Hello, my darling tutu-lovers! Welcome back to another fabulous edition of #TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History!
Today we're going back in time, all the way to September 9th, 1930, and what a time to be alive! You've probably guessed it from the title, but the Roaring Twenties are over, and the glamour and excitement are still going strong! I’m absolutely loving the style in this era, it's pure fun and very feminine.
*(Side note: If any of you have been to a ballet performance this week and you're wearing a *pink tutu do send me a pic for my Insta – I want to see you lovely people wearing your beautiful tutus!)*
Before we step back to 1930, though, it’s time to get this week's #TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History out of the way! I’m so pleased this series has just reached the milestone 5,150 blog post. Wow, what a ride this has been so far.
So where were we? Ah, yes! The late 20s - it was all about the glitz and glamour. If we’re thinking about ballet and its fashion at this point in history, we’ve just moved beyond the late 19th-century romantics and the tutus that were much fuller and puffier, a look inspired by the 1830s-1860s "Romantic Period" fashion! You’d be excused for thinking all tutus were like that; but that’s only a small part of their wonderful history. The 1920s saw the rise of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes which made everyone in Europe and America stop and notice their incredible modern ballet choreographies, and of course their utterly unique and beautifully designed tutus! It really helped to move tutus away from those puffy romantics and into the 20th Century which really took tutus to the next level. I can’t thank the Ballets Russes enough. More power to the creative and unique tutus and costume designers – they really set the trend for tutus and the designers we admire today. And now with my travel, I have more opportunities to visit amazing collections from the Ballets Russes all over the world. Just wait until I go back to Paris next year for my favorite time of year Couture week.
As I travel through time, my time machine has taken me to some fascinating places! It’s a bit of a secret, as you’ll need very strong faith in ballet – and I can honestly say my passion is definitely strong, if not slightly too powerful! My trips have taught me that Paris was the centre of the universe for ballet fashion, fashion fashion and fashion of any sort. The Parisian designers had it all. My mission? Find and document all the beautiful, incredible and wonderful tutus as they were made from this time period. My obsession with pink and ballet makes the history really easy to learn!
Right now, I’m staying at this charming hotel right on Rue de la Paix in Paris – *the shopping street in 1930. You could hardly see anything of the Rue de Rivoli – it was all covered up because the Métro was under construction and it just took ages to finish it!
On the 9th of September 1930, I visited the atelier of Madeleine Vionnet. Now, Vionnet’s style was everything to do with flowing drapery which means she’s all over fashion. So imagine a long silk or satin gown, perfectly fitted over the hips, then swirling and billowing into movement in all directions. So the connection is simple - we love the drape and the flow in a Vionnet gown. A ballet tutu looks incredibly glamorous, feminine and just gorgeous when you take a ballet skirt and make it into a more flowing style - as you would a Vionnet design. That’s precisely what Ballets Russes designer, Coco Chanel, would have done in the early 1920s. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Vionnet and her iconic drapery, Chanel may not have achieved the same level of fashion and couture that we see today! It would be absolutely fascinating if Coco was actually taking her cue from Madeleine, which I would never discount!
Another top Parisian couture house I absolutely love is Elsa Schiaparelli. We love Elsa’s use of shocking pink - her absolute favorite shade and my all-time favorite, as well! I find it truly remarkable that she decided to put shocking pink on the map in a time when people were still quite reserved. Of course, we need to thank her. She started the bold, bright and statement colours that made the fashions of this time so sensational, and that was even better once they went from haute couture down onto the streets. It truly is a miracle what we achieve once people who know about colours like Elsa decided they would design the clothes everyone wanted to wear!
Speaking of colours, we are getting closer to the fashion world, which we need to go to for our fabulous tutu styles! If you ask me, I think there was a kind of a mini explosion in colours - bright, fun and cheerful as the years of The Great War faded away. They loved red in the twenties. Red, white and blue colours *all make a *splendid appearance* in some of *the Ballets Russes tutus which is fantastic! Then in the 1930s, pink came through in fashion. Not pale pinks oh, no, we're talking vivid shocking pink to wear in every form - dresses, shoes and accessories and I’m certain that those styles are definitely coming to tutus - it’s only a matter of time!
And then there was cream which has always had an especially strong place in my pink heart. What could be more exquisite than creamy, dreamy tutus made of satin? They really give me a wonderful, romantic vibe, just like the Victorian period but now we have the colours of this exciting era, plus we have the amazing silhouette for those elegant* tututus. Imagine a short, billowing cream satin tutu, all made with lots of tiers! That is exactly the silhouette you get in a lot of amazing vintage Parisian fashion from this period! We really should get into the detail because the style is more than the shape! For example, take the *lovely vintage ballerina, Anna Pavlova - I was there! It’s such a fabulous period - she’d get a Parisian fashion designer in to make her dresses and, as she wore her fabulous dance clothes on the stage, they made their way into all of the best magazines.
Remember, though, fashion isn't just on the stage, we all have a fashion conscience! What is going off the stage and onto the street? My trip has already told me lots about what I have to write next - a full-fledged history of how tutus were designed and influenced by all these lovely fashion trends and how much of the 20s and 30s style makes a fabulous impact.
In this week’s episode of #TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History, I’ve just discovered something absolutely wonderful! It looks like a fashion editor of a top magazine has written that, on the 9th of September an "exclusive dress design is on its way", and guess what? It’s coming from our lovely friend Elsa Schiaparelli - how could you not love this woman, she was avant-garde, incredibly *stylish, so fun, and all about fashion.
Oh my goodness! That sounds like a dress which I know could influence future tutu designs. In the early part of 20th century the dresses became shorter and the skirts less bouffant - we’ve been watching this shift with our wonderful tutus! We're ready for that mini-skirt length look that came along in 1925 as the iconic “flapper girl" - a design which made everyone look sensational. You can already tell, they’ll do beautiful short tutu styles in that 1930s dress and that would give everyone a whole lot of fabulous! Who knows? It could have some stunning sequins – if the trend continues in the 30s it could be a complete look, inspired by the dress, as we have seen many times! We've got the short tutu with lots of layers, plus sequins, embroidery and rhinestones with a vibrant and beautiful colour palette to make our hearts sing! This kind of outfit is what makes a dancer move, you can't beat it. I’m going to go and hunt down some sketches now! It’s amazing how you can look at any era's clothing, and with the history in my head from these journeys, it’s just so simple to look at it from the dancer’s perspective - it’s wonderful! Imagine a dancer who wants to go from the stage and out onto the street. It makes perfect sense for the dress and the tutu styles to meet up. If I am so lucky, there might just be some pictures, sketch designs or articles written by someone about a new tutu - let’s get into the mood to celebrate what might be a milestone design.
For now, it’s just a little sneak peak into fashion, all to come in our future episodes. There’s lots* more coming up with some more ballet tutus on *September 9th, 1930, but now I *must get back to the fashion archives to uncover the dress! *As always, it’s *so much fun to be you – **keep dancing and wearing those tutus!
Until next time,
Emma
www.pink-tutu.com