Club Clothing

How Was The Tutu First Invented?

The tutu is without doubt the most beautiful and versatile ballet and dance costume. The tutu makes wonderful magical circles around the dancer. Little girls love to dream about it. Ballerinas love to wear it. Audiences love to see it and dressmakers dream of making it. The tutu is a stage costume originally made for romantic ballet in the 17th century. Today it is worn for all genres of dance and in all choreography styles. It is also worn as club wear outside the dance performance. Not only dancers wear tutus. Young people love to wear them in the street and club as trendy fashion garments. Celebrities love to wear them from Bjorks famous swan dress at the Oscars in 200 to Katy Perry at the Grammys more recently. And who can forget that pink ‘Sex In The City’ tutu dress worn by Carrie? The tutu was born when ballet became more and more technical and the Ballerina wanted to shoe off her skill and footwork. The dresses and costumes worn at the time were long and cumbersome and hid the ballerina’s feet. One ballerina, the Italian dancer Marie Taglioni decided to shorten her muslin ballet skirt and the first romantic style tutu was born. The name tutu is thought to be derived from the French work for ‘bottom’.

Dancers of the time did not wear pants under their ballet costumes which I find rather hard to believe. The audience who sat in the front looking up at the stage could see more than they bargained for; the dancers tutu! This lead to the invention of pants for dancers which is a good thing I am sure we would all agree. Tutu’s history and design is closely dependent on fabric making technology in particular the appearance of nylon. Silk tulle used until then in the first tutus was just too fragile. As fabrics became more flexible and lighter more fluid forms of tutu design appear. This new style of fabric brought transparency to the fabrics used and white became the main color of ballet tutus. After World War II, raw materials became rare and ballet tutus are poor quality and it was not possible to use a great deal of fabric in the tutu skirt. This influenced the design of the tutu. Fashion made the tutu become shorter. The Tutu as a stage costume evolved with fashion trends. From the long tutu down to the ankle to the pancake tutu, tutus become shorter to show off the legs and emphasize the silhouette. New materials are also responsible for the evolution of the tutu. Tarlatan disappeared and was replaced with cotton and more expensive fabrics such as silk are only used for the underskirt. Cotton is much easier to wash than tarlatan and became the preferred choice of tutu makers.

Today it is possible to have a tutu made in any fabric. The Bauhaus designs of the 1920′s used plastics and hard materials in the designs. The designs of Oskar Schlemmer are typical of the time. Spandex has been used in tutu design for The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude by William Forsyth. In fact anything can be used in tutu design these days and no doubt the designs will change as we invent new fabrics. So there is much to look forward to in the future of the tutu.

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Dance Clothes UK has a huge range of dancewear and

tutus

available online at discount prices. Take a look at
http://www.danceclothesuk.com

What should i wear for fancy dress?

My friend is having a fancy dress party and i want to go as a ballerina, considering we’re going out clubbing after what should i wear? A tutu or a leotard and wrap skirt?
Thanks!

Here is a few ideas

http://www.zoogstercostumes.com/products/cn696.html#

http://www.zoogstercostumes.com/products/rm1489.html

http://www.buycostumes.com/Inflatable-Ballerina-Adult-Costume/31977/ProductDetail.aspx =)