Tutu and other tulle skirts. Part II.

I think that tulle skirts became a part of our everyday wardrobe, because every girl has been dreaming about being a ballerina, at least once. Even those who don't like ballet very much are charmed by magnificent costumes. Ballerina pretends that gravity power does not  apply on her. Well, we all know that it is a result of long and even torturing training, and we admire their grace, beauty of movement and strong character.

But tulle skirts, light and flying, multilayer, decorated with lace and feathers, they really are the symbol of that mysterious and unknown world of ballet, where unbelievable beauty comes from.

Today I am going to speak about Chopin-type ballet skirts, which are very common in contemporary girls and even ladies looks.

Chopin skirt appeared in the 29th century at the same time with pointe shoes, and one of the first ballerinas who presented new costume on the stage was Italian Marie Taglioni (1804-1884).

Marie Taglioni

Anna Pavlova

You can see classic Chopin skirts in La Sylphide, Giselle, ou les Wilis  (Please note: composer Chopin is not the author of these ballets).

Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova visited Australia with five weeks tour in 1926, and she danced in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

The Sydney Morning Herald of 15 May published in an article by A.J.M:

it seems nothing could be more beautiful… till Anna Pavlova herself enters, and then is seen the supreme beauty of the full opened rose, performed, with personality. Subtly smiling, armed with every witchery, melting from one lovely mood and posture to another  as lovely… she enables people to forget for an hour the sadness of life … And not only to forget for an hour may be. I have a fancy that many of the audience, and not only the younger ones, may, consciously or not, move a little more gracefully, walk more buoyantly, and perhaps, appreciate and honour the wonder of their own bodies a little more fully because they have for a space watched “Great Anna” and her company of dancers.  

 (A.J.M., ‘Anna Pavlova. From the Upper Circle’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 1926, 11) *

In this article we can probably find the key to the secret of attraction of tutu skirts. They make us move finely,  feel better and appreciate our own bodies as they are.

Tutu skirts are extremely contagious!
Talking or reading, or writing about them really makes you wish to have one. Or to make one for somebody you love. Clouds of netting can improve any bad mood.


This is the skirt I made for my daughter. The idea came to us after the book Fancy Nancy Too Many Tutus.  You can find books about Fancy Nancy on Amazon, or Booktopia.com, or borrow in your local library, though they are pretty popular there.

(http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Nancy-Many-Tutus-Level/dp/0062083074)

Masha loved this book vey much and after we read it for a dozen times, I got strong need to rush over to Spotlight at once and to by some tulle for a skirt.


Masha is skinny and tall, so full skirt should have length behind the knee.  Otherwise her slim legs will look like twigs. On plump kid's body skirt would be shorter. But for a grown-up lady it is vice versa.
I decorated it with different lace, used ribbons and frilled lace for more volume. First layer is made of light cotton voile doubled with tulle, then there is tulle layer finished with lace and another tulle layer folded twice. Why is it so complicated?

Because I didn't want to leave unfinished edges. We see them very often on the tutus in the retail shops, and they don't look very neat after washing in washing machine. It doesn't unravel, but become disheveled. It doesn't look new and festive any more.

Finishing raw edges requires a little more work and time, but result talks for itself. And it can be easily washed and steamed with iron.

So this skirt is nice to a body, can be easily washed and very cute. These are the demands for kid's fashion, aren't they?

Another Chopin-skirt project I made for a beginners ballet class a few years ago. Please enjoy the video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/qEQZIhBD1rU

 All "waist-down" garments here are my work - trousers and skirts. Skirts were made in the simplest (and cheapest) possible way.
Original Chopin-skirt requires about 35 hours of continuous work from a professional ballet garments master.
               I didn't have 35 hours for each skirt.
                                                                           But I payed most attention to how they look - true silhouette, the same length and fullness of each tutu.  Dancers have different size and shape, but tutus look the same.

Besides I hid all the rough edges of the firm tulle under the soft fabric waistband, to avoid scratching the body and leotard.
Even in simple projects there are tips and points to think about...

In the next post I'll show how to wear tutu in everyday life if you are not a child.


*Information about Anna Pavlova I took from Ausdance.org au (http://ausdance.org.au/articles/details/anna-pavlovas-1926-australian-tour#fn-19-a)