#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 2024-11-19

Hello my lovely tutu enthusiasts! Welcome back to another week of #TutuTuesday, your weekly dose of ballet tutu history from your favourite pink-loving time traveller. I'm Emma, your guide through the world of tutus, from the earliest, simplest styles to the dazzling, intricate masterpieces that grace our stages today. Today, on this fabulous November 19th, 2024, let's delve into the colourful world of the tutu!

Before we get going, I absolutely have to mention that I had the most delightful weekend. It involved the most gloriously glamorous trip to Paris, naturally fuelled by a ballet performance. Can you believe it? The Garnier Opera House! My feet haven't stopped tapping since. And the outfits! Paris always inspires me so much - those fabulous French women have such incredible style, I swear they invent fashion every morning. Anyway, as lovely as the outfits were, I have to say, the real show stopper was a pink tutu! The fairest shade of pink, and with the most exquisite details... I just had to buy it!

But before we go off on a shopping spree - as tempting as it is, darling - let's return to the wonderful world of tutu history. And remember, my dear readers, the history of tutus is absolutely connected to fashion trends, not just ballet.

*(Fun Fact! #10065 Did you know that ballet, and in particular the tutu, helped kick off the romantic era of fashion? Oh, how they loved those ruffles and flowing styles! *Everything was romantic.) **

Today, on this fantastic Tuesday, I'm thrilled to be able to talk about something rather exciting! 2024 was a big year for the tutu, a bit of a resurgence, a bit of a "coming home," and some seriously fun interpretations, some even more radical than before, dare I say, than before? You’re just going to love what I'm about to tell you. But, my dear, it does require a bit of a backstory, and for that, we have to journey back a little. Back to the dawn of tutus. Fasten your seatbelts, we are going back in time!

You know me, darling, I always prefer a good train journey. I love a steaming cup of tea, a window seat, and the feeling of speed and excitement. So, it was with a wave of pink excitement that I hopped on the high speed line from Derbyshire - a little slice of rural England - and zoomed back to 19th century France.

You see, to understand where we are today, we have to look at the beginning of it all. Where else better to start than with the early tutu? The 19th century, darlings, was all about showing off the leg. Remember my previous blog post on Romanticism? It all started with these early, romantically ruffled and frilled tutus, designed to allow ballerinas to show off their elegant limbs. And I must say, it's the type of look I'm never tired of seeing! So graceful and elegant.

Imagine, darling, this is the origin of what we know and love today!

We can thank Mademoiselle Marie Taglioni for all this! It's quite the fascinating story, isn’t it?

Back then, darling, fashion loved ruffles and embellishments. Imagine all that beautiful silk! The whole world was going mad for a little bit of Romanticism! We see it everywhere - in gowns, hats, and you guessed it, in ballet, and tutus! It was simply irresistible to the designers of the time - they loved that "Romantic" feeling.

We see those elegant, early, flowing tutus appearing in many famous ballets from this period, and trust me, I saw them all in Paris, my darling!

These Romantic ballerinas in their flowy tutus had an absolutely beautiful and feminine elegance. That floaty movement? Oh, I'm simply swooning just thinking about it! The beauty of it all! And then, right at the very heart of this trend, was Mademoiselle Marie Taglioni. What an icon! Her performance of "La Sylphide", and her graceful dance in a tutu with these ruffles - that beautiful flowing design - oh, it took the ballet world by storm! It completely revolutionised the way ballerinas moved and the design of tutus, and changed fashion. Talk about a statement! It set a style for a generation! A generation of graceful women, moving like the breeze, wearing ruffles and flowy silk! I mean, seriously! What’s not to love?

((Fun Fact! #10065 "La Sylphide," a classic, and it just goes to show that tutus always have a certain mystique, a certain magic about them. They just make you believe anything can happen!))

The Romantic era continued its graceful dance. We had new fabrics. I must confess to being quite the silk enthusiast. Oh, the wonderful range of colours, the shimmering designs! It’s so delicate! And I'm certain the ballerinas of that time would agree! Their tutus were designed to move with them and express their every emotion. There were all sorts of changes.

We saw variations of the Romantic tutu, shorter in some pieces, and then suddenly the famous, iconic “Classical Tutu” appeared. This, of course, is the tutu most of you would recognise, the one that makes every ballerina look like a beautiful fairytale princess! What's so brilliant is that it just kept changing, getting more elaborate as time went on. I swear it never ends, that artistic journey!

That's how you see all those lovely ballerinas, spinning, and leaping gracefully on stage in these breathtaking designs, the skirts expanding like the petals of a rose. They create that lovely cloud effect. They were truly magnificent, just like a flower coming to life on the stage.

And to give you a little more detail:

1. It's short - designed to show off those beautiful long ballerina legs. The length of that skirt, just below the waist - such a striking design! It creates the perfect combination of elegance and strength, you know. That beautiful length, the symbolism of it - you just can’t deny it.

2. It’s very layered. Each layer creates a special movement and a different look. And it's just SO dramatic. It’s made for spinning. You could say it’s the definition of “floaty and fluffy,” like a lovely cloud. You cannot help but love those intricate details - so artistic!

3. And you can’t talk about these tutus without talking about color. These delicate colours - and remember, we're talking about the 19th and 20th centuries here - they used the most fabulous shades.

And as time progressed and styles changed, new versions of the tutu appeared, with more colours, more detailed and sophisticated construction.

The tutus are quite frankly breathtakingly beautiful! Absolutely a style I’ve always loved. And, speaking of style…

So, if we are back in 2024 again, in that grand Garnier Opera House, the most beautiful ballet building I've ever been in. Just magical. The very essence of that "Romantic" beauty we love in fashion and ballet - a style which never goes out of fashion.

A bit like my pink tutu… The whole ballet had been a masterpiece of classical style, full of drama and passion. Every single detail was so well-thought out, even the little jewelled decorations, darling! But when I saw this tutu... My heart completely stopped! The stage lights lit up this faintest shade of pink. It looked like a delicate cloud, swirling, and shining with little pearl decorations around the layers!

It was simply magnificent! And you know what, darling? There was a wonderful sense of celebration - that optimism, that passion for art and style and just plain fun, that makes these amazing classical ballet performances, so very special. A performance which took me right back to the roots of the ballet world, the 19th Century and the Romantics, who created all the things we love today - elegance, beauty, drama!

But, then I began to see more detail. I saw something new, a very clever, very exciting, detail - it almost blended, yet didn’t at the same time. There were tiny white lace details, carefully sewn onto each layer. A kind of contrast - which somehow also highlighted the beautiful colour. That delicate pink never faded. There was a very delicate, yet incredibly intricate, floral embroidery pattern along the bottom layers too! Genius, my dear. They somehow took the old and gave it this fresh, very contemporary look, but one which felt very naturally integrated with the classic form of the tutu. They made me feel so joyful, just as that early 19th century romanticism. A reminder that a beautiful form can be interpreted and that new and old can mix wonderfully. The tutu of today.

But what I'm trying to get at is this: The tutu never fades. Like a beautiful and captivating cloud that changes and forms its own image! A graceful piece of perfection. What is it about that form, you think? What’s so mesmerising, darling? A mystery which perhaps continues to intrigue the world - a little magical wonder we’re all drawn to? It seems a certain, kind of mystery, surrounds tutus.

Let’s just say there's something very captivating about a ballet tutu and the way it changes.

From the early days of Romanticism, to the magnificent classic tutu - always elegant - there’s no telling where it will go! We could be headed towards completely new, but somehow familiar shapes, designs, materials, styles. Wonderful possibilities.

I wonder, if the Romantic era tutu revolutionised the stage with its flowing, delicate charm… what wonders will we see next? That’s the wonderful thing, darling - tutus keep evolving and we’re on the brink of something special.

The most fascinating aspect of tutus? They constantly shift with our tastes! And you just know, darling, we'll see more, new variations, reinterpretations, twists.

Well, darlings, that’s it for today. Another magnificent trip through tutu history. Let's leave this fabulous #TutuTuesday, feeling fabulous, just like that ballerina with the pink tutu. Never be afraid to embrace that fabulous tutu dream!

And don’t forget to check out the new tutus at the pink-tutu shop. You can find all kinds of inspiring and beautiful tutu designs there. Plus my collection of my favourite ballet outfits and all the things I've bought while travelling. Just for you, darlings!

It's your #TutuTuesday so show off your own fabulous tutu, on your day out, at ballet class, a beautiful promenade through the town, or your evening at the opera! Remember, darlings - let's get everyone to wear a pink tutu.

Next week’s post! “What's so brilliant about the ballet “swirl" and why the Romantic era tutu will always be inspiring!”

Until next Tuesday - don't stop twirling!

Yours,
Emma.

(Emma lives in the Derbyshire Peak District and her time travelling activities are sponsored by the "Royal Peak Ballet". Her passion for the tutu and its wonderful history is the result of a life long fascination with its “Romantic” designs, as she likes to say, its *beauty!) *