#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1988-07-05

Hello my darling tutu-loving lovelies! 🩰

Welcome back to another splendid #TutuTuesday here on Pink-Tutu.com. It's me, your favourite pink-clad time-travelling ballerina, Emma, back from a whirlwind trip to the glittering city of Paris! 🗼 And let me tell you, this week’s fabulous journey was truly worth the trip… and all the gorgeous fashion I found. But we’re going back in time for this week's tutu-tastic #TutuTuesday post, darling.

This week, I landed on July 5th, 1988. And let me tell you, Paris was just bursting with elegance, excitement and joie de vivre! Now, remember those dreamy, swirling, puffy tutus? Those iconic, full-circle beauties that make us ballerina dreams come true? Well, darling, 1988 was the era of the "Romantic Tutu" and it was truly breathtaking! ✨

Now, some might say "Emma, you can't go to Paris and not talk about the food!" Well, my loves, you're absolutely right! 😉 I indulged in the most decadent pastries – all flaky, buttery croissants and delectable macarons, washed down with beautiful cafe au lait. Paris is a true sensory experience. You know, darling, they say you’re only truly Parisian when you have a macaron in one hand and a baguette in the other…and perhaps a little something pink tied to your handbag, don’t you think? 🎀

Okay, back to the tutus, darling. If you were to go to a ballet performance in 1988 you'd see ballerinas dancing their hearts out in those beautiful, flowing, light as air tutus. I found myself absolutely enchanted by how they spun, twirled, and floated with the ballerinas, accentuating every elegant move. Honestly, just looking at them was breathtaking. They truly captured the grace and magic of the performance. 💫 I even found the perfect pink tulle for my own, super duper special, absolutely gorgeous pink tutu in the chicest boutique in all of Paris. My goodness! Paris really does know how to live, doesn't it? 🥰

Now, let's rewind a little and chat about tutu history… Because every fabulous ballerina needs to know her tutu facts.

The first tutus, my dears, were… well, shall we say, less graceful? You see, they were more akin to loose fitting dresses, with some ladies just reaching their ankles, whereas some reached nearly to the floor. I find them rather impractical! It would be such a hassle even in my favourite dance studio. How on earth could you turn en pointe? And there wasn't any sense of the airiness and graceful movements. No flow darling! They simply weren’t “ballet appropriate”, now were they?

And then the second stage…the classic bell-shaped Romantic tutu, you know, the ones we all adore… came sweeping into the dance world! We’re talking about the tutu all ballerina-loving souls admire - the beautiful tutu that made it to Paris. In 1830, dancers started moving into a world of short skirts. Now, here's the really exciting bit – a ballerina called Marie Taglioni revolutionised dancing in those magnificent Romantic tutus! Marie Taglioni! Just hear the name - doesn't it sound just divine? Her beauty, grace, and talent are a legend, a goddess in pink tulle… Imagine that for a #TutuTuesday!

These are the beautiful ones that really made ballet! They created an amazing image for the female form, showing true movement, elegance, and artistic genius – the quintessential “balletic beauty”. You can almost hear the applause now can’t you? This is ballet history that makes me want to whirl around just to experience the magic, doesn’t it? 💕

The fabric has come a long way. Before they discovered tulle, my loves, the Romantic tutu was made from layers and layers of fine, silk fabric. Just imagine - each one individually gathered! Now imagine how long it took! But those women had the time, that was before the internet and we still got amazing ballerinas, but imagine the layers, all that weight, that effort just to get that look. You've got to admire their sheer, sheer, determination and talent – it must have been so demanding and challenging. 🩰

Then came the magical tulle, and things really began to change! That lovely fabric… how did we ever survive before tulle? They even invented a special name for it. In France, they called it tulle – isn't that perfect?! 🇫🇷 It's light enough to float and move and give that stunning airy look, and they found they could use it in layers which gave the tulle the incredible volume. That meant, the ladies had time to concentrate on technique instead of fabric manipulation, which has definitely improved things – can you imagine that extra time?! It’s all about evolution of a true ballerina!

I just love how the Romantic tutu, despite being so light makes me feel so, so, feminine, pretty, and proud. And now in 1988 those stunning layers of tulle have been combined with modern techniques and fabrics to bring a new era for tutus – a whole new way of looking at ballet. I feel like it’s our duty to celebrate ballet! 🥂

Now onto 1988 – the modern tutu.

Oh darling, imagine yourself stepping into a magical world of colourful fabrics! This was the start of the colourful contemporary tutu! The colours were all the rage in 1988. A tutu with every colour under the rainbow? Why not! The only limit to creativity in fashion was how much pink and colourful tulle could be piled into one magnificent, extravagant creation. Ooh! I feel so glamorous just thinking about it. And if a little pink could be found in any of those bright, sparkling designs, well, my dear, that was a dream come true for me. I’d grab all those tulle scraps for my tutu – *my future magnificent tutu designs… I had such fun during this journey to 1988! 😊

Imagine the colours I found! Electric blue, deep purple, radiant crimson – but let me tell you my sweet lovelies, a bright hot pink tulle caught my eye – I absolutely fell for it! That glorious, divine pink. My love of pink, darling… You can’t not be a pink lover, can you? I was born with pink running through my veins! It is just magical. 🌸

It was amazing watching all the ballet shows I could find – from the classics to those incredible modern contemporary interpretations, darling, I absolutely soaked up every second. Paris has such an eclectic feel, and so does ballet. Even then it wasn’t afraid to step outside of the “normal”.

Oh my goodness, let me tell you about the ballet I saw, it was just a whirlwind of delightful fashion – think glittery skirts, long chiffon everything, and huge bright coloured bow ties and feathers – it really did take me back! Imagine! Even the dancers had those colours in their hair! And imagine this…I even saw some ballerinas wearing tutus that were actually multi-layered and in several colours. You could hardly call this a tutu – this was a work of art.

Oh! And of course I went to all the chicest shopping places I could find and found myself some gorgeous items that I can only call timeless and classic. I even found the cutest ballerina-style pink satin pumps - the shoes look amazing with a pink tutu don’t you think?! What really made my day was when I found a lovely vintage-style ballet tutu which has the most wonderful layers. The pink colour is a little muted, more like strawberry ice cream pink which is perfect for my pink obsession!

But honestly my loves, the true joy comes from my passion to wear a pink tutu every single day – my absolute dream. My pink tutu journey began as a little girl – I knew even then what my life was about, how to inspire those around me… every day! You just cannot have a bad day in a pink tutu. Trust me my gorgeous ballerina lovers, every woman looks good in pink, and I plan on making sure every one gets to experience it. 🥰

Right now I have some seriously glamorous plans, I’m going to spend every single minute making my pink tulle into extravagant tutus. You can just imagine what is in store… a whole world of fluffy pink goodness, I think I need to take up knitting now that the fluffy tulle* trend has really taken off – maybe I could make something *super fluffy, perhaps with sparkly additions – *and a fluffy, glitzy ballet skirt. Think about how that would look on the stage! I must stop there before I get carried away. Now, I just know that you love your tutus as much as I love mine so I want you all to join me this #TutuTuesday and celebrate tutus!! You’ll have me all dressed in pink tulle while I celebrate everything pink, romantic, ballet and gorgeous.

That's it, darlings. Until next #TutuTuesday – go and wear a pink tutu this week. Be creative and embrace that pink tulle goodness… let it shine!! 💖

Emma xx