Comments | little_details: Royal Ballet School Lower School Uniform, 1960's

childthursday in little_details

Royal Ballet School Lower School Uniform, 1960's

Jun 20, 2010 13:34

Hi! I have a character who is a student at the Royal Ballet School (England) in the 1960's. She's eleven, it's her first year. I am looking for information on what colors her uniform - both for dance and academic classes - would have been ( Read more... )

uk: education, ~arts: ballet, 1960-1969, ~clothing

Comments 20

wabbitseason June 20 2010, 23:31:39 UTC

There's a children's book called Life at the Royal Ballet School by Camilla Jessel. That was published in 1985, but it might have some older photos/information.

childthursday June 20 2010, 23:55:29 UTC

Ordered! Thank you, very helpful.

clanwilliam June 20 2010, 23:49:51 UTC

a) The Royal Ballet School might well be able to help you. They tend to have a good section and in my dealings with the Royal Ballet they've been very helpful. Also try contacting Dancing Times, who at the very least might be able point you in the right direction ( ... )

clanwilliam June 20 2010, 23:52:15 UTC

Also, Min has a website: http://www.myballetcareer.co.uk/ - from the dates, I think it's the same Min as your photo. She might well be able to help!

childthursday June 21 2010, 00:17:31 UTC

I did get the photos from there. I e-mailed her with no response yet, but I'm hopeful!

childthursday June 21 2010, 00:16:43 UTC

Awesome! This is very helpful.

I'll give e-mailing the school a try. Other boarding schools have either been nonresponsive or told me they have rather Byzantine processes for getting information, so I've been reluctant.

Good notes on rationing, which would help explain why the uniform was a cardigan and not a blazer (yarn and knitted goods used less coupons than woolen cloth and clothing.) White with colored accessories would also make a lot of sense...white takes washing so much better than colors.

I had the impression for summer dresses that they were often striped or checked, but these looked solid to me. Red trim makes sense.

I've been re-reading Ballet Shoes, and some of the other books; I didn't know about Apple Bough so I'll look that one up, too. I always wondered if the "ballet tunics" mentioned in the books were any different from leotards - my mother wore a leotard for dance in the 60's, but in America - I never saw a picture till I found this ( ... )

Thread 10

janenx01 June 21 2010, 00:24:10 UTC

I wish my name was Bramble.

childthursday June 21 2010, 01:26:40 UTC

I have been wondering if that was his real name, or some school nickname!

dorianegray June 21 2010, 06:21:32 UTC

In Rumer Godden's "Thursday's Children", which is set in the 1960s, the uniform is described as
"...a green skirt and cardigan, white blouses, a green red-lined cloak, [...] also leotards, white knitted cross-overs, quantities of white socks..."
and
"the boys wore blue tracksuits, the girls scarlet"

Uniform dorianegray September 8 2010, 09:26:35 UTC

I went to White Lodge in 1970, the uniform then was a green skirt and cardigan and a light blueish blouse. We also had a green blazer, a beret and cape to go over the blazer. We also had a "special" suit for going out!! This was also green. The ballet uniform was a white tunic (in leotard type material) that we had to tuck in to our knickers at the front. We had different coloured belts and hairbands for each year.
I know someone who was there in the 60s and I can ask her if you'd like me to?
Hope that helps!

Re: Uniform dorianegray December 3 2010, 01:05:36 UTC

I used to know somebody who attended the Royal Ballet White Lodge in the sixties and I think she said her uniform was green. Her name was Janice Cox - she had an elder sister called Wendy, also a dancer - and she and her sister were from Brighton Sussex. A very talented dancer who a lot of people thought would have a glittering career but I don't know what happened to her apart from the fact that she joined the Saltzberg Ballet Company. Would your friend know her?

Re: Uniform dorianegray June 14 2011, 12:57:14 UTC

Hallo Anonym
I know Janice Cox. Contact me at r.tausch@tsn.at and with Janice's permission I can fill you in on her career. With best wishes. Anne

Thread 5

Royal ballet school lower school uniform 1960 anonymous May 31 2015, 11:29:17 UTC

I am looking for information on the white ballet tunics in the photo. I need to make one this week for a Royal Academy of Dance Gala. I am hoping for info on what they were made from, how the belts were held together to name a few. I'm not brilliant with the Internet and have been trying to find info , pictures and the person who has asked me to make the tunic has been trying to gather info for months with no success.
Any info would be wonderful. Thanks