As Seen on Strictly: Halloween Week

Halloween Week is always one of the highlights of Strictly – and definitely a week when costume designer Vicky Gill and her team can have a lot of fun, as well as working incredibly hard! Some of the details in the costumes you saw on Saturday have been in the planning since summer…

All the celebrities and pros looked incredible – from the Day of the Dead opener to Sunday night’s pro dance with Oti as all-conquering queen – but the two costumes that received the most praise on social media were Lauren Steadman’s and Kate Silverton’s.

“Lauren was so excited about her Evil Queen costume,” confides Vicky Gill. “Everyone secretly likes a wee bit of dress up! Black cock feathers were a main feature of this garment – they were layered onto the low-plunge satin lapel base.

“The feathers were shaped, trimmed and layered in a brickwork fashion to the jawline giving a strong shape, but in such a way as not to irritate her neck, or hinder what was a full-on fabulous performance,” she continues.

With a view of the back of Lauren’s dress you can also see how the feathers were arced from shoulder to shoulder – “with crystal embellishment running down the back of the dress”, adds Vicky. “Approximately 3,000 rhinestones in total were used on the garment. A limited-edition silver sequin velvet fabric was used on the bodice, with a black mesh centre back panel.”

Lauren’s circle paso skirt was made in DSI’s Black Stretch Satin with a lining of Silver Satin. “The belt detail was something we experimented with during the summer months,” says Vicky. “It worked a treat.”

As for Kate, her rumba dress had to convey the magic of a frozen kingdom – and that’s just what it did. “Kate is disappearing before our eyes,” notes Vicky. “She’s looking super week on week and growing in confidence. I designed this dress for her earlier in the run in a shorter form – it was great excuse to get it into the show and keep up the sparkleometer in what can be a very dark week!

“Bias cut strips of Silver and White Twinkle were prepared so that I could create the longer line skirt needed for the rumba. The base of the dress was constructed out of Tan Mesh and Lycra, with gold and silver hanging beads from the hem of the skirt to the top of the hip giving shape and soft movement for the rumba.

“The upper body was scattered with silver sequin and crystal embellishment. As a general rule on Halloween we will scuff up the garments a bit to make them look old and we also have ageing sprays, but for Kate’s the team had strict instructions not to do any of that on this little beauty.”

Other memorable dances on the night included Faye Tozer’s extraordinary Fossesque theatre jazz dance and Stacey Dooley’s Doctor Who tango. “Faye and Stacey’s looks featured simple but very effective shapes,” explains Vicky.

“Faye’s top was a man’s jacket which was altered to streamline and complement the female form, while Stacey was wearing culottes – I do this from time to time. We were working on a similar shape to the one we created for Katya’s quickstep last year. It’s functional but feminine all in one go.”

Can Vicky share any secrets about how the costumes changed during the course of the week? “Everything is forever changing,” she laughs. “Lights, camera, action! It all plays a big part in what you ultimately see on a Saturday night.”