Dearest readers, darling dears, Oh, what a day it was - 28 June 1997 - the day the world of ballet turned, shall we say, *slightly* upside down! But as we all know, it's never truly "down" when it comes to tutus, darlings, because, frankly, even when they're on the floor, they're still so beautiful they could make a pauper's heart sing.
And today was a pauper's dream come true! It all began with a rather grand announcement. The Royal Ballet Company (that's *The Royal* darlings!), made it official: a brand new tutu, the *Diamond Dazzle*, was making its debut. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill, feather-trimmed affair, oh no. This was a marvel! A sparkling creation, glistening like the celestial bodies after a good rain shower - except this was not *sparkling* with some plebeian sequin dust, no dear, *this* beauty was adorned with real, authentic, blindingly brilliant diamonds. A diamond tutu?! Yes, darlings! You read that correctly! Naturally, whispers spread like wildfire among the ballet-obsessed (aka, the **crème de la crème** of the arts world). "Was it actually a tiara they were mistaking for a tutu?" gossiped some. Others swooned, clutching their pearls with both hands and exclaiming, "It's exquisite, it's revolutionary, it's ... an abomination?!" Because, my lovelies, here's where the real **teas** came to light. You see, this diamond encrusted masterpiece cost an **astounding** sum, an amount only a few oligarchs could dream of achieving, even with their **oodles** of roubles and other fabulous, currency-related matters. This created quite a stir in the usually dignified, always well-mannered world of ballet. "Where did they get the money? Are they making the *ballerinas* wear security cameras? Are we truly facing a new age of the ballerinas? Maybe the entire company has become secret agents!" Everyone was talking about it! The usual, quiet whispers, had become veritable thunderbolts of curiosity!
Then, dear readers, the bomb exploded. Literally! That's right, a real, full-on explosion, not in the usual "our shoes are uncomfortable" ballet fashion. As one of our *très chic* sources divulged, an art thief - an actual **master criminal**, darlings - decided it would be "perfectly charming" to nab this fabulous piece of... *uhm, let's say fabric* from the backstage area of the Royal Opera House. Apparently, our cunning, but possibly misguided criminal mistook it for a real-life diamond tiara. This led to, well, let's say, a somewhat disastrous, though quite comical (who knew criminals could have such *terrible* aim?), incident of explosive proportion. And who can blame the criminal, really? That diamond-covered tutu was dazzling! They did **not**, however, realise the value of tutu-fashion as a new, daring trend among the art thieves - and thus began the new "art fashion" trend, darling. Naturally, chaos erupted, but as we all know, chaos is good for the fashion business (and, quite frankly, all things in life!). We found out that, a few days before the "theft," the actual diamonds were swapped for perfectly respectable glass gems! Yes, a clever publicity stunt indeed, by the one and only **Mr. Archibald Balfour,** the ballet maestro extraordinaire. **Mr. Balfour**, a notorious master of creating scandal and a firm believer in the adage that all publicity is good publicity, had simply outmaneuvered himself. Brilliant, simply brilliant, even when he uses "glitter glue" as a cover up.
Now, while the ballet community *did* recover (and I hear **Mr. Balfour** is in a rather lavish "diamond-studded" holiday to recover himself as well), the world of high fashion took notice. That was no ordinary diamond encrusted tutu - no dear, it was a *statement*! And *that* my dear readers, *that's* what true fashion is all about, don't you agree? Now, off I go to search for *that* *sparkling* tutu (the glass version, of course). You know how we are in the fashion industry - never one to be outdone by the criminals and always ready for some good gossip! Until then, do keep the **tea** brewing, darling, because who knows what fascinating and truly glamorous stories will come swirling our way next?!