Best Ballet Costumes for Those Perfect Moves

Ballet is a performance dance, which has its origin in the majestic era of the Italian Renaissance Courts during the 15th century. It was further explicated in other countries like Russia, France and England, where it became popular as a formalized concert dance.

It takes a lot of practice and persistence to perform the polished ballet dance moves. To attain all those flexible body movements, there is a need of two important things―ballet shoes and the ballet costumes.

The costumes have constantly undergone a subtle change, alongside the ballet dancing. Hence, it is very important for us to get to know the history of ballet dancing for a better understanding of the importance of the its costumes.

Initial days of ballet dancing were all about the richness and perfection of the royal Italian Courts. Ballet costumes reflected this richness and as a result, they were made of extravagant material with heavy brocades, huge ornaments and head pieces. As they were made of a heavy cloth, they actually restricted the ballet dance moves.

As a result, during early 18th century, a ballerina introduced a shorter version of this skirt. It caught the attention of many ballet critics and audiences too. But surprisingly, these shorter costumes were not much criticized and were quite easily accepted by the audiences. They came as a huge relief for the dancers and made it easy for them to experiment.

Later, during the late 18th and 19th century, ballet costumes again underwent a series of transmission. It was that era, when the ballerinas wore calf length costumes. They wore white costumes made of tulle (mesh). These costumes were accompanied with pointed satin shoes, which made it easy for the dancers to perform those difficult ballet moves.

Men on the other hand, wore tights and long sleeved shirts. These shirts were usually covered with shorter jackets. The sleeves of the costumes for men and women were determined upon the theme of the ballet dancing. As a result, there are various patterns of the costumes for each character, even today.

These costumes help the dancers to easily perform their body movements, without interfering with their dance moves. The ballet tutus are often attached with a leotard, which is a skintight piece of garment, that covers the torso. The leotards are often full sleeved and are mostly used by gymnasts, athletes and dancers.

As the name suggests, a bell tutu has the shape of a bell and it is made without using the wire hoops. It is made of many layers of fabric and is longer than the classical pancake tutu.

This skirt has multiple layers of fabric which are stretched outwards from the hips of the wearer. Hand stitches and wire hoops are used to keep the skirt firm.

This tutu is also called just 'powder puff' and is actually a combination of the bell tutu and the pancake tutu. This kind of tutu is loosely assembled, which gives it a bit fuller and softer appearance. No wire hoops are used for making this tutu and only a few layers (2 to 5) of the fabric are used.

So, these were few ballet costumes for girls and women. There are many other types of costumes, which are popular by various names. Traditionally, ballet costumes are made using sleek and flowing materials like tulle, muslin, nylon, voile, tarlatan, and organdy.

Today, there are many dance clothing stores, that offer you with some great deals in cheap costumes. They are available with colors and patterns, that won't fail to attract you. One can also find some great costumes online. All you have to do is, select the one that best suits you.