#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1948-11-16

Hello, Darlings!

It's Tuesday, so it's time for another #TutuTuesday dive into the wonderful world of tutus. I’ve been to New York for the week and boy have my bank balances taken a hit. There's no place better for shopping than Manhattan and I've gone a little bit crazy, if I do say so myself. But, hey, tutus aren't cheap and my readers must be able to trust that I have the most beautiful and extensive collection for you all!

It’s back to London for me on the train later this week, a train ride I love and where you can always spot a fabulous new outfit - so much to be inspired by! This week's trip is a double whammy - I have my beloved Ballet with Victoria class on Thursday, but the real highlight is going to see Margot Fonteyn dance with the Royal Ballet on Friday night! You can't go to London and not see a show.

Today, for our little walk back in time, we’re headed to… 16 November, 1948! This time we’re heading to Paris!

So we’re all sitting at home in Derbyshire England. We can hear our Dad, coming home from the coal mines in Chesterfield - there’s only one Dad - and we’re all tucked up listening to the radio when – suddenly! BANG! - off we go in the time machine. I must confess I'm getting much better at this time travelling, my Tutu Travel Dress now has secret pockets for little bits and bobs to make life on the move more glamorous. You really have to go all out for these excursions.

So here we are - Paris, November 1948. The beautiful city of love, the capital of fashion, the place that truly makes the ballet world what it is - the city that gives you the perfect excuse to pack all your pink tutus! Paris!

Our time-traveling Tutu dress, now complete with a beret (that’s my favourite part of the Parisian look, and I just had to add one) - is absolutely rocking it! Let’s wander the beautiful Parisian streets – my love of pink really does go well here, everything from buildings to lipstick shades just add to the sheer romance. It’s really made for a pink tutu girl, honestly, although my pink, full-skirted, classical tutu doesn’t exactly fit in with the 1940s styles! Everyone's sporting fitted looks, with the skirt a tiny bit wider and full of gathers just at the back, while the tutus in those days were flat, pretty much like those worn by ballerinas in Russia just a few decades before!

I must say though, although the fashion's quite different and makes me look like an escaped angel of love and kindness – with the tutu giving me a wonderful graceful elegance – the girls love it! And of course, I have my favourite book, Ballet: An Encyclopaedia with me for the history side of this, for all you amazing, fabulous dancers!

I've popped in to the Palais Garnier - now that’s a proper ballet experience. We're in the city that had one of the very first ballet companies - l’Académie Royale de Danse - which was formed in 1661! My little tutu-covered feet are excited to be in a building where some of the greatest ballet dancers of all time - like Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova – have taken to the stage. Oh, just seeing a dance recital there with all the dancers looking glamorous in the traditional ballet white tulle, is pure joy. It truly feels as if every move they make is so effortlessly graceful and stunning, and I bet we can all learn a lot from watching it.

Paris, truly is the most magical place to see a performance! Everyone just oozes so much chic, everyone is just so classy, even the men are really handsome in their velvet suits, I am falling head over heels for the place! It feels just right to be dressed in my little pink, just to be at this glamorous gathering, it is all very exciting! The tutu always fits right in, and it brings smiles, which is just lovely.

Now what is going to be my dance to watch – but yes, I've got a very important show to see, La Fille mal gardée, and I am so excited to watch the wonderful dancers on stage. And there are tutus of all colours being worn. You do not want to be on the dance floor here if you do not have a fabulous outfit to impress the crowds! But let's be real. Nothing, I repeat nothing can top that delicious fluffy feeling of my new pale pink tutu which will be the centrepiece of any party or performance. Pink it up, I always say!

It's not just tutus that are so cool and trendy, that give ballet this magic feeling. It's the history, and how we dress for our special nights out. So, if we head right back in history, in those early ballet days in the 1600s, in Europe, all the performances, all the shows and dances, had to be done, really, like this... (My tutu’s are doing a beautiful little curtsy in this bit - just imagine it if you will!) - everything has to have some order and rules! There are lots of important ceremonies to make a dance event really special!

There had to be rules and formality, with the dance all happening with costumes and set choreography. In the 1800s, dancers really started taking things up a level – for those of you wanting to learn about tutus, it was a time of wonderful innovations! For the 18th and 19th-century Parisian Ballet Company, the girls were so graceful, they had the first “ballet slipper” shoes, that enabled them to move so fast and lightly. And, yes, there was a full skirt and lots of layers and trimmings - those Romantic tutus as we know them. I always love seeing the photos in my book, as I find it all so very elegant and classy, the dance moves have such romance, the costume does that to your soul, it really inspires. It's a look that could only be born in a beautiful, elegant, and glamorous city like Paris.

You know, I do have to give a little thought to the dance dress itself, there has to be the right skirt and material to make those elegant leaps, graceful spins, that beautiful art we all admire. They say these romantic tutus made all the moves flow so naturally. A little history is good for all dance and dance dress choices. Just make sure to remember it! It's part of who we are! It’s about the tradition of looking stylish as we enjoy an amazing dance spectacle - tutus and all - we have so much to thank all these great performers from the past, like those that would have performed at the Paris Opera back then! I imagine their tutus were so much softer and fuller than the early Romantic days - imagine the fluffy, feathery beauty! They would have looked like dancing fairies.

So, you see – the very foundations of modern ballet have always involved tutus. It's all about the magic they bring - that amazing sense of excitement that they conjure up when you put them on.

The world of ballet - well it does demand that tutus should look fabulous, as everyone’s eyes are on that gorgeous skirt and how it’s made and all the effort the dancers have put into perfecting the art form and making the ballet look effortless. For those who wear tutus - it's just got to be an extension of who you are. And you have to think, what do I want my tutu to do? To be able to spin around on the dance floor, or have that dramatic lift that we see so much in classical ballet. We are lucky to be able to take to the stage with something that's truly special - our tutus.

I'll have to get back to Paris some time soon, it’s the perfect setting for some really wonderful memories, I wonder, I wonder if my Paris pink Tutu Travel Dress will take me to a dance studio for a fun workshop?

And for all my readers - I've added this information to my special Tutu Encyclopaedia as my readers know - the more we know about dance history, the better it gets. The perfect dance and the perfect tutu always make a really great team! I do think pink works well with most dance steps! And as always – the most important rule – to embrace the fabulous and keep wearing pink, it’s truly the only choice!

See you next Tuesday, lovelies!

Emma xx