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The story of the tutu: ballet's signature costume has a fabled past and a glamorous present.

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Fashion may be fickle, but tutu chic is bigger than ever these days. While singing star Bjork caused a sensation draped in a white tulle dress with a swan's head wrapped around her neck at the Academy Awards in 2001, French designer Christian Lacroix continues to churn out haute couture balletic frocks of organza and tulle (matching ballet flats are also de rigueur). And some may recall the astonishing sum of $94,800 that a collector paid for the Leslie Hurry-designed tutu Margot Fonteyn wore in Swan Lake.

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Indeed, the tutu has a storied past. With a name probably derived from the French children's word "tu-tu"--meaning "bottom"--the costume is a product of evolution that made its debut in 1832, an instant classic, so to speak, that's been swathed in magic ever since. Marie Taglioni, performing on pointe (also a novel development then) and wearing a costume sometimes credited to Eugene Lami, danced the title role in the Paris Opera Ballet's production of her father Filippo's La Sylphide.

Mesmerizing audiences in what was later dubbed a Romantic tutu, Taglioni's costume consisted of a tight-fitting bodice that left the neck and shoulders bare, and a diaphanous, bell-shaped skirt. Falling halfway between the knees and ankles, it was made of layers of stiffened tarlatan, or highly starched, sheer cotton muslin that gave the illusion of fullness without being weighty. Voila! A new tradition-and fashion...

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