Welcome back, darlings! It's your favourite tutu-loving time traveller, Emma, here, and it's #TutuTuesday once again. Buckle your ballet shoes and grab a cuppa, because we're taking a little trip back to 1837! This is blog post number 305 for the www.pink-tutu.com website, and I’m going to be discussing, as always, my absolute favourite thing, tutus!
Now, 1837 – can you even imagine?! No electric lights, no Netflix binging, no Tesco home delivery… it sounds positively dreadful! However, some things were good about that era! On this day, 31st October, 1837, we had a rather significant occasion - Queen Victoria ascended to the throne! She reigned for 63 glorious years, longer than any other monarch, so it’s quite a momentous event, right? She was only 18 at the time, which is much younger than me (I'm 24, in case you hadn’t already worked that out!).
Of course, what really matters in history is the fashion. Now, I know it's easy to assume everyone wore petticoats and corseted dresses all the time in 1837, and honestly, those are rather boring if you ask me! But there was a more exciting side to fashion back then: ballet!
You see, 1837 marked the rise of the Romantic Ballet. Think big, fluffy, dramatic tutus, beautiful costumes and lots of romantic storytelling - think Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty... you know, all the classics! This period in dance history was incredibly important for the development of the tutu! Those dramatic, swirling skirts in those ballet stories, those were tutus, and oh, how fabulous they looked.
You see, for me, the romantic ballet is all about those big tutus. Think a whole lot of tulle and a whole lot of sparkle! The 'romantic tutu' became synonymous with ballerinas, so I wanted to take you on a trip back in time to find out all about this fantastic period for our favourite dancewear! Think long, flowing tulle skirts - I’m not talking about the rather boring contemporary ‘pencil tutu’ you see these days!
Now, the big question… How exactly DID the romantic tutu get its iconic look?
The Romantic Ballet movement wanted to bring magic and romance to their performances. This led them to adopt clothing and fashion choices to express these themes, and the costumes were really, truly spectacular!
Back then, it wasn’t just about performance but also spectacle. They wanted something truly beautiful that captured the grace and beauty of the dancers! Think flowing fabric, ribbons, lots of elaborate details – it’s how a lot of costume designers get inspiration for the incredible costume designs we see in our big shows today, I’d imagine. These designs were all meant to conjure the dreamlike atmosphere of the Romantic period, especially stories about fairies, magical beings, and fantastical worlds. The costumes just had to be the magic.
And how they did! These tutus created an exciting, visual style to complement the dancing, which was in itself moving away from more strict, classical movements and developing into something more elegant, beautiful and dramatic - and the tutu was just as important for telling these stories as the dancers themselves!
You might ask yourself, what were they wearing before all of this? It turns out, the tutu as we know it today was born in the late 18th century – before this romantic period, ballet dancers were wearing long, heavy skirts that didn’t exactly make for exciting, free flowing movement. It’s just so good they moved on, don’t you think?! The earlier skirts were often fashioned to imitate the ‘fashionable’ ladies of the time, which honestly? That was just not practical at all.
Imagine trying to do pirouettes, jumps and fouettes in those gigantic poofy gowns that made it nearly impossible to show off any kind of ballet skill! Luckily, that fashion got chucked out the window (and good riddance! Cough cough, corsets). The ‘Romantic tutu’, in its *simpler and more practical shape made ballet a completely new artform.
I imagine the fashion folk in Paris were horrified when they saw these ballerinas parading about with their tiny skirts that left more leg exposed, especially as a lot of ballet was performed at that time by men dressing up as women! Scandalous, darlings! It took time for the tutu to be accepted by the audiences – but the designers had it right, the ballerina on stage, even in these shortened versions, became even more beautiful with less! It really is an amazing development in fashion and performance, in my view!
For the history of the tutu to really work in this new style of ballet, they needed something to help these long skirts to really be able to float around the stage and let the dancer move! In comes the wire cage: An undergarment worn by the ballerina under the skirt. A very useful invention.
And who is responsible for this fashion revolution? Marie Taglioni! A celebrated ballet dancer in her day and one of the first to wear this new kind of short, tiered tutu - which was lighter, allowing her to make big movements and leaps and she truly became the symbol of romantic ballet, because of this, She truly was the mother of the tutu!!
Oh, my! What a fantastic period for the tutu, don’t you think?!
Now, where shall I visit next? My next trip is booked, I’m off on the Orient Express - a lovely way to travel. I am off to Paris for a very special tutu event (you'll have to wait to find out what it is!) It’s going to be a magnificent trip.
Keep checking this space and www.pink-tutu.com to see more! And, until then, don't forget - the most beautiful colour is always pink (you can all argue amongst yourselves on that one). And remember, you look stunning in a tutu so get one and let's make the world a pink-er, more glamorous place!
Remember, ladies: life's a stage and we're all ballerinas! 💖✨
