The eighth season of “Dancing With the Stars” culminates next Monday and Tuesday (May 18 and 19) when one of the remaining three celebrities (Olympian Shawn Johnson and professional partner Mark Ballas; actor Gilles Marini and professional partner Cheryl Burke; and former “Bachelor” contestant Melissa Rycroft and professional partner Tony Dovolani) is awarded the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy and named this season’s winner.

Each week, Emmy Award winning costume designer, Randall Christensen, along with his team of sewing and design experts designs and produces the glamorous costumes for all of the dancers for the next show. Threads asked Randall Christensen how he handles the task of dressing so many in such a short time. You’ll be amazed when you read about the details of this task. 

Randall has been the sole costume designer for the show since season two, is one of the premiere designers in Hollywood and was recently nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award for his work on the show. The mere fact that he can pull this off week after week is worthy of an award in my book!

Here are the questions we asked:

Threads: 
How do you begin the process of creating the beautiful and elaborate costumes the celebrities and professionals wear on television each week?

Randall Christensen: 
After the Results Show each Tuesday, (when one of the couples is eliminated), the couples are given their music and dance assignment for the following week. Since the music plays such a vital role in each couples’ performance, we can’t get a jump start on the next week’s costumes until the music assignments are complete. Following the assignments, the dancers make a mad dash up to the Wardrobe Department to reserve the colors they’d like to wear the following week. I try to assign a unique color for each couple, so they all want to be the first to meet with me. Couples have even called me on their cell phones as they make their way upstairs, just to reserve their desired color!  Once I meet with a couple, we begin research on the internet, we find magazine clippings and gather any other type of media to pull as many visuals as possible to make it easier to show the celebrity what we are striving to create. The professional dancer and I speak a “dance language” with each other, and then I translate what we’ve said to the celebrity. You see, I consider the professional dancer to be the director of their “scene” aka-dance. The pros each have a vision about the mood and image they want to create, and they know their celebrity’s dancing strengths and weaknesses. This puts a lot of pressure on the professional dancers, too, because they must conceptualize the new dance on the spot. 
   The next morning we fabric shop for the entire show; we finish by 5pm that very day! All of the fabric, notions and supplies we’ve purchased have to be rushed to our tailor and our women’s fabric cutters before the day’s end. I go over each sketch with our cutters and leave it in their hands. They must cut everything that night and the following day (Thursday). All of the costumes are sewn and ready for preliminary fittings the next day (Friday). The costumes are altered and finished on Saturday. The FINAL fitting happens on Sunday, after each couple has blocked their routines for the camera, orchestra and director. 
   On show day, only a few hours before the show goes live, each couple has the opportunity to perform their first and ONLY rehearsal in their new costumes! During the dress rehearsal we have a clothing rack of robes ready just in case we need to make a costume adjustment. The dancers may have to wear a robe to finish the dress rehearsal! We run the costume upstairs where our workroom sewers make the necessary adjustments/alterations on the spot. There have been times when I’ve advised the dancer/celebrity NOT to sit back on the sofa in the interview room, because the wet rhinestone glue could STICK to the sofa! It’s quite exciting, to say the least!

Threads:
How long does it take to make each costume?

RC:
There is an incredible span and variety of designs and styles, but I think on average, beading and jeweling included, it takes around 30 to 40 hours easily for each costume.

Threads:
How many people are on your staff to help you move from design to finished costume?

RC:
We have 8-10 costumers, assistant designers, etc. and 12-14 stitchers and cutter/fitters actually creating the costumes each week. It is not possible to do all that we do without such a large department.

Threads:
Do the celebrities have any say as to what the costume looks like?  Do you work together with them, or do you create them on your own in consultation with the pro?

RC:
The celebrities contribute a great deal to the design process. I take a lot of direction from the professional dancers as well. They know their celebrity partners better than anyone. We always strive to assure that the costume enhances the positive elements of their dancing ability, while playing down any less perfect elements.

Threads:
Where do you obtain your fabrics, trims, etc.? Do you shop at stores that sell retail or do you work primarily with wholesale vendors?

RC:
Because of the short timeline to shop for the entire show (in one day!), we search everywhere and anywhere that fabrics and trims are available. Very seldom do we purchase anything at a wholesale price, as we only purchase enough yardage for one costume. I have to say, the shops in downtown Los Angeles give us great deals on our repeat shopping each week! It is practically a scavenger hunt each week trying to locate a supplier for each desired fabric and trim. Our timeline is crazy, and we scout around everywhere possible.

Threads:
How many people from your staff do the fabric shopping?

RC:
There are only THREE of us shopping downtown (2 Assistant Costume Designers and me). That’s right, T-H-R-E-E of us! And it ALL has to be shopped by 5:30 that very same day! Oh, and there has to be an angel watching over us–so, I guess that brings us up to four people.

Threads:
Do you only have 1 week to prepare ALL of the costumes, or is there some advanced planning that the audience isn’t aware of?

RC:
I would practically kill for advanced planning time, but that is never the case. I’m lucky if the couples are given their music early Tuesday instead of late Tuesday afternoon. It is insane how quickly we have to work after the Results Show, trying to squeeze everyone in immediately after the show, and BEFORE they sneak away.

Threads:
Do you ever repurpose your costumes, or are brand new costumes created for each show?

RC:
Brand new costumes are created for each Monday’s show. There are times when we can recycle or restyle costumes for the Tuesday’s Result Show. Everything for Monday’s show is created from scratch each week.

Threads:
What happens to the costumes after the celebrities wear them?

RC:
When there is a national tour, which usually follows the culmination of the show, many of the costumes that we created go on the road with the tour. Some of the celebrities purchase their costumes, and the bulk of them end up back in Arizona, going on a rack available for sale. [Randall’s design studio is in Arizona.]

Threads:
What is the worst costume mishap you have had while working on the show?

RC:
Thank goodness we have a dress rehearsal a few hours before show time. That is the time to fix mishaps. That said, sometimes things STILL happen when we are live. Sarah Evans had a flawless dress rehearsal (2006 season), but when she and her professional partner danced their Paso Doble (a Latin dance) live, Sarah’s heel caught in the lace fabric of her skirt as she danced. She was a champ though and was able to free her heel without skipping a beat. That was a scary moment…I envisioned the headlines: “Celebrity falls down, live on Dancing With the Stars!”

Threads:
In your opinion what is the best costume you’ve ever created?  What makes it so special in your eyes?

RC:
Wow! That’s difficult to say, as there have been some fun things on the show. Anything that Edyta Sliwinska, one of the professionals, has worn has been a favorite, as with Karina Smirnoff, another pro. I loved Mel B.’s (former Spice Girl) Paso Doble dominatrix look (2007 season), as well as her white Rumba costume.

I confess that I am a “Dancing With the Stars” addict, and can’t begin to imagine the magnitude of Randall’s task. Not only are the costumes designed and stitched in record time, but think of the fitting techniques that must surely be called upon. The costumes have to fit really well in order to avoid a mishap during a dance. A costume that’s too tight or one that’s too loose could result in a conceivable disaster. Remember these folks aren’t sitting around a conference table, their bodies are twisting and turning, moving constantly as they dance. I have a hard time fitting and finishing one outfit in a timely fashion (allowing much more than one week). The costumes are always beautifully varied in style and color that reflects the mood of each respective dance. The embellishments and extra touches are sometimes sophisticated and elegant, often dazzling and glitzy, and occasionally extravant or full of fun. It’s hard to focus on the dancing when the costumes are so incredible to look at! I can’t wait for Monday’s show. I’ll have a whole new appreciation for every costume I see! 

Actress Denise Richards dancing during a show.

Computer engineer Steve Wozniak (Woz) dancing with professional Karina Smirnoff

Country music artist Chuck Wicks dancing with his professional partner Julianne Hough

Emmy winner Randall Christensen with some of his designs

Randall Christensen with his well deserved Emmy award

Dancing professional Kym Johnson (lower left) and 4th season celebrity partner 'N Sync singer Joey Fatone share some laughs with costume designer Randall Christensen during a planning meeting

Randall Christensen sketching a design in consultation with dancing professional Kym Johnson

Randall Christensen adding the final touches to a costume

Rapper Lil Kim dancing with professional Derek Hough

Randall Christensen at work on a costume design in his workroom