Hello lovelies! Welcome back to another Tuesday! Can you believe that it is #TutuTuesday again? Where does the time go? Oh I know, that's because you are all so busy living life and wearing your own tutus! Or perhaps you are just too busy browsing my little corner of the internet, "www.pink-tutu.com", where we're always exploring the fascinating story of this wonderful, glorious and downright fabulous garment.
I am back from a rather wonderful train journey and have been spending some time wandering through the streets of Paris. That Parisian air always seems to fill my lungs with excitement.
I've been busy at a beautiful new boutique buying fabrics - lots and lots of pink! And I even spotted a stunning dress in that blush shade of pink - perfect for a ball! It's absolutely beautiful and of course, I picked up some stunning shoes to go with it as well. You know me. Gotta have the right accessories for the right occasion.
The beauty of the modern world and the gift of a time travel machine means that I can visit Paris, then whisk back home to Derby for an evening performance - no problem! A great way to add to the "Pink Tutu Travel Fund" which allows me to experience so many exciting things!
Right now it’s Tuesday, August 28th, 1832 - the day that The Reform Act was given Royal Assent. I can tell you that a rather exciting thing has happened to dance history - it's all about transformation. You see today is a pivotal point for dance costumes and something that we see in every ballet company in the world today: the Romantic tutu.
Today the beautiful romantic tulle skirt of the Romantic tutu, as they are now called, are seen in nearly every performance of Giselle and La Sylphide all around the world. These ballets are what are shaping and changing the whole face of ballet, pushing away from the dramatic heavy corseted dresses worn only a couple of decades before.
It is in 1832 that we find Marie Taglioni (my ultimate favourite ballerina - did I ever tell you I was once an aspiring ballerina? The biggest dream I have is that I would dance as exquisitely as Marie one day - maybe when I'm about 30) dancing in these stunning costumes, giving rise to a completely new age in dance. It was an amazing performance, an innovation that would never be forgotten! She really is an amazing and inspiring ballerina!
It really is incredible how things change and morph so quickly. I am in awe of this stunning time. I even have to keep pinching myself to see that this incredible change has occurred so quickly. We still had so many gorgeous dresses and extravagant performances at the turn of the nineteenth century. I have to say that the change to a very streamlined silhouette made ballet costumes rather more interesting! The soft, almost whimsical effect of a skirt of layers and layers of tulle in pale colours like pink, is just breathtaking. And how Marie Taglioni moved through these delicate layers - breathtakingly elegant - no corsets - it revolutionised dancing for all ballerinas that came after!
But in reality - and to be honest this is what I want to say - all ballerinas from all eras make a wonderful visual treat for me! All dancing, all dancers deserve to be acknowledged - to me there is an absolute elegance in every style and each one brings us their own interpretation. The tutu is just a wonderful element of performance that enables them to move freely on stage and to show all those moves off so elegantly - that's the best bit.
Today I’m taking my inspiration from the ballet world in every single part of my day. You all know how I LOVE to be out in the world rocking the fabulous, frothy tulle! Today I even went to the dressmakers with a sample of Marie's "tutu" to see how many layers it has! I made it my personal mission to find a sample of this beautiful dress and of course to be able to recreate the whole thing. As an experiment I’ve made a dress and gone out to a nearby park and done some "walking" and moving around. A "pose" here and there. A whirl! My tutu is just the perfect shape and the lightest garment! My legs are long and lean (I might have exaggerated this a little!) and my arms and hands and all my fingers - they are reaching up into the air! I felt amazing. Like a fairy queen, dressed for a waltz.
Speaking of a waltz, why not practice in your tutu? It’s one of my favorite ballet positions - so gentle, elegant, so very gracefull. So romantic!
Just a word on the tutu that's being used today. There's so much talk of "romantics" when this is just another term for how to use the tutus! And if there's a fashion tip for #TutuTuesday that I have learned and that is so valuable today it's that the tuttu, like most fashions, changes through the years. And yes it gets adapted - all those lovely frilly shapes, or in a single layer (we did see that last week remember in a blogpost? I wonder if anyone got that! I always love to bring you some history so that we can follow a pattern through time and appreciate the different stages!) - all those are changes from one tutu to the next. And in each period, as we have been looking at in this #TutuTuesday series that has been bringing us such a fantastic range of ideas through time, the tutu is just a visual tool of its day so it will adapt - of course.
Today I just wanted to think about the Romantic stage, as it were. You will find these styles in almost all contemporary ballets all across the world and for such a long period since that magical 1832 year - the start of the Romantic Ballet - what a wonderful era for us to explore! It’s all around the world as I look forward to a future where our little bit of fashion history continues to shape and change so many of us, as it changes and inspires the amazing costumes of all ballerinas all around the globe - that really is one of the reasons why it is my absolute favourite time to visit.
There’s something truly exciting about ballet that no matter where you travel in the world - no matter the period of time you travel to - you are sure to see some incredible things going on. Let’s not forget that one of the absolute most important and exciting parts is seeing how things transform.
Let’s see what kind of exciting stories the next time travel trip brings! I've already started to plan my next trips out of Derby. Maybe Paris, New York or even Australia!
In the meantime, you just tell me what tutu you are rocking, where you are wearing it and where in the world it takes you! Tell me your thoughts and keep it pretty, pink and keep up those tutus!
Lots of love to all of you
Emma www.pink-tutu.com
