| Say the word "ballerina" and most people will | | | | tutu has a stiff skirt that juts out horizontally |
| picture her in a tutu. Tutus have long been the | | | | from the hips, with hooping (encased petticoat |
| most revered form of ballet costume; their | | | | wire tacked within its layers) to help it retain its |
| angelic frothiness adds at magic quality to the look | | | | shape and stiffness. |
| of a ballerina. When she wears one, she looks like | | | | George Balanchine developed one final category |
| a sugary confection that belongs on the grandest | | | | of tutu styles, known as the powderpuff tutu. It |
| of cakes. While many are familiar with the word | | | | is similar to the Classic tutu, but does not have |
| "tutu", most have no idea why is a tutu called a | | | | hooping, and contains fewer layers of tulle, making |
| tutu, or anything about its history. | | | | it softer and more flowing than the traditional |
| It is said that the first tutu was worn in Paris, by | | | | Pancake tutu. |
| Marie Taglioni, during her 1832 performance of La | | | | The name, however, came from the ballet |
| Sylphide. Taglioni's tutu was short enough to | | | | viewers in the "cheap seats". As previously |
| reveal her infamous footwork. This time period | | | | discussed, the length of the tutu was dictated by |
| was known as the Romantic period in ballet | | | | the ballet patrons, who wished to see the |
| costume history, and this tutu was called the | | | | spectacular feats that the dancers were |
| Romantic tutu. This long, floating, ethereal style is | | | | performing. Long ago, the people in the audience |
| made with 3-5 layers of tulle. | | | | who bought cheaper tickets sat in the lower part |
| Over time, the tutu grew shorter and shorter in | | | | of the theater, and often had a peek under |
| length to reveal more of the intricate footwork | | | | ballerinas' skirts...at their bottoms! Of course this |
| that dancers performed. Over the next fifty | | | | caused quite a bit of talk...baby talk, that is. The |
| years, the hemline crept higher and higher up the | | | | French baby talk word for this part of the |
| leg, until it looked more like today's bell tutu, a | | | | anatomy is "cucu", which eventually became |
| softer, longer style first worn by the Italian | | | | "tutu". |
| ballerina Virginia Zucci in the 1880s. This first | | | | Obviously, the name stuck. However, it is a bit |
| Classical tutu style ended just above the ballerina's | | | | amusing to consider origin of the name of one of |
| knees. Later, the tutu shrank even further to | | | | the most revered costumes of one of the most |
| become the Classical tutu, or Pancake tutu, the | | | | revered forms of dance. Tutus are and ever shall |
| final product of the tutu evolution. This type of | | | | be tutus; lovely to look at and fun to talk about. |