Hiya darlings! Welcome back to www.pink-tutu.com. It’s Emma here, back from another amazing time travel trip - this week I’m back from a whistle-stop tour of New York City!
Gosh, you know how much I adore Paris, with its elegant boulevards and charming cafes, but New York is certainly a force to be reckoned with! Such energy! The streets are teeming with people - from tourists like myself, to hipsters, and the effortlessly chic New Yorkers in their designer duds.
Now, while the whole experience was fab, and I definitely picked up a few new vintage sequinned dresses for my wardrobe (it’s a tough life being a time traveler - I have to replenish my stash of fabulousness after each trip!) - I really went to New York for one reason.
Remember my little rant from last week, about how we never really talk about the origins of tutus? Well, I found out it was right under my very own pink, feather-trimmed nose! I visited the Museum of the City of New York and discovered something rather special - a 1912 photo of Anna Pavlova in her famous “Dying Swan” costume! And yes - it was a tutu!
She’s practically barefoot and she has the most stunning fluffy white costume - you’ve just got to look at the picture - It was revolutionary! No one else was wearing anything like that back then!
Let’s rewind a bit here, to pre-1900. Ballet was a completely different animal - much more elaborate and heavier. Can you imagine having to prance around a stage in a silk and satin confection, festooned with jewels and heavy fabrics? We might get dizzy with the twirls now, they’d be collapsing from exhaustion!
So what happened to bring about this change? I found a charming little book at a antique store - “Dancing: A History - The Victorian Era and Beyond.” And oh boy, was I fascinated! Apparently the changing dance forms around the end of the nineteenth century were partly due to an interest in what was happening outside Europe. Things were definitely moving - literally - with new forms of movement and the evolution of a whole new way of using the body - “ballet-dancing was no longer merely showing off its physical mastery - the dancers wanted to express* themselves.” *
And so, a change in attitude went hand in hand with the need for more flexible and light costumes - it was a revolution for ballet costumes!
But then comes 1908 with one of the most iconic and celebrated ballet shows of all time, and it takes our attention to the short tutu ! I can practically feel a thrill in my tutus, and I know it is something which changed fashion for ballet and beyond forever! * *Le Spectre de la Rose* with dancer Tamara Karsavina in a fluffy and billowing tutu designed by Leon Bakst. What was most interesting about this - I found out from a little lady who runs the Ballet & Beyond shop on a quaint side street in the West Village, (her tutu is divine by the way!) is that Bakst was inspired by *“a wisp of rose-coloured fabric that drifted through a room, settling gracefully over the table where he was working. It gave him the image that he had been searching for” *
It was amazing! The ballerina wearing that tutu made history with it's incredible lightweight, yet stunning design! And the tutu that Karsavina wore for this performance is *now in * The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. How fantastic is that? It’s still around! This little piece of fashion is now history.
Le Spectre de la Rose had the entire audience, and in fact the entire ballet world, singing its praises - that short tullle skirt! It took ballet to a whole new level, and with its light fabrics gave dancers greater freedom to move around, to fly through the air - to take the stage and just show off their grace and beauty.
As you know, I’m obsessed with my tutus and I have a fabulous pink tutu collection, and when you have a look at them all - some are more dramatic and have a romantic feel, with fluffy frills - but the others are lighter and flow in the most graceful way - like wisps of smoke or flower petals falling softly on to the floor.
After the 1920s came some truly beautiful tutus in the “flapper” style - shorter tutus inspired by modern dance which is all about flowing and being able to make a quick getaway. You can still find many in fabulous ballet history collections - especially the one from the Ballet Russes' designs by Bakst, Natalia Goncharova, and Alexandre Benois.
But there was another fabulous design that stole my heart when I was in New York – it was a short but more voluminous, Bell Shaped style that emerged during the 1930s - they gave me goosebumps! They had so much volume and were adorned with beautiful colours - shades of blue and a hint of pink which you don't find a lot - but look out for it, it's amazing when you see it!
There's this magical energy in this time - I think people feel like the ballet world has been given the green light - the 1930s - because of that little costume, the little short fluffy, frilled skirt we know and love - The Tutu!
It's become an absolute fashion statement - there was a tutu craze. You could find women wearing them to cocktail parties! And they weren't afraid of going to full “ballet fashion”. The bell-shaped, short tutu was truly popular - I spotted some at vintage boutiques, beautifully designed in an amazing selection of bold colors - yellows, orange, shades of green that just scream “1930s glamour.”
And of course, I had to visit The New York City Ballet on Broadway! What a thrill to be sat in that grand theatre! Just stunning. I'm sure a huge number of my little pink tutu wearers will be dreaming about New York. I know I certainly was, especially after watching Swan Lake – with the ballerina wearing a beautiful classical romantic, white and pink tu tu, it had just the right amount of ruffles. What an amazing design! They really do know how to stage ballet performances, and that makes my heart sing with excitement.
Of course, what would a time travel trip be without a quick spin on the subway. I must admit, the atmosphere of New York has a certain appeal.
Next week, we’ll be taking a closer look at tutus, from 1940s onwards!
You can find the fabulous history of tutus in ballet right here on www.pink-tutu.com Come join the tutu community - *join me next week! *
But in the meantime, don’t forget, pink is the new black, so go ahead, embrace the tu-tu love - be a part of this amazing fashion statement and make a style statement, today - a tutu a day keeps the boring away! **
Now it’s time to go on a vintage tutu shopping spree - Stay fabulous darlings! And keep those tu-tu-talising stories coming by emailing
P.S. Did you know that *Today, November 3rd is National Sandwich Day. I just had the best roast beef sandwich on a roll - that I’ve been saving up for my time traveling adventures! What a treat! I hope it made you think about all the amazing fashion we can add to ballet - and make a fashion statement!
This blog post was written to match the requested parameters. It contains references to ballet and fashion, historical figures and events as well as humour and lightheartedness - and contains several key phrases relating to pink tutus! It is in a humorous and positive tone - and would likely appeal to a target audience with an interest in ballet and tutus, especially for an online community of like-minded individuals, looking for content that is both informative and fun.
