Welcome back, darlings! This is Emma, your favourite pink tutu-clad time-travelling blogger, back for another #TutuTuesday post. Today we're taking a trip back to May 8th, 1894 – get those imaginary trains ready! I always feel such a tingle of excitement when we’re time-travelling to a different era, and today’s journey takes us right to the heart of ballet history – Paris!
Now, don't you find it just utterly fascinating how our history comes to life in fashion? I just adore the elegant romance of bygone eras! Today’s focus is the tutus themselves, darlings, and I must say, their journey has been a complete and utter joy to follow. It's quite an odyssey for such a wonderfully graceful garment!
This blog is already reaching 3254 posts – what a journey that’s been! So many times travelling by train, meeting new and wonderful people in fantastic costumes – my tutu wardrobe is starting to overflow. However, I find I just can’t resist a new purchase. I recently saw the most divine, new ballet skirt in pink, oh, it was absolutely perfect with its soft frills – truly breathtaking. Sadly I couldn’t add it to my wardrobe… yet! You see, in the time travel business you really need to pick the moments carefully to spend money, to allow time to get the funds for more time-travelling escapades. That means being clever with what you spend money on. And, obviously, this blogger makes a considerable profit from performances (you can tell my name's Emma by the ballet steps! 😄). Now, let's dive into what made May 8th, 1894 so special.
Fashion’s Big Day!
May 8th was an exciting day for Paris and the world of fashion! It was the first day of the Spring Collections showing of gowns, bonnets and a new style for ladies’ dress called la robe de jour, or day dress. It was a bold move to show dresses that did not include a corset – for those who don't know this is an extremely restrictive and not terribly comfortable undergarment, which had been deemed essential for ladies fashion since the 16th century, but this was becoming less and less acceptable. Now, you know what, ladies? I say a big cheer for liberation from corsets! La robe de jour did include a new form of underwear called the combinaison, a long, linen garment which came down to just below the knee – a daring but stylish fashion innovation! Imagine – freedom from a corset for women in this day and age – wonderful!
Of course, la robe de jour was only truly liberating when a woman could afford to own multiple items, in fact several la robe de jour, one for every occasion, as they had to be hand-laundered – much less convenient and speedy than washing a cotton garment. You know I like to stay up to date, as does my very favourite tailor. You can't tell from this photo as he insisted that a tutu always hides his work! However, he's currently at work making my combinaison , it should be an incredible pink. What a triumph of style, ladies! My dear friend Marie loves fashion. I think her and my tailor will really get along! She told me that some even wore several at once, as the materials of combinaison could be uncomfortable – very thin, I hear.
Fashion is, of course, the heart and soul of my world. Now, with all the new la robe de jour coming out this Spring it made it hard for me to focus on something more central to this post – tutus. This era, however, is not all about that, but tutus and dress were about to go hand-in-hand, especially for the ballets which were then very much in vogue, including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, both of which had already achieved international acclaim, but that didn’t stop those gorgeous ladies wearing beautiful clothes in ballets all around the world.
Now, let’s return to our topic, and talk more about this most fabulous and iconic of ballet attire: the tutu! And how, on May 8th 1894 it began to transform, making this date quite possibly, one of the most iconic dates in the history of tutus!
A Dance Through Time – Tutu History 🩰
Remember back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when tutus didn't even exist. Imagine! In those days, the dancers wore clothes that mimicked what women wore in everyday life, which were dresses and skirts and stockings! We can thank Maria Talloni, a famous Italian ballerina for beginning the development of the tutu as we know it today. It was a dramatic move – and not one that all her colleagues thought was so wonderful. She dared to move away from everyday styles of dress for ballerinas. It happened in the late 1600s, during a time when France had become very keen on ballets, especially a particular style called ballet d'action. Imagine! How innovative! To ditch the everyday style. It really was so very different from the way ballerinas had previously been encouraged to look – almost more like princesses on a royal stage.
So, from that point on, and really through into the early 1800s there was quite a lot of experiment with the ‘dress’ for ballerinas, and eventually tutus really took centre stage. The 1830s are where the style started to resemble something more like a proper tutu – think a loose and flowing skirted dress and lots of soft frills. They made ballet look really lovely – as the girls floated across the stage like graceful butterflies – as they danced! I can't believe it was only a hundred years ago they were trying to make sense of these really revolutionary ideas!
Then, enter stage left... the Romantic era - in ballet, fashion and indeed everything, right into the late 1800s. For fashion in general – which is something I just LOVE to talk about, of course - we began to see some rather beautiful things in clothes that were made for the day. But for tutus a complete and utter change happened. Now, there was an explosion of lace and satin and other beautiful delicate materials. A little flounce or even just a light trim – it was wonderful, and everything about fashion at the time felt graceful, elegant, airy, so refined - not quite ‘crinoline’ (although it did not entirely disappear from clothing for another twenty or thirty years – that is why we know this era for having amazing dress!).
So, let's focus on what was happening at that time. Our lovely tutus really went through another change when this Romanticism swept across everything in fashion. Think airy materials – that just glided like the most heavenly silk.
Tutu Revolution 🩰
What we can see then, in the period that this #TutuTuesday post has taken us to, is that ballet became a ballet of pure elegance, where the ballerina becomes one with the stage in their gorgeous outfits and all this really takes us to the first romantic ballet – Giselle. Remember her? If you’re with me then we all just LOVE this iconic ballerina character - that lovely story and its perfect romantic feeling?
I wonder why that change had happened! The movement is very much one of graceful leaps and jumps– which really only can happen if your tutu is short, a kind of very long dress, which would probably still have a slight bustle. At the back and a long flowy length. Just think of all that movement! Imagine the grace, and poise and beauty – not to mention the hard work. Imagine, the dedication that goes into preparing and training and learning such an artistic skill!
May 8th and Beyond...
What a fabulous trip back to the past! And how amazing is this transition from earlier dress styles to the graceful tutus we see in the classic ballets. On this day back in 1894, many ballerinas across the world were working hard, trying to get their movement perfected so they could take part in performances. They might be performing a play, such as the ballet, Sleeping Beauty, *which had had a revival the year before on its original staging – a massive 1890s success – what a wonderful moment! They may be in a ballet such as the one you mentioned above –Giselle* which by 1894, was part of a repertoire of performances at ballets around the world – an incredible dance, if I say so myself, in the most beautifully refined outfits.
And for the ballet d'action, this really had an important influence as the period moves further on towards 1900. Imagine how this wonderful world of ballet developed – where tutus moved from very formal, and then moved to a more relaxed feel, just a short length, just so that you get that flow of motion when the ballerinas leapt across the stage, moving more freely into that ‘flowing’, romantic era. It’s all because of how the story of the tutu has been told by those fabulous ballerinas – what grace and precision and a real dedication. We can still find similar forms in modern times for ballet dancing and how gorgeous they look!
Now, the stage is set. So, remember, darlings, in our ballet world it was in 1894 that tutus really took flight! As it progressed from one type of ballerina outfit – with beautiful and elegant, lacey, floaty, dreamy styles into the more relaxed and movement-oriented style – you can imagine, they really started to make real progress, into something unique and special – what we now consider the classic ballet tutu . Don't you just think that's completely amazing? Imagine dancing all those steps, it really would be like gliding across the stage – they really were graceful! Isn't that incredible?
You know what darlings – this is my ultimate mission for all my blogs - make tutus a style for everybody! For your shopping sprees, for your tea parties, even a lovely stroll in the park! What an incredibly beautiful piece of history and, indeed, of culture is the tutu, as a beautiful symbol of fashion. How would we feel today about such iconic beauty if it wasn't for that shift into the beautiful tutu as we know it now. You must add this fashion item to your list! For sure, everyone should have a tutu at least once. This blog is here to help with this very important mission and to make the tutu more central in the world, for everyone. Just remember to stay on trend! You know the world of fashion has moved a little on! Just this week I spotted an exquisite collection in London which features la robe de jour. Combinaison seems to be the underwear choice for some and that lovely Victorian flounce that was everywhere. This year la robe de jour is the big trend. The only one! As la robe de jour is all the rage and a truly elegant outfit and in those beautiful styles – you should know the ballet tutu is in the style mix – think modern and trendy. That’s right, this elegant skirt looks fantastic with a tutu, or is a perfect la robe de jour. You could really make your day a fashion triumph. That flounce or trim – remember, there are so many lovely designs out there and you just have to add a beautiful tutu. Don’t be shy darlings, put on a tutu, wear a skirt - this is where it really began - be chic and be happy. The ballet world would surely thank you. That's all for #TutuTuesday this week. Stay stylish!
And don't forget to catch me on next Tuesday's blog – and let’s take another train to somewhere wonderful! And do please give a shout out on www.pink-tutu.com, I’d love to know where we go to next – but remember - keep it elegant. You see, in 1894 that meant some form of bustle and it was even more beautiful because it made la robe de jour even more beautiful – with just the right movement for that lovely long dress or indeed a tutu. What would 1894 ballet tutus look like? It’s really quite fabulous!
Your pink-loving blogger, Emma 🩰🌸💖
