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BALLET CORE: TIKTOK’S NEW OBSESSION & FASHION’S OLD FRIEND

Ballet core has pirouetted its way into the hearts of hyperfeminine girls everywhere. It girls Lily-Rose Depp, Bella Hadid and actress Elle Fanning have championed this trend. Ballet had an undeniable influence on SS23 Fashion week. Ballet references danced their way from the Sandy Liang show in New York to the Simone Rocha runway in London. Videos tagged Ballet core have gained an impressive 171 million views on TikTok and on Pinterest searches for ballet core have jétéd all the way up by 1566%. The Miu Miu ballet flats have gone viral on Tik Tok, and it seems as if every girl has run to their local dance shop to buy themselves a pair of leg warmers and a baby pink leotard.

The main items of ballet core are casual rehearsal accessories such as leg warmers, leotards, and wrap-around cardigans. Ballet flats are another staple in the ballet core wardrobe. It girl Lily Rose Depp, is constantly seen wearing the red Repetto ballet pumps and Bella Hadid and Devon Lee Carlson have become fans of Sandy Liang’s pointe shoe. It could be said that ballet rehearsal wear is 2022’s answer to the athleisure trend which took off in 2016. Ballet core is the perfect median between comfort and femininity. Morgan Timuri- founder of Lei, a ballet-inspired clothing brand states “When I wear feminine ballet-inspired outfits I feel quite comfortable yet subtly stylish… it doesn’t make me feel like I’m too overdressed or underdressed.” Timuri also credits the Oscar-winning film Black Swan for popularising ballet wear: “I think movies becoming popular again such as Black Swan have definitely made ballet core a lot more popular”.

Ballet and fashion have been in a long-term relationship since the early 1900s. The Ballet Russes, a Parisian ballet company founded in 1907, popularised ballet as fashion’s muse. The Ballet Russes brought ballet to the West, and they exposed Europe to a romantic image of Tsarist Russia. Léon Bakst’s luxurious ‘oriental’ costumes for the company further propelled ballet into Western entertainment. His costumes were vibrant and decadent. The master couturier, Paul Poiret, took inspiration from Bakst’s ‘oriental’ costumes in 1909 and created his own ‘oriental’ influenced collection which featured kaftans, headdresses, and the infamous new wave harem pants. The Ballet Russes’ opulent costumes also inspired Yves Saint Laurent’s 1976 Haute Couture collection, Opéras - Ballets Russes.

The reality of ballet is very different from the romanticised image that ballet core portrays. If you look up ballet core on Pinterest, you will enter a thinspo hell. Images of skinny, white bodies will flood your screen and these pictures promote eating disorders and romanticise the struggles ballerinas face. According to Butterfly, an eating disorder charity “The ballet industry strives on structure, comparison, and perfectionism. With a focus on an ideal, thin body type.” The charity found that approximately 12% of dancers struggle with eating disorders and ballet dancers are 10 times more likely to develop eating disorders than non-ballet dancers. When asked about the romanticisation of ballet core and body image representation within the dance industry, ex-ballerina Daisy Ayscough proclaims that “There is some harm in that industry in terms of body image and it’s not ideal that it’s being transferred into the World around us”.

Like most trends that start on Tik Tok, you might think that ballet core isn’t going to stay long but Morgan Timuri thinks otherwise as she explains “I don’t think it will die out because the components of ballet core aren’t anything out of the ordinary and are pretty much staple pieces of any other wardrobe”. Let’s hope ballet and fashion don’t break up anytime soon but the ballet industry needs to go its separate way from its toxic body ideals.