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Ballet costumes you covet?


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I thought we'd had a related thread, but can't find it, so hey ho, I'll start a new one, prompted by the current Manon thread.

 

Are there any ballet costumes you really covet?  (Don't worry, you don't actually have to wear them!)

 

Ones which spring to my mind instantly are:

 

- Manon's black dress with gold embroidery in the second act of the Royal Ballet's Manon.

 

- Empress Elisabeth's dress in the family soiree scene in Mayerling - same colour, same embroidery (I think), same designer!

 

- Albrecht's costume in Act II of the Royal Ballet's Giselle.

 

- The inky blue Jasper Conran tutus in Bintley's Tombeaux.

 

- Maybe Lise's wedding outfit in La Fille Mal Gardee

 

 

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Penelope, did you never see Ed Watson do Oberon?!  I'd have thought the costume looked better on longer-limbed dancers.  I was considering that one as well, and Titania's too, but am not so sure how they look up close.

 

Okay, I think maybe M&A may have influenced this thread as well.  Maybe either the white dress or the red one, but I'm not totally convinced I'm covetous about them :)

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25 minutes ago, alison said:

Okay, I think maybe M&A may have influenced this thread as well.  Maybe either the white dress or the red one, but I'm not totally convinced I'm covetous about them :)

 

A friend who I took to see M&A a few years ago said she’d gladly get married in the lilac nightie! (She got married last year - not in a lilac nightie).

 

I rather love Juliet’s balcony-scene slip. But suffice to say that as a busty 39-year-old the thought of actually wearing it is hilarious.

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think my favourite costumes (not for me wearing I hasten to add) are the women's costumes in Symphonic Variations. So simple and elegant.

For ka-pow effect - the scarlet dress for Zen and Laura in Symphonic Dances recently.

I have always wanted to ask the dancers this question actually - or a similar question - which costume have they worn that they would like to wear out for an evening

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Oh my gosh great thread...... but any costume from Month in the Country for starters .....though the costumes from some of my other favourite ballets are not always ones I like particularly. Though do rather like Titania's one too ....though personally I have to say  I'd look totally ridiculous in it!!

Need to have a think and unfortunately won't have IPad till Wednesday now so by then I'm sure some of you will have jogged my memory od some lovely cozzies.

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7 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

tI have always wanted to ask the dancers this question actually - or a similar question - which costume have they worn that they would like to wear out for an evening

 

I might hazard a guess that you wouldn't get too many positive responses from the men :)

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Great question! I love ballet costumes so much! 

 

All of my favourites are from The Royal Ballet: definitely the Sugar Plum Fairy's tutu, Titania's dress from The Dream, Gamzatti's red costume from the end of La Bayadere, the lead female's costume in Prince of the Pagodas in the earlier acts- that's divine! Most of the dresses in Mayerling (except Mitzi's).

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25 minutes ago, RuthE said:

 

 

I rather love Juliet’s balcony-scene slip. But suffice to say that as a busty 39-year-old the thought of actually wearing it is hilarious.

Same!! Except I'm 38!

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26 minutes ago, Two Pigeons said:

Clara's mother's red frock in the first act of BRB's Nutcracker.  

 

6 minutes ago, Rachelm said:

Gamzatti's red costume from the end of La Bayadere

 

Ooh yes!  (Do you get the feeling I have a thing about the colour red? :) )  Definitely not wearing the Gamzatti costume, though - wouldn't want to inflict my midriff on the general public :)

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14 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I might hazard a guess that you wouldn't get too many positive responses from the men :)

 

Oh I don’t know, an Elite Syncopations outfit might come in handy if I wanted to do a triathlon 🤣

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4 minutes ago, Rob S said:

 

Oh I don’t know, an Elite Syncopations outfit might come in handy if I wanted to do a triathlon 🤣

 

:D

 

I'm not sure about the one-star-on-each-buttock aspect of some of those costumes! As if to say "Here Is My Buttock And Here is My Other Buttock". Mine are prominent enough as it is...

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what a lovely thread! I always fancied Tyrennio's cloak as worn by Alexander Grant - don't know what later ones have been like. But my recent passion is for Madame 's dress in Manon Act2, although pretty silly I'd look doing the cat litter tray while wearing it! Husband always fancied the male lead costume in Elite - but the thought of it still sends me into unseemly giggles .Agree totally with Penelope Simpson' s comments about her likes and dislikes and would like to add costumes for women in Act 2_of Anastasia and Bonelli showing how to look particularly handsome in evening dress in the same.

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I think the costumes in Manon are all gorgeous - the Courtesans' in particular - except for the colours.  Yellows and oranges just don't do it for me.

 

I often (in any ballet set in a period with floor-length dresses) like the non-dancing costumes (e.g. Madame's) better than those designed to be danced in en pointe; the knee-length "period costume" always looks a bit odd to me.

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1.  Daisy's Tango dress in David Nixon's Great Gatsby

 

2.  The flowing jacket that Jordan wears in Great Gatsby

 

3.  The 40/50s costumes in David Nixon's A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

4.  I'll fight 2 Pigeons for Clara's Mother's red dress in act 1 of BRB's Nutcracker

 

5.  Manon's black dress in act 2

 

6.  Marguerite's red, white and black dresses

 

7.  The ladies' Edwardian dresses in the party scene of David Nixon's Swan Lake

 

 

Great topic Alison!

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RB's Juliet's nightie/slip, Clara's nightie - I love those flowy, floaty chiffon skirts.  

 

The ENB Wilis' costumes in Mary Skeaping's Giselle - so pretty with their jewellery.

 

The old Lilac Fairy tutu (the one that was actually Lilac) from RB's Sleeping Beauty before their costume "upgrades". 

 

Sugar Plum's tutu and Rose Fairy's tutu from RB's Nutcracker.

 

Lise's dresses from Fille. 

 

Not that I could *wear* any of the above; they're just so pretty. ☺️

 

Oh - almost forgot - Tatiana's red dress from Onegin. 

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Marguerite's red and black dresses.

 

I love all those lovely wafting dresses worn by the Tsarina and her daughters in the first act of Anastasia.

 

And I seem to recall a thread where Tatiana's brown dress at the end wasn't too popular - but I love it!

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34 minutes ago, BMC said:

I love all those lovely wafting dresses worn by the Tsarina and her daughters in the first act of Anastasia.

 

I was thinking about those too! They have lovely hats as well, unless I'm thinking of something else.  I also love the aforementioned Month in the Country costumes.

 

I also really have a soft spot for the Scottish national dress in ENB's Sylphide.

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4 hours ago, alison said:

Penelope, did you never see Ed Watson do Oberon?!  I'd have thought the costume looked better on longer-limbed dancers.  I was considering that one as well, and Titania's too, but am not so sure how they look up close.

 

Okay, I think maybe M&A may have influenced this thread as well.  Maybe either the white dress or the red one, but I'm not totally convinced I'm covetous about them :)

No, but my mouth is watering at the thought

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In my dreams, Suzanne Farrell's dress from the last scene in Vienna Waltzes - the ultimate balldress; for more everyday wear, I rather fancy the Hostess's dress from Les Biches - might need to pop a little cardie over it though, at my age. And the pearls as well, please.

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