Hello dears! It's Emma, your favourite tutu-loving, pink-obsessed time traveller, back again for another peek into the fabulous history of our favourite garment – the tutu!
This Tuesday, I've whipped myself back to November the 13th, 1832. My lovely pink tutu is positively twinkling in the candlelight as I sit in the luxurious, warm comfort of my private carriage en route to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London. Yes, that's right, London! We all know that Paris is considered the "fashion capital of the world", but you'd be surprised how much influence London held in the world of theatre back in the 1830s!
Tonight is a special occasion – I'm attending the première of The Elves and the Shoemaker by the acclaimed playwright and theatre manager, Charles Kean. Can you imagine! Now, that’s a subject I’ll write about soon. What fabulous opportunities he gave to all sorts of artists, performers, musicians, and playwrights alike. He was really a giant of the theatre, as much a force as the Romanticism Movement, you know, for that great time when we saw new kinds of theatre, great singing voices and big, expressive and emotional performances. And you’ve heard of all these wonderful Italian opera singers with fabulous big voices, I expect? Like Jenny Lind and Fanny Ellsler, whose popularity across Europe had reached fever pitch – she was the grande dame of dancers! But what's a dance show without tutus?! And so my mission to uncover their origins takes me through the exciting 19th century, in all its vibrant, exciting, dramatic and historical moments!
Speaking of tutus, this was before the Romantic Era when the tutus we see today, the classic puffy styles of the 19th century came into being, and so the dances were very different. We’ll get to that a bit later – in fact, next week we are having a Tutu Special on the "romantic tutu", as it were, so I must take all the inspiration for my blog on romantic-era tutus – after all, that is when tutus truly rose to become fashion items in their own right! For example, we’ll be taking a close look at Marie Taglioni, considered the Queen of Tutus and how much the famous, classical tutu is influenced by the dancer's "iconic" dress.
The very first tutus were much simpler; indeed, most dancers, both men and women, just wore “costume” of tights and a tunic, so let's look a little more closely at what they wore then:
Think about it – before the days of stretchy Lycra tights, what would ballet dancers wear? You can only imagine how constricting and hot that must have been to dance in!
And you’re right – for the men of that period, it was definitely quite a hot affair – for most men of that period, a leotard (and very definitely without a pink tutu!) consisted of thick wool tights - some even used knitted cotton. Oh my! Let’s just be grateful for breathable modern clothing! The wool leotards even had their legs cut at the knee. (Some ladies still even used linen drawers for additional modesty – and just imagine what they must have felt like!) The men had short linen trousers with tights, while others went with just thick leggings. I think I may take up knitting leggings for the winter… Well, maybe… (giggles).
Today we’ll be exploring just how early versions of the tutus - really they were little more than a simple "bodice" worn under the costume - came about and how these simple, yet functional garments developed to suit the needs of ballet performance, in time to be the most fabulous, beautiful pieces of dance clothing.
The 1830s & 40s and the ‘Rise of the Ballet’
If you want to explore ballet history, it’s the 19th century when things start to get interesting for ballerinas. This was an age when the ballet became an established and important genre, and dancing became seen as something really fabulous – particularly in Britain and across Europe. (So watch out for this era and don't forget about this next week!) Now, there was the "rise" of Romantic Ballet and the romanticism movement meant we began to see ballerinas and the dance as incredibly feminine and powerful; they were now seen as beautiful and as artists, a dramatic and emotionally-expressive force, almost as actors on stage! In a way this made dancers “rock stars" of the theatre!
Now the question for a fashionable, ballet enthusiast like me, and one who loves everything pink, is: how did this rise in the popularity of dance lead to tutus?
19th-Century Style and Dance Influences
First, we have to consider 19th-century fashions. Can you imagine wearing what they wore, my dears? Think corsets and layers upon layers of crinoline - that’s the kind of outfit they’d wear in an ordinary day. (Actually, these very outfits helped define the tutu: because when they put these layers under the crinoline you got these really fabulous, full shapes!)
However, these styles are the kind that were fashionable for the period, so not all styles that became popular in other areas – notably Paris - made their way to the British Isles; indeed, some would only get their chance on stage as fashions started to evolve. These “full skirts” – well, a very long way from our ballet tutus!
To get from those fashion “frills” to the graceful tulle skirts of the Romantic Era tutus we love today, you have to understand how a dress meant for the theatre, became an evolution of the ballet “dress". The ballerina costumes were “functional”, which made their clothes quite tight – that is, not flowing at all – but just plain. In some ways, this led to a very early "evolution" for how these costumes looked; we went from "fitted and restricting" to free-flowing. The tutu was actually influenced by fashion - there was so much talk about "Romantic” Fashion (particularly the full gowns) so that made dancers look different. There’s a really wonderful evolution that happens, so you have to imagine it wasn’t like an instant evolution to today's full, puffy, multilayered designs. We're getting there, but we still have a lot of history to get through – just remember it all began from very modest and functional pieces of clothing!
A New Style For the New Stage’
Now, imagine this scene; a very ordinary evening, you arrive at London's Theatre Royal on an autumn evening – there's nothing more dramatic than the ordinary until you step into the theatre…
In 1832 – 19th century stage design and the romantic age - you have to picture how those stage set designs started to take the spotlight!
They began to be much more romantic than we think now – think misty backdrops and evocative light. They were theatrical to the max, like great romantic paintings with scenes from the mountains or landscapes - very dreamy! You also had huge chandeliers and gaslights that really transformed the theatre - you're suddenly thrust into this world! It is quite wonderful! Imagine, a theatre’s scene with lighting, special effects and even machinery used for movement of characters and sets… The audience was simply enthralled with such wonders. This sense of romantic drama also meant you wanted ballerinas to move across this stage like flying, or floating through the air, and that was only possible by reworking their dress… and that meant more “movement” – with fabrics that would “swish” around them as they moved - like magical nymphs!
Well, it's here we come to the idea of the tutus - they started out in many variations and colours; you saw the dancers' leg movement and, to ensure all this fluidity of movement you got away from the tight bodices and layered fashion of the times; we can see the influence of "fashion" now starting to appear, not just as dance-wear. The "dancer" became even more of a focal point for fashion, beauty, grace, and poise… Now for the story so far, so I think we need to break up this story - we’ve got plenty more to explore in the coming weeks and even months! Next time I’ll be examining the romantic period’s iconic style – when our favourite garment becomes the Queen of dance! Now there's plenty of time to discover what happens on November 13th – you won’t want to miss it! It's full of interesting twists and turns! But for now, I’ll be out dancing. Keep watching pink-tutu! And let’s make that the “must have” garment! Until next time, lovelies. Remember – be happy. Be brave. And wear pink!
See you soon! Emma xx
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