Research Images

After contacting the wardrobe mistress for the English National Ballet she kindly sent me close up photos of some of the tutus they have in their wardrobe. This gave me a much clearer understanding of what each section of the tutu is and how it is contructed. The photos are extremely clear and there are views of the inside, under the netting and the outside. This was very inspirational and gace me an aim to want to create a tutu as beautiful and pristinely contructed as the ones photographed.

I have gained a massive amount of information from contacting people in the industry and has made me realise that it is alot easier and less scary than I previously thought. I will take this on board for future projects because I now know how helpful it is and how responsive people in the industry actually are.

I will also use these methods in future projects (e.g e-mailing and phoning people in the industry) because it gives more depth to the research I am doing and a clearer understanding of what I am making.

The images that the wardrobe mistress sent are shown below she also sent some information along with these to make it clear what the photos are showing.
The tutu is from the ballet Raymonda, "The first picture is the full tutu, the bodice fabric is brocade generally a fabric which can be dyed is better because it is rare you actually find a fabric the designer likes the colour and the pattern at the same time. If you can find ready made motifs to decorate the better. The bodice is lined in cotton drill so the dancer can sweat into it.
There is a decent seam allowance so the tutu can be altered slightly as all the fabric stretches over time. Also in the picture you can see the basque, it goes round the waist and sits on the upper hip it keeps the bodice in place.



This is the bottom of the tutu with 9 layers of net totalling 11-13m of net all attached on to the knickers. There are many different types of net and nets can generally be dyed.

This is the topskirt, rules go like this: Corps de ballet - some decoration, Soloists- more decoration, Principal dancer- most decoration.

This is a Sleeping Beauty tutu you can see in this picture the bodice ends at the waits and goes into a point at the front. You can see the basque on this tutu. This is an old tutu it is about 17 years old, the rest of the production has been sold to another ballet company. This is an aurora tutu and was kept back together with an act II jacket for the prince.


You can see the boning inside the bodice to help keep it straight up and down, so it keeps its line most dancers dont like boning and tend to whip them out. You generally have 2-3 fittings for a tutu.