Top bird loves: ballet prints

I’ve always been a ballet girl so the flurry of pirouettes, pliés and pointe shoes on the catwalks recently piqued my interest.

Whilst ballerina-style isn’t anything new on the runway, ballet graphics took centre stage this season.

Take Matthew Williamson, for instance, and the graphic ballerina print at his pre-Fall 2008 show in New York. His inspiration? Diaghilev’s revolutionary Ballet Russes and La Bayadère (The Temple Dancer).


Then came Australian designer Marnie Skillings, and the dreamy painterly ballerinas leaping across her aw2008 dresses.


Meanwhile on the high street, Britain’s Queen of Prints Cath Kidston released her Spring 2008 line-up, showcasing a delightful ‘50s-style ballerina print for children.



Ballerina pencil case, £8.00; Ballerina mini bag, £6.00; Ballerina mini cushion, £6.00, all from Cath Kidston.

All these nostaglic ballet references sent me hunting on Etsy for those awesome kitsch plastic ballerina decorations that were the stuff of eight-year-old's birthday cake dreams.


Giant ballerina cake toppers, US$6.75 for a set of three, from A. Bel. Emporium’s Etsy shop and Pink ballerina cupcake toppers, US$4 for a set of six, from Sweet Poppy’s Etsy shop.

Images courtesy of Style.com, Marnie Skillings, and Cath Kidston.