Hello my darling tutu-loving darlings!
Welcome back to another edition of #TutuTuesday! It's me, your favourite time-travelling, tutu-adoring blogger, Emma!
This week Iām zipping back in time to 17th January 1854, just a hop, skip, and a pirouette from Victorian England! Ooh, just thinking about the beautiful, voluminous skirts and elaborate hairstyles of that era gets me feeling quite fluttery! Can you imagine a time when you wouldn't have been judged for wearing ruffles and tiers upon tiers of silk and lace? My dear readers, it was a golden age for feminine frills!
Of course, this is all very lovely but let's get back to what youāve really come here for...the tutus! Oh darling, the tutusā¦ They werenāt quite at their peak in 1854! Donāt get me wrong, the ballet was well and truly taking London by storm, but the tutus we know and love today were still being dreamt up in the wings. It was all about romanticism, my lovelies, swirling silk gowns and floating, flowing skirts that echoed the romantic ballets of the time. Think ethereal white gowns shimmering under gaslights, fluttering like butterfly wingsā¦ utterly magical, isn't it?
So, what were dancers wearing in the era of Queen Victoria? Well, imagine a layered and voluminous ballet skirt, often fashioned from silk or tulle, worn with a fitted bodice that sometimes included delicate embroidery or a single, dramatic flourish. It was all about the romantic and dramatic flow, evoking a feeling of lightness and airy grace. The focus wasn't on short, revealing tutus yet ā more about ethereal, floating grace. Itās beautiful and it gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling inside!
The ballet skirts of the 1850s, however, still werenāt quite ātutusā as we know them today! They were still more elaborate skirts worn on the lower body, adding more flow and romance, but without the revolutionary cut we know and adore! But I tell you what, those costumes, they still sparked the imagination, with all those layers and flowing fabric! It truly embodies the essence of Romantic ballet - a bit like my own personal fashion aesthetic, wouldn't you agree?
Speaking of romance, did you know this day in 1854, 17th January, was celebrated by the birth of the legendary Charles Dickens! Can you imagine, the same day this iconic author brought characters like Scrooge and Pip to life, the ballet world was starting to build a revolution in movement and costuming, which eventually gave us those glorious tutu designs we all adore!
Right, darlings! Time to put the finishing touches on this #TutuTuesday blog post and get my tea brewing.
Donāt forget to keep an eye on this space every Tuesday for a new look into the wonderful, captivating, utterly tutu-ful world of ballet history! And most importantly, don't forget to follow my favourite rule: *if in doubt, wear pink. And definitely wear a tutu. *
Happy tutuing!
Your forever-and-always, pink tutu-loving, time-traveling blogger, Emma xoxo
www.pink-tutu.com
