Ballet: fashion's new fixation

Ballet: fashion's new fixation

It takes over 10,000 classroom hours to make a professional ballet dancer, but Fashion hasn't let that fact deter her from pursuing all things Swan Lake of late. From ballet-inspired workouts to full, ballerina-length skirts, slicked-back buns and good posture, describing something - anything - as "balletic" now guarantees Vogue points.

Cynicism aside, the ballet-cardio hybrid workouts currently gripping the industry are surprisingly effective. Across the pond, Ballet Beautiful, the ballet-inspired regimen dreamt up by the former New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers, has a cult following. Otherwise known as the woman who got Natalie Portman into Oscar-winning shape for the 2011 film Black Swan, Bowers has a line of DVDs, online training videos, and Skype sessions for those unable to schlep to her SoHo studio. Lauren Santo Domingo, the waspishly glamorous co-founder of luxury online retailer Moda Operandi, swears by her classes: "It's basically stretching but we wear ballet clothes. It's more reserved than SoulCycle [the spinning fitness craze] and you can do it whenever, wherever."

Photo: red formal dresses

Alexa Chung is also a fan, confiding that she chose ballet-inspired fitness "for the outfits", and frequently being snapped post-class with a pair of ballet shoes slung around her neck. It's no surprise that Bowers has maximised the sartorial potential of her repertoire by bringing out a line of clothing. Net-A-Sporter, the sportswear arm of Net-A-Porter, reports they've had to reorder her line three times since July, with the knitted pink wrap-around cardigan (£145) proving among the most popular items.

Back to the actual exercise: if DVD workouts are leaving you cold (although who could find fault with a fitness video set to Mozart?) head to Barrecore. With four outposts in London and one in Manchester, classes comprise a tough cardiovascular, barre-based workout. "With most forms of exercise there is a plateau period, but we work the body isometrically, creating a hormone response that improves fat loss over the four days following a class," says Barrecore founder Niki Rein. It's sweatier than Ballet Beautiful, and butt-clenchingly expensive - £28 per class, or £6 per online video - but promises quick results.

With a longer, leaner body comes a shift in proportions. Ballerina skirts were everywhere at the British Fashion Awards in early December (NB, that's a skirt that hits just above the ankles, not a taffeta tutu) with the aforementioned Chung as its biggest proponent. She was wearing an ankle-grazing silver dress from Emilia Wickstead's spring/summer 2015 collection.

Alexa Chung in a Wickstead ballerina-length skirt at the British Fashion Awards in December; Wickstead in her London atelier; Chung in another Wickstead number. Photo: REX/Clara Molden

Ballerina skirts have been a Wickstead signature for quite some time. "I think they elongate the body worn with high heels and are incredibly flattering when high-waisted," says the New Zealand-born, London-based designer. "To make it a little more casual, I like to pair these skirts with tucked-in turtlenecks, cropped fitted jackets, or a t-shirt." On the high street, Whistles, LK Bennett, Topshop and ASOS have some good offerings - although the latter is calling theirs a "midaxi" skirt, just to further muddy matters.

Even the Queen has succumbed to the ballet bug - sort of. Her favourite shade of Essie nail polish is said to be Ballet Slippers (£7.99, boots.) and Bobbi Brown is getting in on the act with a new pink "Ballet" shade of creamy-soft powder eyeshadow it's calling "glitter for grown-ups".

Meanwhile, Penhaligon's has partnered with the English National Ballet to "bottle the scent of ballet" with Iris Prima (£120, penhaligons.) - so even if the thought ofport de bras and demi-pliés leaves you feeling tired, you can still smell like a Sugar Plum Fairy.

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