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The word “tutu” probably originates from the French. There are many urban myths as to the exact origin of the term. After eighteenth century ballet audiences had recovered from the shock of the dancer Marie Camargo (1710-70) raising her floor length skirts to reveal the virtuosity of her footwork to greater effect, the ankle length skirt had become accepted for a dancer (still referred to in the twenty-first century as “ballerina length”). Camargo took care to wear frilled long knickers under her shortened costume. Such underwear was not typical of eighteenth century dress and was possibly a precautionary measure, inspired by the misfortune of another dancer who had caught her costume on the scenery, inadvertently revealing all to the audience. The combination of this occasion and the new style in frilled drawers inspired the French slang “tutu” - the word for “bottom“. Throughout the following century, the tutu gradually shortened to around knee-length, as shown being worn by Marie Taglioni in the well-known images of “La Sylphide” from the 1830‘s. The new length of costume became the ballerina’s badge of status, while the corps de ballet were often dressed in authentic costume of the period. Gradually dancers put virtuosity ahead of modesty and revealed more and more of the leg, finally arriving at the short and light costume of today which allows the greatest possible freedom of movement combined with the most flattering shape.
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| Fabrics used for tutus, have changed, from silk tulle and the stiffened silk tarlatan as worn by the Paris Opera’s “Petit Rats” (seen in recent productions of “The Phantom of the Opera“), to today’s specialist nylon tutu nets. Sylphides and Wilis costumes can be constucted in nylon fibres for a very affordable costume, but this will never have the same romantic effect, (tending to be rather bouffant and static) in comparison to the beauty of silk tulle and the lightest gossamer weight chiffons which flow with the dancer. Other practical changes take place over the decades - dancers change from wearing silk tights to ones made of man-made fibres. This influences the type of fabrics romantic length tutus are made from as two natural fibres or two synthetic fibres together can cause “static creep” in a costume. It is preferable, practically, as well as being aesthetically pleasing to wear a silk fabric directly against modern nylon, lycra and supplex tights. (This is not a problem with the short classical tutu, only with knee-length or longer styles).
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Rossetti tutus are usually created as English or Russian “pancake” styled costumes, unless requested otherwise. The tutu has to be hand tacked strongly and methodically in defined ways to create the flat “pancake” shape. The theory behind this style is that light gets beneath it and shows off the dancer’s legs in a more flattering manner. American styled tutus tend to be shorter and softer - no doubt due to the influence of the infamous Karinska’s work with Balanchine in the 1950’s. He required a completely different silhouette to a typical “pancake” shape. A Karinska “powder-puff” tutu has only about six layers of soft net, no supporting hoop and is very short in width, yet full and soft in depth. Karinska is also credited with using bodice panels cut on the bias so that they will fit tightly with a smooth finish, yet stretch with the dancer as she moves and accommodate the rib cage as she breathes with exertion. When I trained in costume cutting this was so totally the norm, whether for ballet, opera or period costume, that it is hard to believe there was a time when no-one had considered doing this! Clearly we have modern synthetic fibres available with as much stretch as required, but stretch fabrics limit the ability to apply decoration, boning and fastenings in the most preferable way. Synthetic fabrics, unlike natural fibres, do not “breath” and absorb sweat more readily. There is nothing like the cut of a multi-panelled silk bodice, perfectly following every curve of the bust, hips and diaphragm. Under stage lighting, natural fibres glow with a unique depth and resonance.
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| By having a made-to measure Rossetti ballet tutu designed specifically to flatter your shape, just like the principal dancers at the top of a professional ballet company, you may specifically request the exact length of the tutu bodice, and therefore the point at which the skirts start. Half an inch in either direction can make the difference between a dancer’s legs looking long and elegant or short and bulky. The length of the skirt, and therefore the width of the overall silhouette of the dancer is directly related to her height. In the 1960’s, tutu skirts, influenced by worldwide fashion were very short. Even by the late 1980’s a typical tutu skirt was around 12” wide. At present it is typically between 14” and 17”, but this width would drown a dancer of just 5 foot!
Do not think of the tutu skirt necessarily being one solid colour. An Odette tutu may have a layer of pale blue or beige to give it greater depth. A Snow Queen costume may mix in shades of pale pink, grey or blue with white. Mixing and layering of colours can achieve beautiful subtle effects, which on a large proscenium stage can be far more effective than a solid flat colour. |
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| In planning the design of your own tutu there are several considerations to be made:
Your budget. This often influences decoration possibilities, but you might be surprised how elaborate a costume can be with minimal decoration expenses. How often the costume will be used. From a practical point - how many times will it be used before it needs to be cleaned? How long will it be worn for at any one stretch? Will this summer’s Aurora tutu need to be converted into next Christmas’ Sugar-plum Fairy? Is the costume needed for a competition? i.e. Does it need to be as individual and stunning as possible to make you memorable, without obscuring your technique? Is the costume for a specific role (in a production or a competition?) There are specific long-established traditional images for many roles, which is not to say they cannot be challenged. (Odile is always associated with wearing black, but by adding just one or two layers of red (or purple) into the skirt takes it beyond the norm, while keeping in character. However, you do not wish your audience or judges to be distracted by a costume which is extremely different to the anticipated style associated with particular choreography and music. A careful balance needs to be established. Will you be partnered or are you performing a solo? This will dictate the positioning of beadwork, appliqué and trimmings. Decoration on the upper hips and waist are an absolute no-no for pas-de-deux work. Where are you dancing? You costume needs to be defined against the backdrop. This is especially the case in competitions with monotonous grey through to black backgrounds. |
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There are certain practicalities to consider when wearing a (“pancake” shaped) tutu. Suddenly, it is totally pointless glancing down at your feet! You might panic at getting your added width through a doorway, but this is where the hidden steel hoop comes into it’s own. The costume can - with care, be tipped up at the sides, and will instantly recover - just as it would after Odette has been crushed tight against Prince Siegfried during the heightened emotional extremes of their pas de deux.
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| In a typical large company the designer of a new ballet will give the costume designs to the production wardrobe department, having already shopped for the chosen fabrics and trimmings which will be used to make them. For a new production, if budgets permit, the entire company will have new costumes. (For older productions it is more usual for only principals and soloists to have costumes made particularly for the individual. Corps de ballet dancers would be given a costume altered to fit).
To give an idea of the amount of the time, work and expense involved in mounting a completely new production of a ballet such as a “Swan Lake” for a major company, twelve new tutus would need to be made purely for the principals - four casts of dancers, each needing three tutus for the famous dual Odette-Odile role (one black for Odile in Act 3, one white for Odette in Act 2 and a second white tutu for Act 4 as no principal should be expected to wear a cold and wet costume for the last act! A further two dozen swan tutus will be needed to costume the entire corps de ballet - although they will not all be on stage at once, changes in casting and inevitable injuries, mean they will all be on stage at some point during the production’s season. And this is before considering the elaborate costumes for the court scenes, the ballroom scene - for the Spanish, the Czardas, the Neapolitan, Hungarian and Polish dances....... |
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  For more information: Rossetti Costumes and Bridal Gowns
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