To Our Customers,

We have been thinking about how to “GROW” this little company. You will see that we are going to offer tutu bags in really cool colors, and maybe later we will add some dance skirts that are made just for you. We know that we can add romantic and classical “practice” tutus that are made just like our other tutu bottoms, and we are trying to expand our rental line as fast as we can sew to make beautiful costumes available to those dancers who want to dance in a wonderful costume but can’t buy one at this time. We are looking at a pre-professional line of tutus. They will be made just like our custom tutus.  They will be “made to last” without shortcuts, but they will be offered in standard sizes and in solid colors so that you can then decorate them yourself. This will give you the option to have a really nice tutu, one you will be proud to wear, and you will be the “designer” and “artist.”  We are thinking of ways to help you with this project. These tutus will be affordable, but they will not be cheap. We just think that a “cheap” line is incompatible with our heritage as a company that is known for making high-quality costumes. We need to keep everything in line with the vision that has led us to this point in time. We think to do less would be hazardous to our health, and really, it is not what we are about. 

We do this because we love it.  We love ballet and our customers are our friends. We know that you can choose another company who is in business to sell huge volume, but we have built Tutus Divine on Quality, Reliability, and Durability. We expect our costumes to last for you, our customers, for a long time. We know that we are not “cheap,” any more than a Viking Range is cheap. The value of our product isn’t in the price; it’s in the performance - that’s the Tutus Divine difference. We have seen the other websites and know that there are some companies who will sell you cheap tutus or tunics all day long. Mind you, some of these companies are out of this country, so you are not buying anything you can feel or touch beforehand, or talking to anyone you will ever meet. We know that at these companies you can buy two or three costumes for the cost of a Tutus Divine creation. 

If you know or care nothing about costumes, and if you only want to wear it once or twice and throw it away, then a tutu or costume built to last years is irrelevant. At $200.00 to $400.00, these costumes are cheap enough to be disposable. Use one for a season or two, and if it falls apart and you can’t use it again, throw it out and buy it again - same price...same costume. But that kind of pricing changes not just the economics at the low end of the costume market, it changes expectations of customers throughout the market. Why would you spend $1200.00 to $3000.00 for a one-of-a-kind, made-to-order, just-for-you costume made with materials and care to last years from Tutus Divine? Or pay even more to get the professional work from a famous house from New York whose prices start at $5000.00 and more? What could it possibly have to justify spending more money? Well, that is the question that motivates us at Tutus Divine, and I would guess it is what keeps the designers and artists that work in New York and Europe going. And it is what keeps us from making the cheap tutu. We try to look into the future of supplying these creations to our customers, and we see a black hole of lower and lower prices, collapsing profits, even more offshore manufacturing, and the gradual corrosion of the qualities for which we looked for when we started looking for costumes when we started this business. We looked into the future and saw more ugly tutus, and you already have too many of those to choose from. 

There are a few things going for us. We have wonderful customers, we have made some great friends in this small industry, and I think that we have the courage to take an unblinking view of where we would be going if we tried to compromise with a cheap, mass-produced costume product. We know that we will never be able to compete with big companies on a global market. We are not deluded about our ability to beat these other companies at their own game, so we will play our own game. We have a belief in the value of our product, the dynamics of this business we are learning as we go, and we have wonderful customers. We believe in the quality of a well-made product, service to our customers, and having a relationship to our market. We may stumble at times, but we will get up, brush off, and start a new day. 

We are part of the audience who sit in eager anticipation for the lights to go down, the music to start, the curtain to go up, and the dance to begin! We believe that we are a vital part of the creative process that goes into the production. In his book “The Stage Costume Sourcebook,” Jack Cassin-Scott said,     

A stage production is an entity created by the collective efforts of many individuals. The artistic director, ballet masters, the board members raising funds, choreographers, set designers, the people who make the music, the lighting expert, the sound man, the writer and those marvelous creatures who give their heart and soul - the dancers, and the costumiers! We all contribute within our individual art and craftsmanship and talents to the joint interpretation of the work being performed.

He goes on the say,

Without any one of the pieces of this puzzle of different skills that make up the production will be less complete and the members of the audience who do after all make it all possible, will be cheated of the experience they have paid to see. They may not know exactly what is missing but their enjoyment will be lessened, and the efforts of everyone else is diminished.

I saw a badly costumed Swan Lake once upon a time, and the tutus had not been tacked down, so the corp all looked like ducks. Why was something so simple left undone? So when that curtain goes up, Elizabeth and I believe that a great deal of the success or failure depends on if we have done our job with the correct costumes. We are part of a team, and from the moment we talk to a customer it becomes a collaboration. They are not just ordering from a book, we are talking to them, asking what they want in THEIR  costume for their performance. It’s fun to get the call, and then as you talk you get a picture in your head and you work with that person or company to help realize that vision. The doing is the fun part. And if all goes well, the satisfaction is wonderful for us all. We hope to help inspire, to help achieve a moment of magic for both the dancer and the audience. We, through the costumes, help tell the story to interpret a dance; the costumes are just a tool that should help the dancer express the essence of the part. After we ship a costume, we wait for the call or e-mail telling us that it has arrived. We wait to hear the excitement from the dancer who is going to wear the costume. They, the dancer will bring the character, idea, or feel of the dance to life, and we have just tried to give them something that will help them do their job better. We so want each customer to feel secure in their choice; we want that costume to be perfect for what they are doing. Each job is different, just as each customer has unique needs. If we can help these dancers with their roles, than we are doing our job, and we are happy people. We know that our costumes don’t bring anything to life. In our sewing rooms, on the dress forms, they are stiff and lifeless; it is that dancer who works so very hard every day who will breathe life into that role. We just hope that our costumes will be an extension of the dancer’s art, as they set up the emotional tensions and bring life into their role. These people are so amazing to us. They work so hard every day, and they don’t do it for fame, glory or money. They do it for the love of the art. These people go onstage and put themselves in front of an audience, and they need to be confident and as well-supported as they can be. If that dancer feels secure and confident, than he or she can go out and give a confident performance. If she doesn’t feel secure, she is still expected to deliver, but I don’t think either she or the audience will enjoy the performance. It does not matter how anyone feels. It is a fresh audience every night, the tickets are expensive, and every person sitting in that room expects to see a performance like it was opening night. We all want the magic and the poetry. We paid to see it, we got in our car and made the trip into town to make it into the theater, and we expect the very best. You cannot underestimate an audience. You always have to remember that they help pay the bills. It would be no fun dancing to an empty house. The audience makes it possible for us to do what we do. They make it possible for me to make the world a better place. Without the audience where would you be? I often wonder if it’s the glitz and glitter of the Hollywood world that has tarnished and cheapened our dance world. The flash and trash, movies that move too fast with no message and no beauty. Has anyone noticed that it is getting harder and harder for a bridal/lace and fine fabric store to stay in business? People think that we make a lot of money because our costumes are considered expensive, yet if you go to a ice show people will pay hundreds of dollars for the things they are selling that will be broken by morning. I took a Couture sewing class this summer and met some of the most gifted women. They make and sell wedding dresses and fine fashions, and they charge a bundle. The people they serve know the value of the products they buy. If you have a child in sports or cheerleading, I can tell you that you are spending a ton on outfits and stuff. And if the team from your town makes it into any kind of playoff, people will pay almost anything to get tickets to THAT game. Yet ask the city, state or a local school if they want to go see a ballet, an art form that has been around for hundreds of years, and the kids and many parents will howl. We live in a throwaway society, but what is happening to the heart and soul of us while we watch another bachelor try to find love? So we will try to keep our little business going, we will support our ballet companies, and we will pay the price of a ticket for the good of an art form that we need to keep alive. It’s about magic. So if I support the art, I expect and want the best back from the ballet world, and I don’t want ugly tutus. Give me your best, and I’ll keep working at my sewing machine. When you have to buy retail, pay each month to keep your web site going, pay to be able to take credit cards, and pay to use the best products that you can find....

My husband often wonders when it’s a hobby or a business....Who knows??? I just read last week that Evlyn Hart had retired after a last performance in Europe. It made me stop and think for a moment about the three times that I had had the privilege to see her dance. They don’t make true artists like her too many times. The ones who can make you cry and hold your breath.

Paula Drake