#LeotardHistory during 2018 01

Hey there, fashionistas! It's Emma from www.pink-tutu.com, your favourite pink tutu wearing ballerina blogger, back with another exciting time travel adventure! This month, we're taking a trip back to January 1918, a time of incredible change and the start of an era that would become synonymous with glamour and liberation – the Roaring Twenties!

I’ve been on quite the journey over the last few months. Remember that time I found myself at the ballet in Victorian England, whipped up into a frenzy by a Crinoline Craze ? And the time I danced through Paris with Coco Chanel during her rebellious foray into Little Black Dresses? This month, it's back to another era filled with inspiring fashion – a period when leotards were on the verge of their first major leap onto the fashion scene.

So buckle up and let's take a look at the world of leotards through the lens of the glamorous Twenties!

1918. A year of great change. The end of the Great War saw women, like myself, stepping up to contribute on the home front. Many entered the workforce, embraced shorter hairstyles, and, you guessed it, started to explore a new fashion freedom.

Think flowing, slinky dresses, jazz-age bobbed hairstyles, dropped waistlines, and daring necklines. A far cry from the structured corsets and ankle-length skirts of earlier decades. And for me? A delightful evolution for leotard fashion, too.

I've always loved how leotards perfectly blend form and function, so it felt fantastic to witness them starting to take off during this period of evolution! It wasn't all tutus and fairy tales in those days, though. The first leotards emerged in practical colours like black, brown, and white. These were practical wear, often used by women for dance classes, exercise, or for gymnastic training – you could find them in sporting halls, colleges, and even on stage!

Now, my fabulous time travelling leotard allows me to move through time like a dream. Imagine: I can effortlessly jump from one decade to the next, embracing every style and trend that comes my way. My trusty, oh-so-sparkling pink tutu – it always catches the eye! And it truly embodies the playful spirit of the era.

I've got to say, it's fascinating how the style and purpose of leotards has changed over the years.

To give you some background, you’re likely familiar with the story of Jules Léotard, the Parisian trapeze artist, who we all thank for giving this beloved piece of apparel its name. Well, I always thought he must have had incredible foresight, sensing the leotard’s place in fashion history. By 1918, those elegant little outfits worn by the trapeze artist had gone beyond circus entertainment and were being worn for different forms of performance and sport, especially by gymnasts and dancers.

-The "Suffragette Blouse" - It wouldn't be a history blog about leotards if I didn't mention how it influenced fashion at this time. They were a stylish addition for women's suffrage movements. Often seen in soft materials like cotton, silk, or satin, they were usually adorned with decorative details or embroidered motifs. They represented a move toward a "liberated" style for women, with their looser and more functional look compared to the earlier Victorian era.

• Leotards as Foundations - Even before the leotard gained its iconic status on stage, these little items were actually foundation garments - serving as underpinnings to enhance and sculpt a fashionable silhouette. We are not so different, aren’t we? You will still see them under ballroom gowns and opera costumes. I dare say this era in fashion led the way to what we see today. It was a big deal back then.

And you know me! Pink tutus! So much inspiration has come out of that 1918 era. Imagine - long skirts evolving to short and slim cuts; an open, and I think liberating style! All those jazz parties where people danced the night away. If that doesn't sound like my type of adventure, I don't know what does.

This trip, I went shopping and picked up a fabulously soft silk leotard in dusky rose, just perfect for those dance halls! You wouldn’t find this one at a gym, darling! To me, a pink tutu represents that sense of fun and rebellious energy from that era - just the thing for a modern day suffragette (or ballet dancer).

It’s easy to see how, even though I’m not yet 30, the twenties still influence us today – that liberating attitude.

But enough talk - now that you’ve gotten an update on this amazing time period, what's in in the Pink-Tutu world of fashion this month?.

Well, you won’t believe this – leotards really came back with a vengeance in the early twenties and even led a trend in fashionable dress for some time – how incredible! Well, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands traveling through the eras and there is a huge resurgence. The whole style, colour and embellishment just makes it all so timeless – my personal fave is a soft cream silky leotard with lace detailing - perfect with a high waist skirt for any of you out there who want to embrace those glamorous trends and combine it with the practical wear leotards always offer.

Here’s what's hot right now:

1. Leotard Trend in 2018! It is hard to believe but this vintage era has some of the modern styles you’ve all seen - but remember! My time machine tells me that they were popular then too! What’s amazing about this is we get a full 360 of style from history – all the same.
2. Vintage Sparkle! We've seen the trend of vintage sparkle and it was just getting popular during the twenties! You can find lots of these in a silky leotard! All you need is to choose a colour!
3. Lace and Embroidered details: The details of 2018 in leotard styles came from that 1918 era - you could call it retro or vintage - there is a huge comeback.

My biggest mission in life is to encourage everyone to wear a pink tutu – it is fun, liberating and stylish! In my world, you don’t just dance in one! They're for shopping, for taking that cute cafe selfie - for anything you can think of! Even in 1918, people were just as wild as we are today, only there wasn’t TIK-TOK!

This was my adventure in 1918. Do you see how we’re inspired by these early eras? Next month, we are traveling back even further to a period before the fashion we just discussed...

Catch me at the website, or come along and join me in the streets for one of my ballet performances - we’re gonna dance into another era in our fabulous pink tutus! Until next time!