#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1870-07-19

Hello my darling dears, and welcome to another exciting #TutuTuesday here on pink-tutu.com! Today, we’re taking a grand tour, not by carriage, but by my trusty time machine (and a very snazzy pink tutu, of course) all the way back to July 19th, 1870! I just love time travel.

This week, my pink tulle dreams took me to a glorious Paris, France, the undisputed capital of all things fashion and, naturally, ballet. Honestly, what else could it be? And just you wait for the tutus we’re about to discover!

Remember, I am on a mission. It's to spread the gospel of pink tulle far and wide and inspire you to find that little bit of sparkle in your own lives. It all started when I was a little girl growing up in Derbyshire. I would twirl around my bedroom in any piece of net fabric I could find. Ballet has always been my passion. My ambition now is for every single person to embrace the beautiful pinkness of tutus!

Now, I don’t think it's much of a surprise that I funded this fabulous journey with another glamorous performance, wouldn’t you agree? We have to support the arts, darling! This week I was lucky enough to star in "Swan Lake" with a wonderful company here in Paris. It was a thrilling success, with a packed audience (including an incredibly charming prince!). We performed at the Opéra Garnier – oh, that building is just so grand and stunning. You can see the legacy of grand design and passion for ballet flowing through the very walls. Afterward, my wardrobe was just aching to explore the fashion hotspots of Paris and I made a beeline for a particularly lovely shop in the 9th arrondissement - I am simply crazy about Parisian elegance. They had the most fabulous, elaborate, and decadent accessories and fabrics - think lace and ribbons and silks! Just delightful.

Today’s adventure led me to a show-stopping exhibition celebrating ballet – but not the ballerina we know today, dear reader. The Parisian audience is enjoying ballet as we know it but there’s something... a little different about the ballerinas on stage, let me tell you! We have this fabulous historical exposition detailing the history of tutus. I have learned so much and am going to share it with you all! Now, hold onto your hats!

Remember the “tutu” as we know it was only just arriving on the scene, just as I'm on the cusp of exploring the city! Now, before the 1870s, ballerinas weren’t exactly sporting our now-iconic frilly creations! They wore much longer skirts! I'm talking almost full length! They were much more, shall we say, practical and were ideal for executing all sorts of beautiful floor movements, twirls, and jumps. These long, flowy skirts, usually a simple and plain white, created graceful, undulating lines as they danced.

Well, by 1870 the trend toward the shorter skirt is in full bloom, darling. This means that we see more leg, but it’s still very modest compared to our modern day ballerinas. Now, you might think this change came from a sudden desire for more leg and for ballerinas to show off their moves, but you'd be surprised!

The "revolution" of the skirt came about through practicality rather than trend. Now imagine it – the long skirts were actually creating a problem for ballerinas in those earlier eras! Their flowing movement became entangled and impeded, restricting their ability to perform certain movements - in particular those fancy pirouettes and delicate jetés, a true dance challenge. The shorter skirt brought an era of lighter and freer movement - which naturally gave way to some dazzling new steps. It’s been exciting to see how these dance moves were evolving in line with the clothes!

But let’s be honest, the evolution of the tutu wasn’t as swift as a pirouette. Think more a gentle fondu and delicate, graceful steps, and less the rapid jumps of a grand jeté. They did slowly start moving upwards! There is evidence of "knee length" (think the elegant and sophisticated pencil skirt look!) and I have spotted some with a full bouffant at the bottom. You have to admire how elegant they look even then!

Now, darling, we must talk about how these shorter skirts revolutionised ballet! Think elegance. Grace. Power. Movement. All this was emphasised and we can see ballerinas beginning to work their leg muscles like never before. In those early years of ballet development, they still had not created many fancy steps like they do today but those longer, fuller skirts often hid a lot of hard work from the audience.

This change meant that even a single arabesque, (a graceful balancing position!) now has even more impact and beauty. I'm certain it made the whole performance feel more dynamic, with new emphasis on legwork and technique. Can you imagine, it completely redefined what ballet could achieve.

Now, there is one absolutely glorious, glittering detail that stands out – ballerinas were starting to embrace the luxurious use of embellishments in 1870. Can you believe, I'm told some were using sequins on the tulle! A sparkly little addition. Think of all the fabulous dance costumes, glittering in the spotlights! There were also feathers, ribbons, bows, you name it! I know there were very expensive elaborate, handcrafted beaded tutus and, in an effort to preserve those beautiful pieces, they only wore them for the biggest performances!

My trip has made me fall in love all over again with these graceful masterpieces of dance. Just picture it! A glamorous dancer, a glorious theatre. And at the heart of the show - a beautiful, delicate ballet tutu, with intricate lace trimmings and sparkling with hundreds of sequins! Now isn’t that just something special, dear reader? And as my time here has come to an end, I'm filled with ideas. You’ll find me in my atelier getting all those notions ready for a truly dazzling tutu of my own. Oh the creative opportunities.

### Looking Forward to Next Week:

And what of next week, my darling dears? The next #TutuTuesday, you ask? Well, I just couldn’t resist a jaunt a little bit further down the timeline! The glorious, beautiful early 1900s are calling! Oh, what lovely stories I have ready to share. This time travel has me buzzing and full of excitement about how those dance forms and fashion will be evolving and who knows, maybe I can pick up a few more pink tutu ideas as we go!

Don't forget to visit www.pink-tutu.com for a daily dose of tutu-inspired style and, most importantly, always be yourself and remember...

… embrace your inner tutu!

XOXO Emma