12 March: Tutus

On this date in 1832 the first tutus were worn for a ballet. Here are 10 things you might not know about tutus.

1. The first leading ballerina to wear one on stage was Marie Taglioni who was playing Sylphida in a Paris Opera production of La Sylphide. The costume was designed for her by her father, Filippo Taglioni.
2. Before this, ballerinas would perform in elegant dresses, not unlike the ones any woman might wear to a ball, or to the ballet.
3. There is more than one style of tutu. The one most people associate with ballet dancers is the short, stiff, Classical tutu, but there are also longer ones, which are bell-shaped and reach the calf or ankle.
4. The word tutu, however, didn't appear until 1881. Nobody is sure where the word came from. One theory is that it is derived from tulle, the material they are often made from. Another theory is that the word has quite vulgar origins, deriving from the French word "cul" meaning bottom - possibly because rich male opera fans might playfully pat a ballerina's bottom, saying "pan-pan cucul" ("I'll spank your bottom"); or because it was designed to cover a dancer's modesty because they often didn't wear underwear (too restrictive).
5. It's highly unlikely that a girl starting ballet lessons will wear a tutu in class. The first time she will wear one, in all probability, is when rehearsing for her first show. She will wear a cheaper version, so she can get used to wearing one and how it works in terms of space between her and other dancers.
6. Tutus are actually very complicated and expensive to make. Even a basic one for a teenage girl could cost $1000 and a professional one costs twice that. The more embellishments, like jewels or feathers it has, the higher the price. They take about three weeks to make.
7. Cleaning them is a challenge as shoving them in the Washing machine would be highly inadvisable. Dancers have to rely on fabric sprays like Febreze to keep their costumes fresh. An alternative would be to mix cheap vodka with water and put it in a spray bottle. Vodka has no odour itself and kills the Bacteria which cause odours.
8. The Paris Opera Ballet uses thirteen layers of net for its tutus while in Italy they use no more than ten. Tutus for use in amateur productions have six to eight layers.
9. The radius of a classical tutu is on average 48cm.
10. Fashion designers who have designed tutus include Cecil Beaton, Christian Lacroix and Isaac Mizrahi, but possibly the most famous designer to specialise in tutus was Barbara Karinska, a costumer for the New York City Ballet.

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