She said that another recycled gown on Strictly was worn by Rose Ayling-Ellis (left) (Image: BBC)
costume chief has expressed her pride in the show’s commitment to recycling dresses. Express Online delves into the looks worn in previous seasons and why viewers may have seen the attire before.
Helen Skelton’s Halloween foxtrot dress, which she wore while dancing with Gorka Marquez, was originally designed for Karen Hauer’s American Smooth performance with Greg Wise in 2021.
However, top designer Vicky Gill, who has been part of the show since 2012, revealed that the dress was transformed using red dye. She said: “It’s something that I have been doing for a long time. I hate being wasteful.”
“We are not only taking care of budgets, but strive for sustainability and something good for the environment”. The dress was dyed just days before the live show.
“We didn’t know how it was going to take, but I thought ‘lets just go for it’,” she told the Mirror in 2022.
“In the end it ticked all the boxes, helped us upcycle, and also create a broken feel for the Halloween week as I didn’t want it to be a perfect dye. Everyone was a winner.”
Strictly fashion designer Vicky Gill has revealed that the dress worn by Helen Skelton for Halloween week (pictured) had been upcycled (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
In a previous series, winner Rose Ayling-Ellis performed an American Smooth with Giovanni Pernice wearing a skirt from the 2019 Christmas special previously worn by Gemma Atkinson.
Vicky explained: “I try and be clever where I use them. In Rose’s case her dress was in the closing number of a Xmas special so it’s not so obvious to the viewer and doesn’t break the magic for the celeb coming into the show.”
“It’s not a case of pulling raggedy old skirts off the rail and going ‘there we go, pop that on’. It’s not cut and paste.”
Vicky, the fashionista who’s dressed the likes of Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud, boasts that her near-encyclopedic knowledge of dresses gives her a distinct advantage.
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That gown had originally been worn by Gemma Atkinson (left) on the Christmas Special in 2019 (Image: BBC)
She said the dress, which had been dyed red, had originally been worn by Karen Hauer (right) (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
With a chuckle, she shares: “My team pull my leg and call me the elephant,” before adding, “I usually have good idea of where things started.”
Vicky, who’s keenly aware of environmental issues, emphasises the importance of finances and avoiding wastefulness in her work.
She notes: “Costing is at the forefront of what we do. It’s not an endless pit of money. We have a healthy budget but its a big show and it runs for 13 weeks.”
Vicky’s fashion CV includes designing for the likes of Kylie Minogue (pictured) and Girls Aloud (Image: Getty Images)
Furthermore, Vicky insists on financial prudence: “It can’t be grotesque, we can’t be throwing money at pieces. You have to mind the pennies.”
However, this frugality fuels her creative drive. “It’s really exciting from a creative perspective” she confessed.
“It’s like what can we do? We can’t just store everything forever and a day, and we are paying for storage as well. It makes you think.”
In Vicky’s realm, outfits never go to waste and often find second lives beyond the screen.
Strictly costume designer Vicky Gill has spoken about recycling dresses on the popular BBC show (Image: PA)
Detailing the lifecycle of the garments, she explained: “We decide at the end of the series what happens. A vast number of dresses go on the main tour, and then the spin off shows.”
“They get repurposed for the professionals’ own tours. If they’re high street items like shirts, we may donate them to charities, dance schools, or organisations in need.”
“From a competitive angle, it can go back into the dance world and then some things are available to hire. It’s a moveable feast.”
Then there are the multitudes of versions of the show airing on television globally.
“The show has been sold in something like 56 countries, so they outfits can go and live another life,” Vicky explained.