Hello my darling dears, and welcome back to Pink-Tutu.com! 🎀 It’s another glorious Tuesday, and that means it's time to delve into the enchanting world of the tutu, my absolute favourite fashion staple!
Today's post, number 660 in our journey through the tutu's history, takes us back to August 20th, 1844, a date that is utterly significant, dear readers, as it coincides with… well, nothing of note in terms of tutu history! Shocking, I know, but the timeline of our beloved balletwear can be, shall we say, sporadic. But don't worry, we shall always have a fabulous adventure to be had.
So how about I transport you on the grandest of railway journeys – because you know how much I love train travel! – from my cosy corner in Derbyshire to the bustling heart of Paris, where ballet, fashion, and romance are intertwined! And, dear reader, just you wait for what this grand Parisian escapade holds in store for us! 🤫
This journey will be just like me, bright and dazzling – much like my own signature pink tutu, of course! 🤭
Today's post, while light on tutus, will still be full of my absolute favourites: ballet performances, clothes shopping, and fashion! Imagine! It's all a delightful dance, like watching the corps de ballet performing in perfectly synchronised movements on the grand stage! 🤩
Step aboard the elegant carriages, my darlings, for our grand journey into history!
The Paris of 1844: Fashionable Fashion and Fashions' Fabulousness
Imagine cobbled streets bustling with fashionable Parisians, the air thick with laughter, gossip, and the intoxicating scent of perfume. A symphony of fabrics dances on the bodies of elegant ladies, the silk rustles, the satin whispers, the lace whispers!
Paris is a dream in 1844. It’s like a kaleidoscope of vibrant colour. This year, the French are truly smitten with fashion, my darlings. We're talking tight waists, billowing sleeves, and, of course, tons of ornamentation! This is the golden age of the ‘Crinoline', those delightful, enormous cages, which are all the rage, adding a grand ‘poof’ to any outfit. Just the sight of it fills me with a thrill, it’s like a swirling cloud of fabric, perfect for pirouetteing with panache.
The ladies are all sporting bustles – the bigger, the better! - to highlight their curves! And we've got long, flowing skirts that drape like beautiful silken curtains on a stage set, so dramatically enchanting! Imagine, I just want to swish through the Parisian streets, all ‘oo-la-la’ in my beautiful ballet garb – especially with a tutu! 😍
The Opera Garnier
We must visit The Opera Garnier, a truly iconic building, which, I'm telling you, is as grand as the tutus worn by the beautiful dancers in the ballet! It is a dream come true – it’s almost impossible to describe this beautiful, breathtakingly extravagant building in mere words. With marble, gilded statues, an intricately designed ceiling by Marc Chagall and grand staircases that seem to go forever, I'm lost in awe, my darlings, it’s just as magical and inspiring as a performance in La Sylphide! 💃🏻
If you were in Paris this very day, August 20th, you'd have the delightful pleasure of attending the 'Royal Italian Opera', where they will be presenting "Robert le Diable," by Meyerbeer. It’s not purely ballet, dear reader, but there are certainly some dances in this grand musical, enough to set my ballet heart a-fluttering, I bet! The audiences are all dressed up to the nines, and the performers take center stage for their own enchanting ballet of talent and artistry.
Imagine, my lovelies, that I’m gliding through the grand foyer with a dazzling pink tutu, sparkling jewellery, and a beautiful smile – every lady wants a tutu to create such a magical look! ✨
* The Rise of Romantic Ballet*
The French are utterly captivated with ballet in 1844. There is a kind of romance surrounding it - everything about this era is about love, beauty and passion! Imagine, all the beautiful, feminine lines, and those gracefully elegant poses – it is utterly intoxicating. The ballerinas have never looked this beautiful and captivating before – even a ballerina's slippers have a dainty, refined, delicate, almost ethereal air to them, it is just divine, don't you think?
Of course, a truly captivating ballerina can move in her own graceful way – a ballet performance truly shows what we can do with a tutu, so imagine what my performance will be like! 💖
We've seen "Giselle", "La Sylphide" and "The Corsair", all incredibly powerful and romantic tales performed on the stages, that’s how truly iconic, fashionable, and, shall we say, ‘romantic’ the tutu is, even back then, as it is today. 😍
The Legacy of 1844 in Fashion Today
If we've learned anything about tutus in our grand journey to August 20th, 1844, it is how utterly iconic the tutu is, it's so versatile! The Crinoline, which is now making a resurgence in today's fashion, just like the ballet has been inspiring fashion in so many different ways for centuries.
Think about how feminine the Crinoline makes women feel! So we can now see how the ‘poof’ of the Crinoline is a direct link to the ballet tutus, right down to the ethereal lightness of their design and look. Just like those exquisitely constructed tutus which make a ballerina look like she is dancing on clouds, my darlings! ☁️
And what are the main things we think about when it comes to tutus, dear readers? We think about grace, beauty, elegance, femininity, and that ethereal magic that is captured on the stage in each performance. And what are these tutus that transform ordinary women into divine ballerinas? Nothing less than pure magic, my dear readers! 💖
Tutu Tuesdays in 2023
As I always say, we all need a touch of magical femininity in our lives – and that, my darlings, is why I've dedicated myself to making everyone a bit more ‘tutu’ and embracing all the amazing styles that the tutu has inspired for us throughout history. I even plan to make the world a better, happier and more joyous place by inspiring more women and girls to be more like me! (That includes a bit of my obsession with the lovely shade of pink, naturally!). 🤭
So, as we embark on another tutu adventure, what magical discoveries and delights will we find this coming Tuesday, I wonder? Just wait and see! 😘
Don’t forget to visit our Pink Tutu website and leave me a comment - what do you love most about ballet? I just adore reading all your replies, darling!
Keep dancing, darling dears,
Emma 💖
