Trio Night on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is always fun. This season, it seems that the show brought back more amateurs to compliment the Stars than in past years…this seems to be putting more pressure on the Pros to ‘whip into shape’ the Stars that may not have been practicing their dancing in the last several years since they were on the show. 

Melissa Rycroft joined Juan Pablo and Cheryl for a Cha Cha routine with Juan Pablo in a very basic black satin/crepe woven shirt paired with black jeans. His ‘decorations’ were  a few dangling chains. Any guy could pull together his look successfully. It would be a bit more difficult for ladies to pull together the gunmetal dance costumes that Cheryl and Melissa wore. Their costumes were luscious with lots of glitz and beaded fringe. At first, I thought they matched, but then I discovered that even though they were very similar, they did NOT match. Why not???? This is another one of my persnickety pet peeves… I always wonder if the costumers didn’t have the expertise to create two costumes that were EXACTLY alike? At Satin Stitches, we are ALWAYS tasked to do exactly this: whether for a duet or for an entire performance group of 30 dancers, each costume needs to look alike, and each costume needs to be proportionately identical, no matter if the performer is a small or a large size.

Amy Purdy then joined Tinashe and Brandon to dance a Tango. I’ll refer to my persnickety pet peeve from the last paragraph… It appeared that Tinashe and Brandon wore identical red tailored suits, with only a different tie. Great! But then I noticed that Amy’s suit was oh, so similar…but with no black stripe on the side of her jacket and her lapels were different. Hmmm…did they run out of the black striped trim? None-the-less, these suits were impeccably tailored.

Joey Fatone danced an Argentine Tango with John and Emma. And again, the gentlemen wore similar costumes which coordinated with Emma in her serpent-trimmed crushed velvet costume. Both vests featured leather-like belts, metal closures on the front and 3-D cap-sleeved shoulders. Charcoal gray shirts and black trousers completed their look. Emma’s asymmetrical costume featured a 3-D snake wrapping around her body – kinda creepy! I appreciated the guy’s outfits as they worked on ‘real’ sized/shaped guys more than the kitschy costume worn by Emma.

Scarlett Byrne joined Evanna and Keo to dance a Salsa trio. The ladies wore similar silver costumes with a full back on Evanna’s costume and an open back with nude-toned elastic across Scarlett’s back. The silver organza back-bustles were also similar, along with modest, alternate leglines. The overall looks were coordinated, along with a lightning bolt front bodice embellishment and thousands of Swarovski rhinestones and beaded fringe. Keo wore basic pants and a glitzy silver baseball jacket, seemingly a staple of this season’s guy costuming.

Rashad Jennings (who was the DWTS Season 24 winner) performed a football-themed Paso Doble with DeMarkus and Lindsay. Faux football pants with various spandex armbands created the macho look for this powerful dance for the ‘boys’. Lindsay’s costume included the ‘matador’s cape’ with her white satin lined black half-skirt. I really liked the powerful 3-D bodice of her costume, for this themed performance.

Nastia Liukin joined Mary Lou and Sasha to dance a cotton candy-esque Charleston. Sasha wore an aproned outfit and the gymnasts sported pastel lace costumes with lots of rhinestone embellishments. Their skirts matched, but their bodices were totally different. The skirts consisted of many layers of white rayon fringe. Where one layer of fringe is OK, two layers is better, and three layers gives more ‘weight’ to the skirts, along with a amped up classiness to the style.

Milo and fellow Disney Star, Riker Lynch partnered with Witney to present a Salsa routine. Satin and Lace was the theme for this trio. The boy’s basic satin button-down shirts included a sprinkling of rhinestones on their shoulders and then also on their cotton bandanas. Witney had that WOW! Factor with her matching Royal blue lingerie lace teddy with rhinestones and beaded fringe embellishments. This trio was absolutely adorable, wearing their classy costumes.

‘Tacky alert!’….Jordan Kimball joined Joe and Jenna to dance an unusual Salsa. I imagine that Jordan didn’t have any more dance experience than Joe, so what do you do with two hunky ‘Bachelorette’ boys? I guess you take off their shirts and have them wiggle under a shower? Denim bib overalls with a white T-shirt was the starting costume for this duet plus Jenna. Jenna joined the group wearing a cropped white T-shirt and cut-off shorts. Any farmer might have these togs, so guys, if you are in need of sexy costumes – check with your local farmer!

Maddie Ziegler helped out Alexis and Alan with their Tango Trio. I LOVED their MATCHING dresses! They were mirror-imaged, which created an exquisite view. The hot, hot pink spandex and satin sophisticated costumes were sprinkled with rhinestones and sandwiched Alan in his understated black ensemble. The heavy weight of their satin skirts created a beautiful fluidity when they danced. Bravo for matching partner costumes!

Lindsey Stirling joined Bobby and Sharna for the final performance of the evening, presenting a golden Cha Cha. Bobby channeled MC Hammer with his ‘Hammer’ pants and 80’s inspired gold/black shiny jacket and oversized gold chains. These same oversized gold chains embellished the lady’s 2-piece costumes that sorta matched. I recall that Lindsey dressed more modestly than Sharna, so it was not a surprise to see similar costumes with different amounts of skin showing. Their costumes were enchanting – I loved them. They showed that you can have sexy without all the skin.

In the news in Minnesota this week, is the ‘enchanting’ end zone dance performed by our Minnesota Vikings. Apparently called ‘the dead arm dance’ and inspired by local college ‘white boys dancing’. You be the judge!