It all started when I was little. Like any young girl in Surrey I was whisked into obligatory ballet classes with tiny little ballet shoes with nude elastic (I always longed for ribbons) and a steely determination to be a prima ballerina. Of course all I remember is a lot of pink and holding hands with fellow little ones whilst we almost galloped around...perhaps this was the first sign that whilst ballet is a significant first love of the stereotypical girl in suburbia, ponies were to become an even greater one.
I can't remember how long I continued the classes but it was pretty clear I wasn't born to be the next Margot Fonteyn. But two thing kept my ballet interest alive.
The first was my mother taking me to a London gallery and seeing Degas' bronze ballerina sculpture. I thought she was the best thing in the whole damn place and I kept the gift shop post card of my new idol for years.
Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (1880-1881)
Degas
The second was the introduction of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes. I devoured the book over and over. This was the exact cover, part of a series of Penguin classics with different coloured jackets and like any little bookworm who was destined to read less and shop more, I kept this collection of stories meticulously colour coordinated.
Ballet Shoes
Noel Streatfeild
Nowadays, the ballet makes me yearn to don a full, snow white skirt and tiara, and twirl as if my life depended on it. After years of never shedding a tear at a film, seeing Swan Lake has made me weep like a baby - the music, the effortless movement, the copious use of glitter.
The beauty
Valentino Spring Summer 2012
To bring ballerina style into every day life, try a halo braid by wrapping plaits round the head and pinning. Allow some pretty wisps of hair to escape, as if you've done one too many pirouettes.
It shouldn't look too perfect.
Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2012
Skin should be fresh, silk soft and peachy, like the satin of ballet shoes.
Add highlighter and gloss on cheekbones and lips to gleam and glow.
the pic of the worn-in ballet shoes is divine. i've always wished to be a ballerina too! in my next life. no black swan shout-out?
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