I thought that ultra-naff attire has been popular for competition dancing since the seventies? A forty year tradition!
Absolutely! And for a cha cha, that should be sparkly, fringy, beady, glittery, and somewhat reminiscent of a tinsel-bedecked christmas tree. Even, IMO, if you are Ola or Flavia. Controversial, I know. What can I say, I have an utterly irrational dislike of catsuits and jumpsuits.
Plus there is also the effect of making yourself stand out from the crowd in the wrong way. Break with tradition and you risk it being interpreted as saying "I'm something a bit special, I am". There's a few people on there over the years who have made controversial choices in their costumes and choreography and got away with it - generally because they did so in a way that was funny/endearing/engaging or because, not to put to fine a point on it, they were shit hot at dancing - or indeed both. When it goes wrong (Brendan and Lisa and the spiderwoman catsuit routine, Erin and Colin and The Dolls Of Doom) it isn't pretty.
I tend to not have a clue who most of the celebrities are at the start of the season - Strictly is, quite literally, the _only_ TV series that I have watched for about 4 years. Other than that our TV doesn't know about anything other than children's telly channels! This series is unusual in that I recognise a few and could probably have even told you what some of them were called. I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on. There wasn't anybody that made me need to hide behind the cushions because they were painfully awful, there wasn't anybody (yet) that made me want to spork them in the eye by being obnoxious. And I loved the actor from 'stenders who I can't put a name to. VP is an interesting one partly because her pro partner is always controversial, although his reputation has mellowed a lot over the years. And sportspeople are often interesting contenders - there's only been a few who were 'naturally' good, but there's been a lot who have got there through work, attitude, listening to their coach and, the final touch, eventually giving in to the Strictly bug and embracing the glitter and spray tan.