guys that rings my bell, if you know what I mean? They looked fabulous, darling…as Bruno might say. And there is nothing better than a man in uniform (full dress, formalwear uniform, that is…) with William all dolled up in his suave and debonair Fox trot duds! Just remember that ‘fit is everything’, well most everything! When your suit or dress fits you perfectly, no matter what size or shape you are, you are going to look MUCH better than if you need a trip to the tailor’s shop. So guys (and dolls…) spend that extra money to have all your clothes properly altered, it is well worth the expense.
What ladies looked fabulous this week, besides Brooke? I was feeling stingy with my ‘TENS’ this week, so I gave 9.5 to Peta in her black vinyl Tango costume and to Maria in her silver gray to black Viennese Waltz gown. Also for Katherine’s white lace Viennese gown, Cheryl’s black and white printed Fox Trot gown, Melissa’s sultry black dress that was revealed from under her prim garden party frock for her Trio Samba, and Cheryl’s plum and black Paso Doble Trio costume with the Zorro boys! All the other ladies rated a ‘NINE’ for their ensembles (except for the aforementioned Melissa’s Zebra printed costume, which scored lower).
The highlights and disappointments of these costumes? Well, Peta’s black vinyl costume was lined with gold satin – a VERY nice ‘pop’ of color and her back nude elastic was only needed to keep the dress on. With Maria’s Viennese Waltz dress, I LOVED the edgy-ness of the raw-cut chiffon and the colors going from silver gray to black at the hem – with the rhinestoning following suit, but didn’t care for the use of the back nude elastic.
I liked Katherine’s woven white lace, Viennese Waltz dress, as it could have been used as a social dancing dress, with no silly nude elastic straps and it was constructed as ‘real clothing’, not as a costume, even with the under-dress being mint green. Chelsie’s Fox Trot costume had a 40’s-50’s theme to it, and was young, cute and sporty, but just a ‘tad’ boring.
Cheryl’s Fox Trot black and white printed dress was a refreshing use of a non-solid woven fabric with an elegant silhouette and wonderful use of ostrich feather tufts at the hemline. The only negative was not using a decorative strap to complete the bodice lines across the back, and instead, opting for the ugly nude elastic. Once Katherine shook off her pant leg on her Trio Cha Cha costume, her beaded fringe red-to-black costume was lovely, except for the same non-use of a decorative back strap to complete the lines of the bodice.
Chelsie’s bright blue lace dress, for their Paso Doble Trio was classy, but just a little boring, while Cheryl’s plum lace over black charmeuse dress was much more stunning, with one bare arm and strikingly deep ‘V’ necklines on her bodice. But perhaps it’s just that Cheryl has a more strikingly stunning shape?
So really, nearly all the costumes were really well done this week, although I was disappointed with the costumes for the Dick Clark salute during the Results Show, which were generally not very attractive and pretty boring. They really looked like an afterthought - that the budget had already been spent on the ‘Stars’ and ‘Pros’ costumes (it probably HAD!). But also, American Bandstand was very popular during the 1960’s (yes, I was a big fan) and the costumes on this DWTS show, had a 50’s look to them, so I felt the costumes were fighting MY image of the show. I’m guessing that most of you weren’t made uncomfortable with this, and just enjoyed the dancing, right? I’ll be ‘over’ this issue in time for next week’s Semi-Finals!