Each year around 500 dazzling costumes are created for Strictly Come Dancing as celebrities are thrust into the world of sequins and glitter.
And after each series the wardrobe department sell off the show’s old costumes as they get rid of all the used outfits in preparation for the next series.
Strictly professional Katya Jones has revealed that even the contestants underwear is sold off, and fans can also get hold of host Claudia Winkleman’s iconic looks.
Speaking in an interview with HELLO! Magazine, she explained how the costume team, which is headed up by BAFTA winning costume designer Vicky Gill, also reuse and recycle bits throughout the series.
She revealed: ‘The Strictly wardrobe department are magicians. No one would ever know that our Remembrance Day outfits were once a Halloween frock, or that a beautiful ballroom gown can be turned into a salsa dress within a matter of hours.
Strictly Come Dancing’s wardrobe is sold at auction and fans can even get their hand on the stars’ underwear, Katya Jones has revealed (pictured last year’s winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola)
Each year around 500 dazzling costumes are created for Strictly Come Dancing as celebrities are thrust into the world of sequins and glitter (pictured Layton Williams)
‘Many of our costumes are also used for tours and even travel around the world for the versions of Strictly in other countries.’
Katya explained that at the end of the series they have a ‘Strictly wardrobe sale’ where more casual items from the season are sold to the crew.
‘You can even find trousers and T-shirts with a ‘Nikita’ or ‘Giovanni’ name label on them… as well as shirts that still have underwear attached. Sometimes even Claudia Winkleman’s suits make an appearance.’
While the Strictly costumes might take shape in little more than 24 hours, planning for the show’s wardrobe begins in May.
Costume chief Vicky — who has headed up the department since 2012, and whose fashion CV includes designing for Kylie, Girls Aloud and Dancing On Ice — meets all the contestants over the summer to discover their tastes and idiosyncrasies.
Vicky and her team like to have a few dresses made for each celebrity prior to launch, but once the knockout process begins, it’s a week-by- week affair.
She told the Daily Mail back in 2021: ‘It’s very fast-paced; I feel like we all step on to a train back in August and then it picks up speed and it’s a case of us keeping everyone on the train.
‘We don’t know who is going out so it is very much a seven to ten-day process.’
Katya revealed: ‘The Strictly wardrobe department are magicians. No one would ever know that our Remembrance Day outfits were once a Halloween frock, or that a beautiful ballroom gown can be turned into a salsa dress within a matter of hours’
Vicky Gill (pictured) has headed up the Strictly Come Dancing costumes department since 2012, and has a fashion CV that includes designing for Kylie, Girls Aloud and Dancing On Ice
There might be as much as 500ft of feathers rolled out per series and one feather-laden gown requires 33ft of adornment. The wardrobe team has even given the application of ostrich feathers a name: feather-ography
Having started to thinking about concepts for the following week on a Thursday, once she knows who’s survived the weekend’s results show, it’s all systems go.
‘On a Sunday night, Monday morning I do very, very rough sketches of all the silhouettes I feel will exist within the show,’ she explained.
‘I need to think about the whole picture, not just one person and then I go back to each individual and try to think what shape do I need for the dance style and what shape do I think they will be happy wearing.’
And she is often working right up to the wire as she explained: ‘I might not know what something needs to look like in terms of the colour of the embellishment [until the rehearsals], so I will fit those people at 7.30 pm on a Friday, so we have got 24 hours to embellish it ready for Saturday.’
Last series Claudia revealed the very surprising theme behind her Strictly Come Dancing outfits after she shared how she chooses a different theme for her style every year.
In the past she has dressed as rock and roll legend Elvis Presley and even as the country of France.
And for the 2023 series the host themed her entire wardrobe around a snooker player after one viewer commented that she was dressed like sport player Steve Davis.
Last year Claudia based her outfits around the theme of snooker
In 2022 Claudia styled her looks based on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic
Since seeing the comment, Claudia’s stylist Sinead McKeefry chose snooker-themed choices, with the 51-year-old donning a series of monochrome numbers.
A source told The Mirror: ‘Claudia thought the quip was very funny and there are so many bright colours on a snooker table – including the green felt – that it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have some fun.’
In 2022 Claudia styled her looks based on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic – and even had a cardboard cutout of the pop icon in her dressing room.
The year before she dressed ‘only as France’.
