Strictly Come Dancing costumes do more than establish a colour scheme. They must support movement, fit the performer and communicate a routine’s character within a brief television appearance. Looking at those requirements makes the wardrobe work more interesting than counting crystals alone.
This guide draws on interviews with designer Vicky Gill and accounts from costume maker DSI London. Older interviews are identified by date. It explains the craft without claiming to reveal unannounced outfits or the results of an upcoming programme.
Start with the music and movement
In a March 2022 Living North interview, Gill explained that music and imagined choreography help her find a starting point. She also described considering the individual performer and what would help that person feel confident.
Her account connects clothing structure with dance knowledge. A design is not simply an illustration transferred to fabric: the body wearing it must be able to perform the movement that gives the routine its shape.
DSI London’s page about its contribution to the 2025 series describes collaboration with Gill and the BBC, with costumes produced in its South London studio. That is a documented account of a particular series, rather than a statement that every garment in every future episode follows an identical process.
Halloween needs function as well as a theme
Gill’s October 2017 What to Watch interview offers a useful archive example. She described balancing heavily decorated outfits with simpler ones, both to vary the visual effect and to make the workload achievable.
She also explained that making fabric look distressed or dirty for Halloween took time before sparkle was added. An apparently rough finish can therefore involve deliberate work, rather than being a shortcut compared with a polished ballroom look.
Discussing Helen George’s 2015 mummy-inspired samba costume, Gill emphasised allowing movement appropriate to the dance. The theme supplied a recognisable character, but the outfit still had to serve the performance.
Details that a still photograph cannot explain
The same 2017 interview described securing belts and skirts before performers went on set. Such preparation addresses a practical difference between clothing made to be admired in a pose and clothing worn during a moving partnership.
For a viewer, this suggests a better question than whether an outfit would work at a party: how does it behave during the routine? Look at the way a skirt follows a turn, whether the outline remains clear and how the costume relates to the dance’s mood.
These are viewing prompts, not a substitute for expert judging. A striking costume does not demonstrate that steps were performed accurately, and an understated one does not establish that a couple received less care.
Analysis: design helps an audience read the performance
Our interpretation is that costume works like a visual introduction. Before viewers have absorbed much choreography, they have already encountered a silhouette, a texture and a palette. Those choices can help establish elegance, mischief or menace.
The most effective design need not demand attention throughout. It may allow a particular movement to stand out, or make a themed character immediately legible so that the couple can concentrate on dancing rather than explaining the idea.
There is also a distinction between visual abundance and coherence. Adding more decoration is not automatically the clearest solution. A routine can have a strong identity because its clothing, music and movement point in the same direction.
That is an editorial reading of the craft, not evidence about a contestant’s preferences or a designer’s intention for an outfit we have not discussed. Avoid inferring backstage disagreement from a colour or cut alone.
Where to learn about the current designs
BBC Two’s listing for the 29 October 2026 edition of It Takes Two identifies Gill presenting a preview of some Halloween outfits. It confirms the continuing place of costume discussion in the companion programme without revealing every finished design.
For current information, follow official programme material and clearly dated maker accounts. Archive interviews remain valuable for understanding the work, but their staffing figures, deadlines and episode references should not be silently applied to a different series.