"But I don't know who's going to wear it."
Wolff's assignment was to design an outfit appropriate for the quickstep paso doble. She also knew the song would be Lady Gaga's hit "Bad Romance."
Bingo: One of Wolff's senior projects while at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts was to design costumes for Lady Gaga and her backup dancers inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. (For the record, there was no meat dress for gluttony.)
Still, Wolff said, she wasn't sure.
"I didn't think I could get it done," said Wolff, who was knee-deep in sewing children's costumes for the Walnut's presentation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, which runs through Jan. 8.
"But it was my mom that said, 'Why not go for it?' "
It took Wolff one evening to sketch her ideas.
She started with the female dancer's costume and came up with a rugged-yet-girly studded bustier accented with a single long sleeve fashioned from black lace.
Wolff complemented the top with a mostly black ankle-length skirt that fades into red at the hem. The skirt fits low at the waist to show off toned abs - a belly-baring design that probably rules out talk-show host Ricki Lake and her partner, Derek Hough. (The other semifinalists are actor J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff and Rob Kardashian and Cheryl Burke.)
For extra pizzazz, Wolff added a Wonder Woman-esque headband and cuffs as well as pointy-toed shoes with black studs.
"I hope they keep the studs on the shoes," Wolff said.
She designed the matching costume with roomy trousers, for the high kicks, and studded vest with ripped sleeves.
"I wanted to keep it edgy, but appropriate for children," Wolff said.
