Hello my darling darlings! Welcome to Tutu Tuesday, Blog Post Number 264, a weekly dive into the fabulous world of tutus! As you know, my name is Emma and I'm absolutely besotted with these exquisite, fluffy, frothy delights. This week, I'm travelling right back to January 17th, 1837, to explore the dawn of the tutu!
Now, hold onto your tiaras, ladies! Back then, we were talking the first stirrings of this dance fashion phenomenon, long before the grand tutus we see on stage today. It’s not like we had any “Ballet Tutu History” textbooks or anything back in those days! Thankfully, though, a keen eye and some dedicated sleuthing at London’s grand Theatre Royal (not to mention the dusty archive of my vintage shop down the road!) has unveiled some seriously thrilling clues for today’s Tutu Tuesday post!
Before we dive into the history, let’s chat about my trip! As usual, I funded this jaunt with a few stellar ballet performances in the past! Let me tell you, a prima ballerina is an excellent business card – especially for a time-travelling, fashion-obsessed tututologist! 😉 This time I travelled by train! Isn't it splendid how convenient modern transport is? I mean, just imagine, carriage rides for weeks, if you wanted to get across England. Thank goodness for steam trains! I can't get enough of them! The whole, puffing and chugging, so romantic! They remind me of my Derbyshire hills, although the ones around my childhood home were decidedly less smokey, of course!
Alright, enough about my travel stories! It's time for some Tutu History!
As you know, my sweet darlings, 1837 was the year that sweet Victoria became queen. You know the rest, right? Her wedding dress is legendary for its simplicity - quite different to the current flamboyant era, no? So imagine our surprise to find out that our favourite fluffy garment was slowly creeping onto the stage of London’s Theatre Royal that same year!
Now, the tutus in those days were less billowy and less dramatic than the ones we know today! In fact, I'd describe them as more like ballet skirts, which were just beginning to move beyond the constricting layers of past decades.
One of the key factors driving this evolution was the demand for new choreography, particularly a style of dance known as "la danse d'école," literally "school dance." It’s amazing, right? To think of the ballet school changing fashion! I adore how fashion evolves alongside dance – like the perfect ballerina twirl!
This new dance demanded greater agility and grace, and that just wasn't achievable with a ton of fabric dragging on their limbs. You can’t perform beautiful pirouettes and leaps when you are weighed down! Think about it, you lovely dancers! Can you imagine performing in multiple layers of silk under a thick dress? Ugh, how do those 1800s dancers do it!? I've worn vintage dresses once or twice and, oh my, what an ordeal! They are beautiful but just not for my preferred dancing activities.
Now, imagine these little ballerina skirts! Lightweight, fluttering, allowing for new, exhilarating movements! You’ve just gotta give props to those early designers for coming up with such a fab way to let their legs do the talking!
Imagine, darling ladies, this evolution: a delicate shift from heavier silk and heavier satin to featherlight, multi-layered chiffon skirts – it’s an exciting time to be dancing!
But there's more, ladies, and that's how those balletic skirts - our tutus, my lovely ladies - became known! You see, a revolutionary designer, Charles Worth, started creating these exquisite designs for a dance called “La Sylphide,” featuring the beautiful Marie Taglioni! It seems like those Parisian and English dances really drove the trend! This ballet introduced lightweight skirts and even introduced the concept of “pas de deux,” a duet dance, giving the female form center stage. Think of the incredible movements, ladies! And all for a revolutionary design! This is what we call the "romantic ballet," a truly innovative move, don’t you agree? It truly set the stage (pun absolutely intended!) for ballet as we know it.
This new era brought with it the use of ballet shoes and lighter fabric like muslin. Oh my goodness! It made it so easy to twirl, jump and hop - a must-have for any dancer in the world! Those ballet shoes allowed dancers to move effortlessly with a graceful, lyrical flow. This light and floaty design changed the style of ballet forever - the lighter fabrics allowing dancers to dance in ways they never had before!
To think we are talking just a few years after our modern dance era began. Isn’t that exciting! Just imagine how much ballet evolved in those few decades – the leaps, the poses, the elegant lines - it's just magical to consider.
Think about how our lives have changed too, in a short amount of time, don’t you think? I just can’t get over the modern miracles of technology – what with cars, airplanes, and this lovely device I’m writing on! Just how did we even exist without them?! It’s truly thrilling to think about what our fashion designers might create in the coming decades!
But, my darling tututologists, back to 1837! As a little reminder of how fast ballet fashions change, let me take a moment to compare and contrast. Remember those early, simple designs with minimal layers of chiffon? And what do we have now? Multi-layered frothy masterpieces, dripping in sparkle and delicate detailing – even some gorgeous handmade designs! There is even a trend toward wearing tutus for non-ballet related things such as fashion shows, social gatherings and even just for an outing on the high street, where you can see fashion trends and ballet meet in a gorgeous ballet street fashion fusion.
To illustrate this transformation from simple beginnings to grand splendor, here’s a quick fun fact about myself: I just happen to own the most delightful, multi-layered pink tutu - truly my pride and joy - adorned with a generous scattering of rhinestones. Think of it as a small, yet significant symbol of how ballet tutus evolved!
I’ll see you all next Tuesday, darlings! And remember, no matter how far history unfolds, one thing remains timeless - the beauty of a pink tutu, that’s for sure!
And do remember, ladies, if you need to shop for a new pink tutu, head to www.pink-tutu.com
Until then, keep dancing! And stay fabulous!
Emma
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