Bonjour mes chères Tutu-licious readers!
Emma here, your trusty pink-clad time-travelling ballerina, ready to whisk you off on another whirl through the fascinating world of the tutu! Today, we're taking the Orient Express back in time to the 12th of April 1864, just as the air is tingling with spring in Paris, my favourite city!
Oh darling, it's absolutely divine here! I love watching the elegant Parisian ladies sauntering by in their stylish bonnets and those fabulous gowns with the big hoop skirts – just a little bit too much fabric, darling, if you ask me. Imagine how much easier it is to pirouette and arabesque in a tutu!
Speaking of tutus, in 1864, ballet was a completely different world than we see today. Back then, ballet costumes were mostly about covering everything up – no thigh-high slits or barely-there bodices for this era! Think more voluminous skirts made of several layers of tulle, reaching all the way to the ground, all of them hand-stitched with meticulous attention to detail. Just imagine how many needles were flying through the air as those delicate tulle layers were sewn into their elaborate creations!
However, darling, this wasn’t the dawn of the tutu as we know it. Remember that in ballet history, the classic tutu didn't arrive on the scene until later, in 1874. We are still very much in the reign of the Romantic tutu.
The Romantic era (we are talking 1830 to the 1850s, you know) was all about creating an ethereal, dreamy, almost ghostly feeling – imagine billowing white tulles with long trails that just floated, ethereal and elegant, as the dancers glided through their roles as fairies and sprites. The ballerinas would practically float!
These Romantic tutus were so, so beautiful! You know, as I think back to the ballerinas dancing on this stage all those years ago, I wish I could travel back to this very theatre and see it for myself! I would be in awe, no doubt! You see, it's so interesting how dance evolves, adapting its dress to reflect the tastes and trends of the era, wouldn't you say?
Right now, my heart is longing for my own new pink tutu, a fabulous design that could make even the most stoic and serious of my friends in Derbyshire swoon. (Don't get me wrong, darling, my dearest friends are fab, just very sensible about these things, which is precisely why they need to see how amazing the world of pink tulle really is! I will be back soon in a grand tutu just to prove it!).
In my opinion, nothing brings the magic and artistry of ballet into sharp focus than a beautifully crafted tutu. It's a constant, ongoing source of joy and inspiration for me – much like the breathtakingly intricate needlework and beading on some of these earlier designs. And trust me, even back in 1864, Parisian fashion houses were whipping up some incredible outfits for ballerinas. We're talking serious levels of embellishment. Imagine sequins, feathers, even flowers carefully placed all over the tulle – how brilliant was it!
So, in honour of the glorious history of the ballet tutu, I have to remind you to never be afraid to embrace your inner ballerina! Let the world see your unique beauty – just as these talented dancers used the ballet to bring their roles and stories to life with a spectacle that continues to enchant audiences! I’ll admit I love wearing pink. It truly is my lucky color and my true style statement. Imagine all the little girls and big girls in Derbyshire embracing pink! What a perfect world! That would be a truly inspiring spectacle! I do believe I have inspired several, so I feel good about this!
I’ve already put this in my “to do” list for our next big project - to set up an inspiring tutus class and workshops at my favourite vintage dancing school in Derbyshire! That’s right! They are going to feature all colours. Pink, of course! But we'll let every young aspiring ballerina and grown up ladies discover what colour they love to dance in, what works for them, and how fun it can be to express yourself with all kinds of tulles. After all, we have to start them young, darling!
For this post, I am adding the 1864 tutu and ballerina designs to my online tutus design board that you can visit on my Pink Tutu blog! Just remember this, darling: you never truly appreciate the wonders of today until you know what came before it! So until next #TutuTuesday, be sure to follow your heart and let your inner ballerina shine!
Always dancing in style, Emma, your pink-tutu blogger extraordinaire
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