Anmi Illustration "Flamingo Ballet Group"

[Tasuke]

they're SO Cute and Pretty♥ wish i could afford them all;

[victoriavictrix]

Those are not, and never will be, ballet costumes.

Those are not, and never will be, ballet dancers, except for the first one.

[DollyKim]

With your sewing skills I know you can make ballet costumes like that for your dolls.

[victoriavictrix]

With your sewing skills I know you can make ballet costumes like that for your dolls.

OK. Yes, you can make costumes like that.

They are not, and never will be, actual ballet costumes.

Actual ballet costumes absolutely require a full, boned bodice, front and back. Not two ribbons up the front. Not something backless. Not something that requires glue to keep it from showing bewbs at any given moment.

The bewb-showing is the obvious part of that requirement. The inobvious part is that dancers wearing tutus (who may or may not be biologically female, see Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo for reference) participate in lifts. Lifts are when the dancer doing the lift places both hands just above the waist of the dancer wearing the tutu, and heaves said dancer into the air. Without a full, fully boned bodice, those two ribbons and/or any of the backless options can get ripped away, leaving the audience with partial nudity. Without a full, fully boned bodice, the lifting dancer is going to have his hands slip on sweaty skin, causing drops, falls, and potentially career-ending injuries.

And if you think ballet dancers don't sweat....

[DollyKim]

Whoops, I was meaning Tasuke's sewing skills. I shared some doll tutu patterns with them before.

I have some personal knowledge and experience with ballet but I do appreciate the education. The only topless ballet costumes I've ever seen work are in Mather Bourne's Swan Lake, and there's lifts. And I've heard males shouldn't go on pointe until after their last growth spurt in their late teens so they don't mess up their feet bones.

[Tasuke]

They are not, and never will be, actual ballet costumes.

Actual ballet costumes absolutely require a full, boned bodice, front and back. Not two ribbons up the front. Not something backless. Not something that requires glue to keep it from showing bewbs at any given moment.

The bewb-showing is the obvious part of that requirement. The inobvious part is that dancers wearing tutus (who may or may not be biologically female, see Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo for reference) participate in lifts. Lifts are when the dancer doing the lift places both hands just above the waist of the dancer wearing the tutu, and heaves said dancer into the air. Without a full, fully boned bodice, those two ribbons and/or any of the backless options can get ripped away, leaving the audience with partial nudity. Without a full, fully boned bodice, the lifting dancer is going to have his hands slip on sweaty skin, causing drops, falls, and potentially career-ending injuries.

And if you think ballet dancers don't sweat....

i do indeed find myself far more interested in the superficial image of delicately-feminine fantasy that Ballet can often offer up in spades, than that of the artform's hard-and-fast, rubber-hits-the-road realities. Thank You for the info even so...

also, with my To Heart Konomi Yuzuhara, i do indeed already have my own little Cocoa-Bean of a custom Ballerina that i am actually quite satisfied with.
nevertheless, i felt that these "Anmi Illustration" statues were indeed far too lovely not to be shared around...

[victoriavictrix]

I have an excellent pattern for the "Romantic Tutu" (that's the one that's knee length or longer).

I have detailed instructions on how to make a "Pancake Tutu." It's....very very labor intensive, and involves a LOT of ruffled tulle of various widths. It also uses an non-stretchy "panty" as the base, so it has to be fitted precisely to the exact doll you want to wear it.

The short form is that you make a fully panty with a back opening then one long piece of tulle ruffle the width of the finished tutu and sew that to the top of the panty (you will be working from the top down.) You make a second long piece of ruffle about 3/4 of the width of the tutu and sew that right under the first ruffle. You repeat, decreasing the width of the ruffle, until you run out of panty. Finish the top of the panty with a piece of ribbon or other waistband, sew hooks and eyes to close the back, and there you are.

Obviously with a 12 inch doll there are fewer ruffle layers than with a 24 inch doll.