Greetings, fellow twirlers and tutu enthusiasts! It's Emma here, your friendly neighbourhood ballerina blogger, coming to you live (or, well, sort of live) from… well, that’s a bit of a secret, but let’s just say it’s a time period you wouldn’t believe. The only clue I'll give is - we’re wearing hats in the 1900s, darling. Anyway, as always, it's #TutuTuesday!
Today's adventure takes us back to August 1st, 1905. Can you believe it? The year the suffragette movement really kicked off in London, the year Einstein published his groundbreaking work on special relativity, and the year – drumroll, please – we're getting a peek into the fascinating world of the early tutu!
As you know, here on www.pink-tutu.com we adore tutus. But how did we get these frothy delights in our lives? You know I love to tell the story. Grab a cuppa and join me, dears, on this whirlwind of a tutu journey…
The Early Days
Okay, so picture it: a long, long time ago (let's just say the before of before) - there weren't tutus! You heard right, darlings! These airy creations didn't actually pop onto the scene until the early 1800s. Imagine dancing in long, heavy, flowing dresses that dragged across the stage! The nightmare. Shivers But thankfully, a genius (that would be the one and only Marie Taglioni, queen of the ethereal) had an amazing idea: Let’s ditch the skirts, simplify, and let the dancer’s movement be the star. BOOM! That’s how the very first tutu took shape.
The tutu, which means "tulle" in French, was initially quite plain – imagine a basic knee-length skirt. Nothing fancy, no layers of tulle or fluffy pompoms. Imagine your ballet slippers in their first year of ballet school – they are just simple white leather shoes and very much practical. Well, the tutu in the 1830s was kind of like the ballet slipper – very practical. We can thank those early designers for giving dancers more freedom of movement. They didn't just ditch the dress, darling; they freed the dance itself. Talk about a style icon, am I right?
A Whimsical Evolution
Now, this simple little creation started its journey of evolution and a touch of *more *drama and, of course, a *whiff of fashion soon appeared! It was like we opened a big can of imagination and the first sprinklings of fashion crept into our dancing lives!
It started around the 1850s with Marie Taglioni’s legendary student, Fanny Cerrito, (remember this name!), she was known for adding an exciting touch of elegance – a frou-frou touch of tiers, and there, you had the start of what we know and love – the classic "Romantic" tutu!
If I ever win the lottery, my darlings, I shall build a gigantic time-traveling ballet boutique, filled with *every ** type of tutu from every era! We could spend weeks talking about the progression of styles, but for now, let's jump right back to the 1905 you, and the tutus of the period!
Tutuland! - It's a Date
Now, rewind the time machine - August 1st, 1905! The stage is set! It's still pretty romantic, think long layers of soft tulle and dreamy floral motifs - sigh, just perfect.
The ladies were sporting tutus just below the knee, perhaps a bit shorter at the back for movement, giving them freedom to whirl and pirouette without the pesky problem of their fabric tripping them up (or their performance being ruined). Now that was a clever move!
A charming detail, which is super fashionable today, is the addition of panniers, hoops – essentially a big pouffy cage made from whalebone that kept the skirt voluminous, creating that perfect "Bell-shaped" silhouette. It is worth noting that many ballets have "The tutu look" for specific dance sequences. A modern ballet often has simple leotard and tights to enhance movement but a big 'bell' tulle tutu for the Grand Finale, for example, as tutus really look magical under the lights and can add some wonderful drama to a ballet sequence.
Imagine waltzing through the stage in this beauty – that is pure poetry! These were the days before the "paquette" (the tight-fitting tutu), but with the sheer quantity of tulle and panniers, I bet these ladies made the dance floor their personal swirling wonderland. It was the perfect time for ballets like The Sleeping Beauty! We all remember the sheer number of dancers in "The Ballet of the Princesses" - so many beautiful ballerinas with the stunning costumes that still inspire our minds, 20th Century fashions in particular!
So if you see a "bell" style tutu that looks vintage – or, indeed, if you’re thinking of adding it to your collection – remember that gorgeous period, with the ladies of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries creating their very own dance of history with tulle. It was the tutu's very own Cinderella story, transforming an idea into something truly, tutu-licious!
Dress up and Play
And don't forget – your tutu, your history, your love of dancing is waiting to be created! We can learn so much from these periods in ballet history. Not only for their dancing style but their fashion, their costumes.
We can find amazing ways to weave those stories, and our stories of love, life, and all things pink and tulle, into a fabulous little ballet adventure of our own, even if that’s a simple walk on a beautiful day! So grab your sparkliest pink tutu (or a plain one – you can dress up with your own personality) – and let’s get swirling and spinning in honor of the tutu’s grand evolution. We'll make this #TutuTuesday a real ballet history masterpiece!
Don’t forget to follow me, Emma @ www.pink-tutu.com. Don’t miss next week’s #TutuTuesday, where we will look back into ballet’s fashion history through the magic of tutus, as I take you to the heart of tutuland! You can see all the fabulous and stylish history we’ve got. See you next week, dearies!
