Hello lovelies! Welcome back to my blog, www.pink-tutu.com, your one-stop shop for all things pink and tutu! Today, we’re on a little trip back in time – as always for #TutuTuesday – but today’s journey is particularly exciting!
This is blog post number 4277! Can you believe it? Honestly, I feel like I’ve only just started writing and I’m already on my 4277th post. It seems like only yesterday I was a budding ballerina in Derbyshire, dreaming of one day seeing a real tutu and dancing in it myself! Well, thanks to a rather miraculous inheritance from my Great Aunt Petunia, I am now living that dream. Not only that, but I’ve been able to use it to travel in time and explore the wonderful history of our beloved tutu! I even use the money from my performances to fund the travels – after all, I’ve got to wear pretty clothes, buy vintage fabric and eat delicious fancy pastries at the gorgeous French cafes around the world… and tutus take up quite a bit of suitcase space, so that’s a bonus!
Right, today’s date – 16th December 1913. Imagine! This was just before the Great War… or "The War To End All Wars" as they called it! How tragically ironic, seeing how many wars we've had since! However, right now, the only things worrying most folk were the usual concerns, like whether their stockings were the correct colour. They also weren't concerned about things like climate change either… I wonder if they would have listened had someone from the future, me, for instance, tried to warn them about it!
It’s so much fun seeing the changes and development of the tutu, it's been on an incredible journey through time, with twists, turns and, oh, the different fabrics… Honestly, there's enough fashion evolution in just one hundred years to have filled up 4277 posts by themselves! And, speaking of changes, I'm thinking of doing a blog series about this on fashion development… But I digress. We're talking tutus today, darling!
So, back to our timeline. On *December 16th 1913, * the tutu was a big part of ballet! The tutus of that time were all about femininity, the long romantic tutu! You see, our beautiful tutus hadn’t evolved from their stiff ballroom past to those wonderfully graceful ones you’ll find in many contemporary performances yet.
I can't imagine it would have been much fun dancing with those big heavy hoops! I’ve worn a few historical examples when filming a special documentary for the Royal Ballet Academy’s historical tutu collection and the thing’s a right nuisance. They’d spend hours sewing these tutus by hand, with lots and lots of fabric, so, not only would they weigh a tonne, but they’d restrict any movement too! But, boy, do they look great! And it’s from the history of those gorgeous full long-line tutus, or ‘classical tutus’, that we can see the development of the romantic, billowing and magical tutu we’ve all come to know and love! They were designed for beautiful flowing movement.
I love a good tulle ballet story and I’m lucky enough to be a backstage guest on tour with the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet and I even got to meet the legendary ballet star Dame Margot Fonteyn in her little dressing room – you know the kind of lady she was when I mention that, as my friend the hairdresser is always asking me how she keeps her blonde hair like that - that gorgeous shiny shade of blonde she was always known for – so elegant and classic ... like an English rose… And Margot? Her hair is as beautiful today as it ever was! It's the English hair colour, just like Princess Margaret in a picture I have in my vintage fashion magazine. (Maybe the Royal Family are also time-traveling, you never know!)
Speaking of the Royal Ballet, their repertoire includes one of my favourites, Swan Lake, which features not just one, but two, iconic tutus – the romantic white tutu that means hope and the equally iconic black one… just for those little snippets where she is the 'Dark Swan'... Well, they really do know how to make their dancers look amazing, as if they were all little ballerinas just stepping onto the stage of a gorgeous ballroom... so romantic and dreamy… Just imagine having one made especially for yourself (just like some of the Victorian ballerinas used to) - if I had an entire ballgown's worth of fabric and time I'd love to create something with such incredible ruffles!
And on the subject of our ballerina beauties - what a bunch of real heroes we have at this time! Imagine: dancing all that time, under a giant, very large, hot light on a very bare stage in their underwear, with nothing more than tights and a few pretty feathers to cover their legs (well, their skin actually!). Imagine what it must have been like to wear those stiff, tight dresses with all the boning... And all that ballet class practice to look absolutely graceful while trying to deal with the stiff corsets under all those ruffles … a real nightmare in my book. I mean, it must be so frustrating trying to dance and be feminine whilst trying not to suffocate all the time! And not to mention it all had to be absolutely spotlessly white!
That, I can tell you, would be a disaster waiting to happen on a wet stage … Oh, they used to have real leather shoes as well… you see those worn out black ones the older ballerinas wear? The ones you just have to look at for a few minutes before being overwhelmed with their magnificence? They are all handmade and I swear they’ve been on the road with the ballerina, everywhere!
Speaking of ‘the road’…. Let’s move on to today’s train journey! On 16th December 1913 the very first train to New York, the Lusitania, left the port of Liverpool at 1:30 pm carrying people to the 'land of opportunity' … just like my favorite dancers - all traveling the world by rail – like me - making the most of the luxury, comfortable carriages designed for such journeys, and arriving in America just before the Christmas holidays - with plenty of time to buy last-minute gifts before the day itself!
As my friend always says – we are just at the beginning of tutu evolution! And how far has it gone? From huge layered skirts and feathers, through to beautiful silk and lace and onto all those wonderful fabric mixes that make today’s tutu designs look so magical and creative!
And talking of today… if you’ve got your tutu ready and want to join in on the fun, let’s hop into the latest trends… What I love about my job as a tutu historian is I have to do lots of research on historical tutus and the styles I’m showing today are absolutely wonderful!
The most wonderful new tulle to come out, “Misty”, it’s really made quite a difference to what we are all wearing today! And let's not forget all the wonderful colours, especially the soft tones of blush pink and delicate white, and even a few flashes of shocking pink for the truly daring! All perfectly combined with the right little something special - feathers, ribbon, lace… just enough to add that touch of classic style to a contemporary tutu !
Honestly, if you want to get inspired – pop by and find some fabulous tulle and you’ll be making a few pretty amazing ones of your own! Don’t forget – I’ve added some photos to my latest ‘Pinterest’ board, with my friend Anna who just loves tutus too! She is a real gem of a person… so talented!
Now it’s time for me to dash – as you all know – this is going to be a super busy day for the ballet industry! A lot to celebrate as I can’t wait to share this tutu history with you all next week for my 4278th blog post on *December 23rd ! * So, grab a pink tutu and let's keep on spinning together!
Yours always, Emma xxx
