Ballet and fashion
Ballet-specific clothing used in productions and during practice, such as ballet flats, ballerina skirt, legwarmers, and leotards 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.
Designers that have been influenced by ballet include Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli, Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, Jacques Fath, Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Molly Goddard, and Simone Rocha.
The practice was abandoned after balletmaster Jean-Georges Noverre[3] and choreographer Maximilien Gardel dispensed with them, seeing how they impeded the dancers' movements and the ability to see their facial expressions.
Ballet appropriated high fashion elements, including full sleeves, revealing decolletage, fitted waist, bell-shaped skirts, and more diaphanous fabrics.
Her fitted décolleté bodice, diaphanous calf-length tulle skirt,[9] and satin pointe shoes laced around the calf provided the template for the ballerina costume.
[12] Styles of ballet costume were influenced by the popularity of romantic narratives of regional and supernatural folklore, such as the sylph motif.
According to ballet historian Ilyana Karthas, during the 1920s images of femininity were promoted in the context of athleticism, exercise, and the physical body.
[11] Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli also collaborated with the Ballets Russes, inspired by the surrealistic costuming of Giorgio de Chirico in Diaghilev's 1929 production of Le Bal.
[11] Costumes from the production were designed by Christian Bérard and made by Barbara Karinska, who innovated the layering of differently colored tulle.
[19] In 1941, former ballet student and fashion editor Diana Vreeland innovated the use of pointe shoes as everyday wear, in part because wartime restrictions did not apply to them.
[7] Costumes designed by Fath for the 1948 film The Red Shoes featuring the ballerina Moira Shearer were also influential in creating a demand for ballet-inspired fashion.
Ballet-inspired fashion designs experienced a revival in the 1970s during the disco era while athleisure incorporated mainstays of ballet rehearsal clothing such as leotards.
[18] In the 1970s, Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell decided that dancers' tights and shoes should match their skin tone.
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.
Athleisure fashions incorporate dancewear elements such as legwarmers, which are often layered or combined with tie skirts and wrap tops, as well as delicate accessories like ribbon chokers and ballet slipper-inspired shoes.
[25] Balletcore continued to rely on lightweight materials such as tulle and satin, organza, sheer fabrics, mesh, and spandex.
Ballet-inspired fashion continues to emphasize soft pastel hues such as pink, peach, baby blue, lilac, and light neutral colors.
