A tutu is a dress worn as a costume in a classical ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It may be made of tarlatan, muslin, silk, tulle, gauze, or nylon. Modern tutus have two basic types: the Romantic tutu is soft and bell-shaped, reaching the calf or ankle; the Classical tutu is short and stiff, projecting horizontally from the waist and hip. Etymology The word tutu can refer to only the skirt part of the costume. The bodice and tutu make up what is usually the entire costume, but which is called the tutu (by synecdoche, wherein the part – the skirt – can embody the whole). The derivation of the word tutu is unknown. The word was not recorded anywhere until 1881. One theory is that it is simply derived from the word tulle (one of the materials from which it is made). A second theory is that the word comes from the slang of French children that refers to the buttocks (cul). During that era, the abonnés (rich male subscribers at the Paris Opera Ballet) were accustomed to mix with the ballet girls in the foyer and arrange assignations. It is suggested the expression came from the abonnés playfully patting the back of the tulle dress with the saying pan-pan cucul (French for I'll spank your bottom). A third, related theory suggests a derivation from the more vulgar French word cul (which can be used to refer to the bottom or genital area). During this era, women (including dancers) wore pantalettes as underwear, which were open at the crotch. The abonnés favoured the very front rows in the hope of a scandalous view, and the skirt was modified for that reason. This is supported by the description by nineteenth-century balletomane, Charles Nuitter, who defined tutu as "a slang term for the very short petticoat worn by danseuses in the interest of modesty." History Marie Taglioni (1829) is believed to be the first person to sport the tutu, but the first designs of tutus actually originated two years before Taglioni performed on stage. Hippolyte Lecomte designed the basic silhouette of the Romantic tutu for Pauline Montessu in La Somnambule (1827); Taglioni’s Sylphide costume’s designs were not actually found. Ivor Guest points out the costume is very similar to what ballerinas would wear in class. The part of Creuse in Noverre’s ballet Jason et Medée was danced by Mlle Guimard