Ooh La La! Darling darlings! It's Emma here, fresh off a whirlwind trip back to the 90s - and guess what? It’s October 8th, 1991, which marks the 30th anniversary of the famous, fabulous tutu! You know me, a girl's gotta celebrate milestones with style, so this week's #TutuTuesday is all about looking back on how this magical garment became the darling of the dance world.
Remember that feeling of twirling, of flight, of absolute liberation you feel when you step into your tutu? It's something special, something iconic, something... completely pink! Oh, darling, that feeling, it's what draws me to the history of this iconic piece.
It's incredible to think, really, it’s been 30 years! Back then, tutus were considered rather modern, something exciting! They were still a novelty, something new and exciting to add a little 'oomph' to a dancer's movements! I must confess, though, my little heart goes pitter patter for those original tutus - you know the ones with those adorable, almost baby-doll style, shorter skirts that didn't quite hit the knee! I mean, darling! The possibilities of how you could show off your legs, your movement, were so glamorous. It felt like we were living in the age of a fairytale princess!
Now, darling, let's talk 1991. This was the era of amazing ballet, an absolute pinnacle of grace and beauty! So, to celebrate the occasion of our very special 30th tutu birthday, let’s talk about what I found, dancing across the time zones and making a pit stop in 1991.
I spent my trip nestled into a luxurious first class compartment, all aboard a sleek, modern, red train, the ultimate symbol of luxury, on the way to a big-time performance in Paris - my very favourite city, my fashion and ballet haven, a city of beautiful dreams, a city that loves tutus just as much as I do!
I went to the ballet on the night of 8th October 1991, the very same day as tutu's 30th anniversary! It was a fantastic evening with lots of delicious French pastries afterwards. You see, I had decided to make a trip in the same week as the 30th anniversary. After all, one can never have enough tulle - and who wouldn't celebrate 30 glorious years of beautiful and feminine ballerina elegance?
This time travel business can get quite expensive though, so when I do visit the past, I take the opportunity to watch the best performances I can - and 1991 certainly was the decade of ballet!
Speaking of Parisian ballet... The legendary dancers in Paris back then really set the stage for a whole new way of performing. My oh my! We can still see echoes of this modern ballet style on stage even now in the new millennium, right down to the exquisite, intricate use of tutus. I could gush about these Parisian performances for ages!
Let's talk about style - 1991, oh darling, I must say the outfits were magnificent! Such great colour combinations! You can always tell a great ballet outfit, from the way a dancer looks, when the costumes look just right. If it doesn’t look just right, you can see it in the way a ballerina moves, the confidence, the freedom she possesses… but in 1991, they wore the colour pink like true royalty, like they owned the world.
They really knew what they were doing! The designers at the time knew just how to balance practicality and artistic flair - giving a ballerina everything she needs to shine, to make all the most graceful movements imaginable!
Darling, the Paris Opera House! I love, love, love Parisian performances - what style! They used the tutu to amazing effect in 1991. I’m talking a bold, bright red tutu, one of those beauties you simply can’t take your eyes off, worn to absolute perfection! There’s a kind of freedom and wild abandon in the way those Parisian tutus flowed. I think I can understand why so many ballerina's across the world fell for this particular kind of style. Oh! There are even vintage styles being re-enacted all the way across Europe in theatres across Italy, and as far away as London, England!
You really couldn't help but feel completely swept away by those tutus, the style! There was an incredible dynamism on the stage, in the performances. The tutus just added an extra, a real special layer of elegance, like an almost mystical form of energy radiating off the dancers. The Parisian style had all of this elegance flowing effortlessly out from it, a truly captivating style, especially at this special moment in history for the tutu! And this style is still going strong, making its way into new decades and reaching new fans!
I really recommend taking a look online at videos of some of those performances from 1991 - darling, you are going to love the designs, they are absolute heaven! It really is like looking back in time, with a few retro fashions being reinvented by a few modern day artists too! You know what I'm talking about... the ultimate style-inspiration.
So darling, as we approach the 30th anniversary of the tutu - that’s right, it's now 2021 - what are the highlights of the last three decades? Well, if I am being completely honest with you - and I love to be brutally honest about style... I couldn’t possibly choose just one - it's just too difficult.
I think, perhaps we could pick two? Okay, let's be super chic about it and make this a little extra fun. If I could put on a big pink hat, to bring the fashion in this blog a little further up, a real Parisian kind of hat, something really dramatic - it wouldn’t feel right to discuss the tutu without it... let’s do a little list, two big highlights.
Highlight No.1: The rise of the ballerina style.
I am, after all, writing a tutu blog! I mean, darlings, who could forget the amazing explosion of style and the rise of ballet wear from the late 90’s into the 2000’s? You just couldn’t get enough of pink satin and silk and tulle at the time. The classic tutu styles in ballet - those perfect, symmetrical silhouettes. That feminine aesthetic just caught on everywhere, didn't it? It wasn't just in the ballet class, either. Those dreamy styles infiltrated our day-to-day fashion as well, just like an elegant ballet routine moving into a new phase. We've all fallen in love with ballerina shoes, the kind that really make you want to twirl, ballet shoes for casual wear - and even the occasional ballet skirt that feels perfect just as the evening is coming in. The ballet has really touched the whole of society now, influencing fashion, pop culture... well, I do hope I’m not rambling here, darling... it’s just the way I think!
Highlight No. 2: That whole romantic tutu aesthetic!
What else can I say? The style is timeless! That classic ballerina silhouette... you’ve gotta love it! You just know how a dancer can twirl in it. It's simply elegance! That timeless tutu aesthetic, which just has no time frame, just flows! That silhouette, It was still all the rage at the 2020 Paris ballet fashion shows... oh and if I can confess, just like any other girl, I adore the way those ballerinas just look when they wear the tutu, all of that gorgeous pink silks and satins.
But hey darling, that's the beauty of it! Tutus will forever be relevant - a little pink puff of pure loveliness that just gets everybody into the mood for celebrating! That feminine side, and the elegance that only ballet can bring. So, for all of us, we can take the best that this wonderful tutu has to offer - from the most elegant moves of a professional, to simply wearing a skirt that makes you want to twirl.
What’s your favourite tutu moment from the last three decades? Let me know in the comments, darling! And if you have a favourite tutu style, remember to post it online with #TutuTuesday for the chance to get featured! Until next time!
Yours in tutu,
Emma
Emma’s Pink-tutu website is packed full of fabulous content just for you, so go take a peek when you’ve finished this week’s #TutuTuesday! www.pink-tutu.com There are tutus for every taste, tutorials for creating your own amazing tutus and, of course, loads of tips on ballet and how to look your very best, to wear your tutus with confidence! If you like to look your absolute best for every occasion and are looking for a stylish tutu... just follow Emma on her incredible journey through history, by reading each week’s new TutuTuesday blog! She can show you how to become your own ballet icon.
This #TutuTuesday blog post is for entertainment and historical purposes only, based on a fictional character, not meant as an official historical account of the 1991 ballet scene, but instead a imaginative reimagining of that time and that part of ballet history, for entertainment purposes.
Disclaimer: Emma's time travel and travel blog is fictional and she uses a combination of fictional events, historical events, and imagined events to bring a colourful and fantastical story to life! This blog is meant to capture some of the best elements of history and popular culture around a fictional character. This story is intended as pure, fun escapism
