As a former dancer I am always inspired by the ballet. The beautiful music, the opulent costumes, and the elegant atmosphere takes me to another world. I feel this way whether I’m dancing or a member of the audience. In fact, what I love most about Mercedes Benz Fashion Week being held at Lincoln Center is that it is right next to the New York City Ballet. Walking to the tents and imagining what rehearsals are taking place and the costume archive that are behind the marble walls, exhilarates me!
If you are a former dancer, a current dancer, or just appreciate the art of dance you will truly appreciate what is in store for you in this very post. Vogue Magazine sent their subscribers a digital bundle of artwork featuring covers, advertisements, articles, photographs, and illustrations in their original context from their archive; all surrounding Ballet! After all, dance, costuming, and theater are all a very big art form that has inspired many of our favorite fashion trends across many platforms and decades.
Fashion’s fascination with dance is ongoing: Witness the current trend for ballerina top-knots and flat ballet skimmers. Vogue has long covered the art from every angle: snapping leg-warmered dancers at the barre; capturing princess-like prima donnas in twinkling tiaras and pastel tutus on the stage—and in mid-air; following ballet-inspired fashions from the studio onto the street and into chic closets. Offered here, in celebration, dancers and dance-inspired looks that have pirouetted through the pages of Vogue.
So let’s take a leap into the archive of Vogue’s best Ballet Features here:
David Hallberg, Coco Rocha, Daria Strokous, Frida Gustavsson, Tilda Lindstam, and Fei Fei Sun
Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, April 2013
Rachel Tecora Tucker
Photographed by Michel Comte, Vogue, September 1998
Left, left to right: Muriel Bentley, Alicia Alonso, Antony Tudor, Oliver Smith, Hugh Laing
Right, left to right: Dimitri Romanoff, Lucia Chase, Nora Kaye, Max Goberman, John Kriza, Igor Youskevitch
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, June 1, 1948
Altynai Asylmuratova (left)
Photo: (from left) Irving Penn, Vogue, July 1989; Bruce Weber, Vogue, September 1998
Maya Plisetskaya
Photographed by Albert E. Kahn, Vogue, September 15, 1962
Gisele Bündchen
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, September 2004
Rudolf Nureyev
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, October 1, 1961
From left: Nora Kaye and Eugenie Leontovich
Illustration by René Bouché, Vogue, August 1, 1956 (left); Photographed by Edward Steichen, Vogue, January 15, 1931 (right)
Trent Kowalik and Caroline Trentini
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, September 2008
Clockwise from top left: Alexandra Danilova and Frederic Franklin, Igor Youskevitch, Marie-Jeanne, Rosella Hightower, Léonide Massine; George Skibine, Maria Tallchief, Yurek Shabelevski
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, October 1, 1946
Riccardo Tisci and Rooney Mara
Photographed by Norman Jean Roy, Vogue, September 2012
Photographed by Richard Rutledge, Vogue, September 1, 1946 (left); Illustration by Marcel Vertès,Vogue, December 15, 1944
Dwana Smallwood and Amos J. Machanic, Jr.
Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, April 2007
Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief
Photographed by Constantin Joffe, Vogue, April 15, 1950
Edward Villella and Allegra Kent
Photographed by Bert Stern, Vogue, August 15, 1963
Shalom Harlow
With dancers from Matthew Bourne’s production of Swan Lake.
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, December 1998
Illustration by Christian Bérard, Vogue, October 1, 1936
Irina Baronova (right)
Photo: (from left) Anton Bruehl, Vogue, September 1, 1937; Cecil Beaton, Vogue, October 15, 1935
Geraldine Chaplin
Photographed by Sharak Hatami, Vogue, February 1, 1964
Allegra Kent
Photo: (from left) Bert Stern, Vogue, July 1, 1963; Bert Stern, Vogue, May 1, 1971
Alicia Markova
Photographed by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, October 15, 1941
Mimi Paul
Photographed by Cecil Beaton, Vogue, January 15, 1966
Photographed by Duane Michal, Vogue, December 1, 1972
Now go put your hair in a top knot & slid on your flats and tour jete around your house!
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BALLET MEMOIRS? HAVE A FAVORITE BALLET? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH ME!
Happy Holiday, All!!
xoxo Dara Senders – TheStyleSenders
All Photos Courtesy of The Vogue Magazine Archive.