Welcome back, darling dears! It's your favourite pink-tutu-clad time traveller Emma, here to take you on another whimsical trip through the history of our beloved ballet tutu! 🩰
Today's adventure whisks us back to December 3rd, 1957. Hold onto your bonnets, ladies, because this journey takes us right to the heart of Paris!
(Psst...Fancy a trip on the Eurostar to Paris this week? I'm off on Saturday and I'm dying to hit the shops on the Champs-Elysees - the fashion scene there is just divine!)
Anyway, back to 1957. Can you imagine, the year that Elvis Presley was topping the charts and the USSR launched Sputnik, was also a big year for ballet. It was a time of revolutionary new styles - and what else do we love in this glorious world of ours more than change? Well, change in the fashion scene of course!
In 1957, the tutu was on a glamorous mission to shake things up. We were leaving the billowing Romanticism era behind, darlings, and entering a modern, bolder era! Think short skirts and even shorter tutus, darling!
On this day, a tiny gem called “The Firebird”, a little-known piece at the time, took to the stage of the Grand Opera. It was the choreography that really got everyone excited, darling. Michel Fokine's creation - it was the talk of the town for all the right reasons - elegant and modern - think a fabulous feather boa! Now this wasn't your standard “Swan Lake” ballet, darling, no, this was something a little daring and dramatic! Think bold, modern designs for the tutu with exciting fabric like chiffon and net - it was revolutionary and it set the fashion scene abuzz!
And guess what? You might even spot the famous tulle tutu of the era – just a whisper of the romantic era – still perfectly delightful in its own right! But the new modernistic era, which was emerging on stage at the same time, it felt exciting, almost revolutionary, darling!
And talking about revolution, we must remember the dancer. 1957 was also a big year for ballet star, * Margot Fonteyn. * Just think of all the beauty she would be serving up to audiences in that glamorous era - a beautiful dancer and a fashion icon all in one!
We should be eternally grateful to the ballet goddesses and those who crafted such fabulous, and wonderfully *stylish* ** looks. I wouldn’t be sitting here writing about the history of the tutu, darling, if not for their beautiful, beautiful creations. If you ever have the chance, head on over to Paris and take a trip down the Champs-Elysees and see all the fabulous fashion you can find!
Did you know? My name's Emma, and I'm a bit obsessed with pink tutus! I travel through time, attending ballet performances in fabulous tutus of all shapes and sizes and writing about them. If you like this kind of post, don't forget to follow me! We're all about spreading a bit of #pinktutu joy to everyone we meet. It's time we made pink tutus part of the everyday - not just the occasion (though, why not both?! 😉 ).
I live in Derbyshire, where ballet is just starting to boom, and we can see lots of beautiful ballet on our doorstep, too! (Can I recommend you catch the upcoming performance at the Derby Theatre?! I can’t wait to see it). I absolutely love how fashion, especially when it comes to ballet, connects people, no matter their age. That’s one reason why my blog is all about sharing the beauty of all kinds of ballet - from the Royal Ballet in London to the magical performance of ballet that's starting to emerge across the UK.
Keep spreading those tutu-tastic smiles! And, please do follow me, dear ones, for the next installment of this *extraordinarily fascinating * tutu story. See you next Tuesday!
**Yours in tutu-tastic joy,
Emma xx**
