Throughout its history, the costume ofballet has influenced and been influenced byfashion. Ballet-specific clothing used in productions and during practice, such asballet flats,ballerina skirt,legwarmers, andleotards have been elements of fashion trends. Ballet costume itself has adapted aesthetically over the years, incorporating contemporary fashion trends while also updating fabrics and materials to allow for greater freedom of movement for the dancers. The classic ballerina costume with atutu andpointe shoes debuted in the 1830s. Ballet costume is marked by the innovation in lightweight materials such astulle,chiffon, andorganza.
In the early 20th century, productions by the Russian ballet companyBallets Russes had a large influence on fashion design in Paris. Designers incorporated ballet-inspired themes in their creations. Designers that have been influenced by ballet includeChristian Dior,Elsa Schiaparelli,Paul Poiret,Coco Chanel,Jacques Fath,Jeanne Lanvin,Madeleine Vionnet,Molly Goddard, andSimone Rocha.
Ballet costume originated in the 17th-centuryroyal courts of Italy and France, including that ofLouis XIV. Earlycostume designs in ballet productions were based on court dress, though more extravagant.[1] All of the performers in early ballets were men, with boys performing the female rolesen travesti. In the 18th century, as ballet became professionalized and moved from the courts to the theaters, women joined the ranks ofballet dancers.[2] Traditionally, dancers wore heeled shoes,[3] until the 1730s, whenParis Opera Ballet dancerMarie Camargo was one of the first to wear ballet slippers instead.[4] She also wore midcalf-length skirts and close-fitting drawers.[3]
Until the late 18th century, lead dancers in a ballet company often wore masks.[5] The practice was abandoned after balletmasterJean-Georges Noverre[3] and choreographerMaximilien Gardel dispensed with them, seeing how they impeded the dancers' movements and the ability to see their facial expressions. Similarly, cumbersome hairstyles and wigs that were not conducive to ballet movements were largely excluded from the stage.[6]
Ballet costume has an essential role in facilitating the movements of dancers while "maintaining the integrity of the line of the body". Technical and visual problems with ballet costume are avoided through the creation of well-designed and proportioned clothing. Ballet costume has evolved alongsidechoreography to allow for the display of musculature.[6]
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the industrialisation of cotton manufacturing led to the widespread availability of cheap cotton fabrics such astulle,muslin,tarlatan, andgauze. Ballet companies were able to produce new costumes for each production.[7]
Ballet costume during the early 19th century mirrored the women'sfashions of the era. Ballet appropriated high fashion elements, including full sleeves, revealing decolletage, fitted waist, bell-shaped skirts, and morediaphanous fabrics. Adaptations such as lighter fabrics and raisedhemlines allowed dancers greater freedom of movement and the audience to appreciate the dancer's footwork. As clothing became less restricted, the naturalsilhouette was emphasized.[8]
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Pointe shoes were invented around 1820[9] and the archetypal look of the romantic ballerina was provided byMaria Taglioni in the 1832 balletLa Sylphide. Her fitted décolletébodice, diaphanous calf-length tulle skirt,[10] and satin pointe shoes laced around the calf provided the template for the ballerina costume. Herballerina skirt was a shortened version of the 1830s fashion gown.[8] She was the first ballerina to dance a full-length balleten pointe, and became very popular with images of her widely published. Following her fame, luxury fabrics and corsets were produced bearing the namesTaglioni orLa Sylphide.[11][12]
As ballet emerged as entertainment for aristocrats, the ballet dancer became principally a woman's profession and the reputation of ballerinas declined in the later 19th century. The feminization of ballet was due in part to a larger male audience.[12] Ballerinas were frequently poor, marginalized members of society, regarded more as workers than artists. They were often subject to the attention of lascivious men, sexually commodified, and sometimes forced into prostitution.[13]
Styles of ballet costume were influenced by the popularity of romantic narratives of regional and supernatural folklore, such as thesylph motif.[12] Towards the end of the 19th century, the classicaltutu was codified inSt. Petersburg during the era of ballet masterMarius Petipa.[10] During this time, the tutu was shortened and the boxes of pointe shoes were reinforced.[7]
Beginning in 1909, the Russian ballet companyBallets Russes brought high classical ballet to the West, principally in Paris. Fashion designers andhaute couture were inspired by the influential ballet company.[12]Léon Bakst was the troupe's principal costume designer in the early 1900s. His designs inspiredPaul Poiret, who also designed for the company.[14] Trends in Parisian fashion were adapted into ballet costume by Ballets Russes.[15] The dress from Stravinsky's 1910 balletThe Firebird was influential in fashion design. The Orientalist aesthetic of Ballets Russes influenced the boldly colored trousers andharem skirts and trousers of fashion designer Paul Poiret.[8]Coco Chanel designed costumes for the 1924 balletLe Train Bleu and went on to create ballet-inspired fashions.[14]
Ballets Russes continued to have an influence on fashion into the 1920s. A turning point in the relationship between ballet and fashion wasSergei Diaghilev's 1921 production ofThe Sleeping Beauty.[8] The ballet's use of light pastels such aslilac influenced color trends in fashion. The production's bluebird blue costumes inspiredElsa Schiaparelli to create her signature color "sleeping blue".[12] French fashion designerJeanne Lanvin's full-skirtedrobe de style dresses of the mid-1920s andMadeleine Vionnet'sBallerina dress both had inspiration in the ballerina costume. According to ballet historian Ilyana Karthas, during the 1920s images offemininity were promoted in the context of athleticism, exercise, and the physical body.[12]
Italian fashion designerElsa Schiaparelli also collaborated with the Ballets Russes, inspired by the surrealistic costuming ofGiorgio de Chirico in Diaghilev's 1929 production ofLe Bal.[14]
The 1932 balletCotillon was choreographed byGeorge Balanchine and starredTamara Toumanova, one of the firstBaby Ballerinas.[12] Costumes from the production were designed byChristian Bérard and made byBarbara Karinska, who innovated the layering of differently colored tulle. Bérard's designs inspired the glittering tulle gowns thatCoco Chanel designed in the 1930s.[8]
Since the 1930s, ballet costume has inspired the fashion trends of fitted bodices and bell-shaped silhouettes. Materials used for tutus, such aschiffon, silk tulle,[12] andorganza were later incorporated into fashion collections.[16] The romantic-era tutu style also had an influence on the design of gowns. In the 1930s, longer dresses with tulle skirts became fashionable, as exemplified by Coco Chanel's 1937 "Etoiles" dress.[17] which drew inspiration from Balanchine's 1932 balletCotillon.[18]
The balletomania trend of the 1930s and 1940s had a marked influence on fashion. In the early 1930s, ballet fashion was frequently featured in magazines. Ballerinas were also employed as models from the 1930s onward.[19]
With the advent of synthetic materials, ballet practice clothing such asleotards and tights became popular as fashion pieces from the 1940s on.[20]
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In 1941, former ballet student and fashion editorDiana Vreeland innovated the use of pointe shoes as everyday wear, in part because wartime restrictions did not apply to them.[12] Due to a shortage of leather, fashion designerClaire McCardell commissioned the dance houseCapezio to produce a range ofballet flats to match her designs.[21] The ballet flat went on to become everyday footwear.[22]
Designers of high fashion andhaute couture collaborated frequently with star ballerinas such asMargot Fonteyn in the 1940s. Couturiers such asPierre Balmain designed costume for ballet as well as high fashion. DesignersChristian Dior andJacques Fath were both influenced by ballet costume.[8] Costumes designed by Fath for the 1948 filmThe Red Shoes featuring the ballerinaMoira Shearer were also influential in creating a demand for ballet-inspired fashion.[8]
The fashion houseBalmain, founded byPierre Balmain, and the designerCristóbal Balenciaga drew inspiration from the aesthetics of ballet costume. The use of feathers in the ballet costumes of ballerina-bird characters in productions ofThe Firebird,The Dying Swan, andSwan Lake was also mimicked in fashion.[17]
During the late 1960s and 1970s, the clothing brand Danskin produced leotards that could be worn for dance as well as streetwear. Fashion designerBonnie August popularized the look ofunitards worn underwrap skirts in the mid-1970s. Ballet-inspired fashion designs experienced a revival in the 1970s during thedisco era whileathleisure incorporated mainstays of ballet rehearsal clothing such as leotards.[19]
In the 1970s,Dance Theatre of Harlem founderArthur Mitchell decided that dancers' tights and shoes should match theirskin tone. The dance apparel company Capezio produced brown pointe shoes for the company.[9]
A 1976 collection fromYves Saint Laurent paid homage to the Ballets Russes and Serge Diaghilev.[23]
During the early 2000s, a ballet-inspired fashion trend drawing heavily on warm-up clothing was called "dancer off-duty". In the 2000s, ballet fashion was popularized on film and television through the filmBlack Swan andCarrie Bradshaw's iconic tulle skirt fromSex and The City.[24] The 2000s saw the lines of companies that produce pointe shoes broaden to include skin tones of people of color, includingBlack women in ballet.[17][25]
A 2020 exhibitionBallerina: Fashion's Modern Muse was held atThe Museum at FIT.[17]
A resurgence in interest in ballerina-inspired fashion in the mid-2020s came to be known as balletcore. The fashion trend drew inspiration from the graceful and elegant aesthetic of ballet dancers, which has been called "hyper-feminine" and embraces both comfort and body movement in a context that explores femininity.[24][26] The popularity of the trend has been attributed toGen Z's obsession with nostalgia.[24] Balletcore has also seen notable popularity in Japan.[27][28]
Balletcore continued fashion's use of traditional ballet costumes such as ballet flats, pointe shoes, ballerina skirts, leotards, and tights. Athleisure fashions incorporate dancewear elements such aslegwarmers, which are often layered or combined with tie skirts and wrap tops, as well as delicate accessories likeribbonchokers andballet slipper-inspired shoes.[26] Balletcore continued to rely on lightweight materials such astulle andsatin,organza, sheer fabrics, mesh, andspandex. Ballet-inspired fashion continues to emphasize soft pastel hues such as pink, peach, baby blue, lilac, and light neutral colors.[29][17]
In the 2020s, ballet-inspired elements have increased the popularity as a part of the collections ofRodarte andMiu Miu, as well as those of fashion designersMolly Goddard andSimone Rocha.[25][29] While principally a phenomenon in women's clothing, ballet has also influenced designs in men's wear andworkout wear, with brands creating collections that combined functionality with a balletic aesthetic.[30]
