#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1855-08-21

Hello, my darlings! It's your favourite pink-clad, tutu-twirling travel blogger Emma here, back for another edition of Tutu Tuesday. This week, I've journeyed all the way back to August 21st, 1855. Oh, my, the romanticism of the era!

Imagine, the world was a bit slower, quieter then. The bustle of our modern life didn't exist, but that doesn't mean fashion wasn't flourishing. In fact, the era known as Romantic Ballet was bursting with life. It was a time when movement flowed like the melodies of Tchaikovsky and the tutus were a spectacle in their own right.

As I stepped out of my time machine and onto the cobblestones of 1855 Paris, I immediately felt a shift. Think delicate silhouettes, shimmering silks, and romantic, floating forms – very different from the street style I’m used to, but equally as delightful!

You wouldn't catch me in a petticoat with crinoline all day, but the silhouette does echo a lovely ethereal lightness. That day, my own time travel ensemble was a very soft pink tutu - I have to maintain some level of brand consistency! But with layers of gossamer-like tulle and a wide-brimmed straw hat, I certainly looked the part of a well-to-do and quite fashionably advanced lady from the future.

As for the tutu itself - while it wasn’t the pouffy, whimsical tulle we have today, the early tutus of the 1800s were magnificent in their simplicity. I’d be willing to bet they’d have a timeless appeal for any modern ballerina. They were primarily about fluidity and expressing the soul of the movement – and they just flowed with the dance.

It wasn’t quite the ballerina life of Paris that we see in our history books today though. It wasn’t until later in the century, thanks to pioneers like Marie Taglioni, that ballerina life became truly synonymous with "pink" (although it was more lilac in those days), "beautiful" and "feminine". It really was quite an awakening in dance!

However, if you’d ventured out to the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Paris that day in 1855 you’d have seen all of the latest innovations from the world of fashion and art coming together in one incredible display at the "Exposition Universelle". The French loved their Exposition! And why wouldn’t they? It was basically the “Olympics” for everything new, fresh, and exciting from around the globe. They would see displays from Japan, England, Russia, India and all kinds of fantastic nations! I do love a bit of globetrotting – and these displays truly glow!

I imagine you could spend months taking it all in - and there were lots of artists, fashionistas, intellectuals and curious folk just like myself from around the globe, too. What I imagine would have been quite fabulous, was catching a show at the Palais des Beaux-Arts that evening. They put on some really spectacular opera ballets - a ballet spectacle is truly a spectacle!

The Parisian fashion scene in the mid-1800s really set the standard, wouldn’t you say? Even though, as I mentioned, the early tutu was more about flowing movement and graceful elegance than what we think of now. As the century went on, with ballerinas pushing the limits of what they could achieve with their incredible technique, the tutus also changed – so as to accentuate all the leaps and jumps, and to really draw attention to all those mesmerizing pirouettes! The beauty and simplicity of early Romantic ballet’s costumes just flowed in perfect harmony with the ballets they were dancing to.

And speaking of pirouettes – the Parisian dancers must have been amazing. In this period, there was the first recorded triple pirouette performed – now that’s technique! You know me, my dear lovelies - I love my pirouettes - a well-executed one just makes me swoon! The pirouette really is a ballerina’s best friend - and its one that can still take your breath away on any stage to this day.

But this year - this year is special - it's the 150th Anniversary of the invention of the ballet shoe! What better occasion to grab your favorite tutu, get ready to leap, and maybe do a triple pirouette - to celebrate a beautiful art form!

You see, it doesn’t really matter what kind of tutu you choose - what really matters is embracing the ballet spirit in your everyday life. As they used to say, “it’s the spirit of ballet in the step, dear!”. What better day to celebrate it than Tutu Tuesday?

Well, I am going to continue on my fashion pilgrimage, looking for the most magnificent silk for the perfect new tutu. Let me know what your favorite ballet outfits are in the comments below, dearies - I’m looking for some inspiration!

Don’t forget to show your Tutu-tude today, loves! See you next Tuesday, for another trip into history!

With all my love,

Emma xoxox

**(This is the first part of the blog post. It's about 1150 words. Please let me know if you'd like me to continue writing the rest of it. I'd need to decide on some specifics for Emma's day trip to Paris, such as her shopping and entertainment experiences.) )