The sartorial wonder we see on Strictly Come Dancing every week is a credit to the hard work and inventiveness of the chief designer and her colleagues. She has to design and make dozens of dresses, costumes and suits in seven days flat and comes up with some incredible creations mostly. There is one criticism I have to make, however, and I wonder if I am the only person who feels this way about on particular style. I am imagining being in the design studio listening to a discussion between some of the people tossing ideas around for a new frock, when one of them exclaims “I’ve an idea – a really sensational innovation that will look just wonderful”. “Let’s make a dress with one shoulder covered and the other one naked so that the dress will all be lopsided and look thoroughly stupid and hideous”. That will never catch on – they all retort!! Women are not that silly as to go along with that idea. But, you see, they are and they keep wearing them all the time as if it looks good. Well! I can tell you it doesn’t. It looks ridiculous and completely ruins every dress that was created. Flavia came on last night wearing an amazing creation in sequinned black but with half the top missing, vial. Can we agree to bury this obnoxious idea once and for all?

I can't imagine wearing something like that without getting cold or hot! it's either warm enough for sleeveless, or cold enough to need long sleeves? quite apart from looking daft!

I have a friend who says whenever he sees that "style", "Shame they ran out of material to make the other sleeve".

I agree, I hate that look.

I think Ruskin once mulled over the idea out loud, whether symmetry was essential to beauty. Asymmetry is unbalanced, attention-grabbing, unstable, suggestive of change and movement. In the world of perfect symmetry all shapes would be round like the viennese waltz with no sharp edges or surprises.

Design innovations do not always work, but to outlaw experiment would be to shut out windfalls which come with change, sometimes.

Joanna regularly wears asymmetric dresses. Kara's pink gown in the semifinal rumba was a great success:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cADiYeGJe7s

Nature allows the non-conservation of parity, wherein the left hand is not the same as the right hand, and male and female are complementary yet not symmetrical.

Exceptionally well put but.........still think one shouldered dresses look silly. I'm definitely not a fan.

Kara's dress had a thin strap on the more exposed side which, although it was still an asymmetrical design, made all the difference to how the dress looked. It looked elegant and classy on her dress.

Tess, on the other hand was also wearing an asymmetrical dress in that clip - with a completely exposed shoulder and a full length sleeve on the other side and it looked hideous!

Evidently Tess has a dressmaker from the 2 million BC school - asymmetric animalskin leotards are worn by all cavewomen in Hollywood films.

Can somebody tell Tess this please?

I like them

for party dresses, and dancing dresses I think they work.

Depends on whether the wearer has "good shoulders"

The strap was the to hold the dress up.

I actually would've preferred they stayed with conventions of ballroom dresses and used tanned strap which wouldn't show as much. Because the dress was supposed to exose her shoulder, which is really sexy, but the strap broke the lines, IMO. But in SCD they cover these functional straps with stones because the competitors are shown up close by the camera.

But other than that I absolutely loved Kara's Rumba dress. The stoning and the skirt were also asymmetric.

I'm a fan of asymmetry in clothing, but only when done right. I personally didn't like Flavia's dress last night. I think these one-shoulder dresses/tops need to be made from thinner material and either be tighter or very loos. I also didn't like the neck line (sleeve line?!). I think it should be less steep and start close to the covered shoulder, and be slightly more curved to take into consideration the curvature of the chest which it's crossing.

OMG, I have to wear a "one-shoulder" as a bridesmaid next May. Mind you, the first option was no shoulders which would be worse for me. I guess its all part and parcel of being a bridesmaid... looking stupid

Don't listen to them, you're going to look beautiful! Just do some push ups and shoulder stretches & your one bare shoulder will be the envy of the wedding!

But if the dress is too humiliating, I'd stop being friends with the bride, if I were you

I bow to this detailed technical knowledge, never having worn either a symmetric or asymmetric dress. But I do know what I like.

Even Leonardo da Vinci went for a technical apprenticeship under the master painter of his day, so no disgrace to become a master of detail. Ballroom and latin performance comprises of dance, lights, costumes, music, and above all authentic feeling from the partners. When everything works together dance sends shivers down the spine, moving sensitive souls to tears.

Thanks for that but its not actually that bad. I have already refused to be involved with anything that resembles pink I only know about 10 people at the wedding, and its in Vegas so anything goes... I wont ever see any of them again !

I've always liked one shoulder dresses (for example Cherie Lunghi's rumba dress). I agree they're impractical, but didn't expect anyone to dislike them for aesthetic reasons.

I also like asymmetric hems (but not hairstyles, at least in terms of length - not suggesting there is anything wrong with side partings etc .)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sPKd4dFKzE

A very good reminder Vivacious -- Cherie's ballgown asymmetric in more ways than one sending messages so subliminal that the recipient overlooks how design achieved effect. I suspect the wearer will need to be a romantic, like a jewel with facets reflecting many colours.

Interesting thread. Hadn't thought about it before - not my favourite look, but I don't mind one-shoulder nearly as much as I mind the arm-hankies. I believe their real name is 'floats' and they're supposed to make the daner look floaty and elegant but sorry, I think they just look ridiculous.

"Arm hankies" are worn at the highest level of world championship dances. But I agree with you, they look like laundry hanging on the arms of multitasking Neapolitan housewives trying to save money on spin-driers.

Yes! Don't start me on arm hankies or dancing with a silly boa either.

What strange fashion one gets used to as a result of being exposed to the dance world. But you're right, those floats do look like arm-hankies!

I guess they're reminiscence of the old times when women wore ball gowns and had a float/scarf hanging off their arms.

Asymmetric hems are fine and often make a dress look very floaty and feminine but I'm really not keen on the one shoulder look at all. If people MUST wear them, they're better as sleeveless and without anything fussy or frilly round the neckline or on the covered arm.

In my earlier post, I referred to Tess's dress which I thought looked awful and I'm sure it's the full length sleeve that makes it look so bad.

Speaking of asymmetric neck-lines and strange ballroom dresses and feather boas reminded me of this dress.
How horrified would you be if one starts talking about a dress with yellow feather boa? But somehow I love this dress!

P.S. the jive is worth watching as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eum2JQeibPg

As far as I'm aware, they're not made in 7 days, they are fitted weeks before the first show starts and they make a mannequin of the celeb's measurements.

The designs are made ages before and they have a final fitting the week of the dance because they often lose so much weight.

All of this I gathered from years of watching ITT so I might be mistaken. But the old designer appeared many times explaining the process.

I though that was how it happened too. Which is why in other series, they were able to switch dresses with other dancers that had left the competition early because they were already made.

Oh no! I've ordered arm hankies with the ballroom dress that I'm having made! My mum did comment that they would look like washing on the line! Still they will be detachable and so I don't have to wear them. (I do prefer the floats which pick up from the skirt but that didn't really fit with the design).
And my latin dress will have an asymmetric hem. But on the plus side (as far as the posters on here are concerned, at least!) I haven't ordered anything that is one shouldered.