Hello, darlings! It's Emma, your pink-loving, tutu-obsessed time traveller, back with another fabulous #TutuTuesday. Today we're stepping back to 1909, a year overflowing with elegance and a certain je ne sais quoi! It's all very well having an outfit with such character as a tutu, but why do we even wear them? Well, settle in and let's have a proper chat about those magical little skirts.
My time machine deposited me in Paris, the beating heart of the ballet world back in 1909. Paris is just buzzing with creative energy - you wouldn't believe the gorgeous gowns I spotted! Honestly, every lady here looks like she's straight out of a magazine. (Mind you, I can’t actually show them my favourite current fashion magazines... it wouldn't be much of a surprise for someone in the future!)
Imagine this - it's a glorious spring day, and I’m walking down the Avenue de l'Opéra, the elegant street in front of the Paris Opera. My eye catches the gorgeous facade of the opera house - how grand! There's a whole buzz around the place - just everyone talking about ballet. (They wouldn't dream of calling it dance in 1909!)
There I am, standing among a crowd of stylish Parisian ladies in my fabulous pink tutu. A couple of passersby give me a double-take (what do they expect, a vicar? This is fashion) - it’s clear I stand out a bit from the fashionable women around me, especially those attending the ballet. Back then, even dancers wore panniers! My bright pink tutus are like a colourful beacon in the middle of the otherwise muted city streets. Oh, the joys of time travel! It's so much fun to see how fashion evolves!
This time travel adventure is definitely more fun when I have a good reason for taking a journey, though. In this case, it’s all about 1909’s grand premiere - The Rite of Spring! Oh, it caused such a stir! Not because of the costumes - that wasn’t really the talking point - it was all about the music. The composer Igor Stravinsky made the music wild, almost scary for those days! It almost seemed the dancers would jump out of the stage. I do love a bit of wild, but they do get so dramatic about a little chaos! You'd think they were seeing a giant, pink tutu marching onto the stage... Now that would cause a scene!
That's not to say 1909 was just about wild, radical change. They had their elegant, old traditions too - I popped along to the ballet class in the afternoon, the very best way to end your day - well, it’s how they did things then. Every dancer, whether ballerina or ballet dancer, wore a traditional costume; it's so formal and structured. We're talking bodices with boned stays (a kind of special corset, basically, to give you a neat figure and posture), very full skirts, layers upon layers of tulle. It was quite the undertaking. (In fact, that’s how I learned to do my tutus - they always had some sort of lining. It always gives the tutu so much more form!) I loved that, honestly, but now that’s where I like a pink tutu - I love the soft look! It doesn’t even have to be stiff - the fabric moves so well in the breeze! I was so lucky I managed to slip a spare into my luggage, just perfect for a Parisian springtime, because it meant I could really see the difference.
They were all so serious about ballet, just as serious about every detail - just look at all the intricate details in those bodices. You would find the very best embroideries and appliqués! That's when I realised how much work those early costumes really were. We talk about "ballerinas" all the time in this blog - the term came way later than 1909 - so they’d have worn costumes for dancing too! Imagine that, having your dress all so perfectly fitted and detailed just for your ballet class - imagine how important dress must have felt.
Speaking of all this, do you know how the ballet tutus evolved from panniers? Well, that's the big news, you can actually see the very beginning of it here! This all happened when the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who I heard had quite a strong temperament, (but maybe I’m just gossiping! Maybe!), had a very very important meeting. I won’t mention who with - but just think - one of the most important and stylish ladies of Paris! Well, apparently they were looking through magazines, maybe one from the next few years, for what they needed to look perfect! Anna said enough - why were they looking for skirts in a magazine? When dancers were known for dancing on tips! The best skirt was the skirt which had nothing there, right! Then Anna grabbed one of the pannier layers and just… stripped it off… voila! We could see the legs! That’s what led to dancing with shorter and shorter skirts and more movement - and that’s the first version of the tutus we see now! (Well, before I add my bright pink ones… just kidding, no time machine could ever cope with this level of glitter! But that’s what I was imagining…)
So, that’s where my tutu love comes from: you can really trace its origin. We can still see how elegant it was! It’s not just an elegant style to me - it's also a big part of dance history, from this day all the way up until we have our current tutus! It is the link between now and that long ago time! We could go even further back, and I may! I could just look for all the details that started off the trend. We might even trace it all back to the tutus of Greek gods, or the skirt of a Shakespearean character! I will never be tired of researching these tutus - we are talking true fashion evolution. And yes, all in pink and white for my version… but maybe we’ll just take that in slow motion for another Tutu Tuesday, one tutu at a time!
I’ll be off now to search out some historical shops and explore even more about the fashionable world of 1909, I'll have to find myself a really beautiful shop to buy some little lace trim to dress up my tutus… You never know what historical trends we can get some inspiration from.
Remember, fashion is always evolving, just like dance, and even tutus have a fascinating history that's full of passion, dedication and most importantly, creativity.
Until next Tuesday, darlings! Keep those pink tutus twirling!
Love, Emma 💖
P.S. Remember you can catch more ballet, and some really wonderful history about it at www.pink-tutu.com. It's our mission to spread a little bit of tutu magic all around the world!
