Hello darling darlings!
Emma here, your favourite pink-tutu-wearing, time-travelling, ballet-loving blogger, back with another trip into the captivating world of dance fashion! This month, we're taking a trip back to March 3rd, 1870 - a date that, while seemingly insignificant in history, holds some real treasures for us fashion-loving, leotard enthusiasts!
Oh my goodness, this sparkly pink leotard Iâm wearing, is a bit much even for me - and even this travel outfit couldnât shield me from the looks and whispers when I first popped through time this morning. âGoodness, isnât that young woman wearing a most scandalous frock?â I overheard some well-dressed ladies exclaim at a bustling London street. Letâs just say, they were far from ready for my pink tutu and the very idea of women wearing tights and performing on stage. Goodness gracious, back then, dance attire was all about the frills and frills and more frills. But let me tell you, even the Victorian ladies with their fussy fashions had an amazing eye for design. So grab your cuppa, darling, because weâre about to delve into a world of frills, furbelows, and ballet fashion!
**(Disclaimer: Just so you know, this blog is about leotard and dance fashion and its history and it does NOT include anything inappropriate for a family-friendly post.)
*First stop: Paris. * The grand dame of fashion - no trip back in time is complete without a stroll down the boulevards of Paris. It seems everyone there, especially women, just love fashion. Iâd already walked past five lovely ladies and one gentleman sporting some incredibly extravagant and elaborate outfits! And as for balletâŚ
The French had the best dancers and most glamorous theatre spaces in the whole world. It is at the prestigious Paris Opera House that the very latest styles for ballet performance are debuted. Oh! But this trip wasn't just about Parisian glitz - even though a new production of Giselle opened at the Opera just last week, the hottest topic in the Parisian dance scene was actually happening far from the grand theatres! It seems the Folies Bergère, known for their beautiful ladies and risquĂŠ performances, are a much bigger hit than ballet these days. They call these acts can-can dances - which seems a tad rude for my dainty Derbyshire sensibilities - but oh the excitement! The dancers wear short skirts with elaborate flounces and lots and lots of lace which shows off all those exciting frilly petticoats! A true revolution in women's attire! Itâs definitely a hot topic - in both the world of theatre and the wider world of womenâs fashion. Letâs just say a very few ladies even wear tights under their can-can dresses and I saw not a single pink tutu!
*Next, we hop a train to London. *
Ah, the Victorian fashion is all about frills. And here, the fashion for dancers is not that much different to the Parisian theatre - a world of delicate satin, lace and soft silk. Imagine layers and layers of petticoats, just like those on the stage at the Folies Bergère, and then a beautiful long dress which is carefully draped and tied over those layers.
There are many new stage shows with dancers on every stage imaginable and one of the most popular theatres for dance performance here is The Alhambra, just off Leicester Square. They have a new spectacular this season with the dancing actress and famed singer Marie Lloyd. Marie Lloyd dresses in dazzling, flamboyant costumes that have every gentleman and lady in London swooning! And what strikes me most are the ladies wearing pannier hoops and long tight trousers underneath those lovely skirts - talk about a statement piece of fashion! And when these ladies are dancing... the bustle at the back is like an out of control cloud of petticoats! Oh, just picture the spectacle, you know itâs just something to see.
I just know I need a pink tutu to be seen on London streets, if only I dared to risk that scandal of showing my legs in public. Just thinking about a pink tutu in such a starkly black and white era - makes me think there are real fashion history trends to be broken! I imagine myself dancing in the street in a pink tutu - my dancing and outfit being such a unique shock, they would instantly flock to buy their own pink tutus - now that would be the best part of my time travels!
From London to Berlin.
I must confess, I had the highest of hopes for Berlin, I felt Berlin would be full of dancers - you can just see those German ballerinas, oh, how beautifully graceful. They're in the top 3 ballet performers across the whole world.
Well, I must say, Iâm surprised there aren't a huge number of public dancing performances or spectacular dance shows - well, I just know all that will change soon. This is still a quite staid and formal society and Berliners seem so intent on preserving those classical styles. However, the cityâs top theatre - the Krolloper, a theatre of amazing architecture has lots of great productions on this week. And for some extra pink fashion inspiration, a show just premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin. They are doing something special - all new costumes and a very glamorous design style that even has men wearing silk garments. They even include some colourful fabrics for a show stopping colour palette, and yes - a certain pink makes an appearance on a ballerina's shoes - a real fashion statement for this city and era! But there isnât any chance of those German ladies getting away with tights, let alone a tutu - I would definitely be an unwelcome and possibly scandalous visitor - just picture that!
Now back to London for more shopping - that pink fabric and those little pearl beads I found at a stall on Oxford Street would make for the perfect sparkly tutu for a fashion shoot in this fantastic world of vintage attire. And thatâs me off for some London sightseeing - I just know this trip back to March 3rd, 1870 will be an iconic and very memorable moment in my very long time travelling history! I wonder what fashion gems await us in my next travel journal! Stay tuned, darling!
Yours always in Pink,
Emma
xx
