Cigarette in hand, lip gloss shining and leg warmers rolled up, balletcore is gaining traction. This hyperfeminine aesthetic attains both comfort and style, giving an unmatched elegance only found in ballerinas. Anticipated to be 2022’s most popular athleisure wear, balletcore has already acquired a massive following, particularly on TikTok and Pinterest. Lily Rose Depp, alongside Natalie Portman in 2010’s Swan Lake, seem to be the it girls of this trend, as well as ballet dancers themselves being examined for inspiration.

“[balletcore] has provided an unparalleled transition back into ‘real’ clothing, allowing us to feel dressed up, without feeling dressed up”

Ballet influencing the fashion industry is not a new development. With Marilyn Monroe’s iconic tulle dress, and designers such as Vivienne Westwood embracing the ballet pump, there is a long history of the intersection between ballet and fashion. Balletcore is taken from a slightly different aspect of this trend, where inspiration is drawn from casual rehearsal wear. The staples of balletcore are wrap tops, leotards, turtle necks and flared leggings; a crossroad between athleisure and coquette.

After two years of a pandemic, society is done with joggers and jumpers, which saw a surge in sales at the start of the global spread of COVID-19. No more are the days wasted away at home. We have a need to get dressed, perhaps even overdressed. Balletcore provides a healthy medium. Achieving both the pursuit of comfort and an additional layer of style has provided an unparalleled transition back into ‘real’ clothing, allowing us to feel dressed up, without feeling dressed up.

“The poster ballet girl is an ingénue, with girlhood and innocence being a prime factor in achieving the aesthetic”

Numerous fashion brands have caught up with the balletcore trend. Zara has jumped on the bandwagon for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2022 season, collaborating with New York City Ballet to develop a new image, perhaps in an attempt to move away from its fast-fashion reputation. The collection consists of staples such as bodysuits, as well as pieces utilising materials common to ballet such as lace, tulle and mesh. Gucci’s new ballet flats are also increasingly all over social media, with a surge in popularity of the classic 2010 shoe. Additionally, Miu Miu’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection features key balletcore elements such as the ballet flat and leg warmers.

It is no revelation that this trend is bound to resurface issues of inclusivity which have been battled in ballet for centuries. The poster ballet girl is an ingénue, with girlhood and innocence being a prime factor in achieving the aesthetic. She’s thin and delicate with the rich, white and young desperate to embody her. Just like the Lolita aesthetic, balletcore risks the fetishisation of young girls and perpetuates the dangerous consequences of women exhibiting pre-pubescent characteristics. Balletcore also risks the romanticisation of mental illness, as seen with the 2014 Tumblr-sad-girl aesthetic. Eating disorders in particular have always been at the forefront of ballet, with light being shed on the criminally high rates prevalent in this community. This has trickled into balletcore and videos exposing restrictive diets and excessive exercise have been circulating TikTok since the rise of this trend. Although there is no racial guideline for participating in the balletcore trend, I struggled to find anything other than the Eurocentric archetype as I scrolled through Pinterest. More than the clothing, it is the type of girl associated with balletcore that isolates a lot of people. The exclusivity is her making and her downfall.

Balletcore gives an alternative to the streetwear style that has dominated loungewear in the past decade. Giving us a chance to embrace femininity and live out our dreams of becoming prima ballerinas, it is a seemingly harmless trend. Nonetheless, the list of problems associated with balletcore is more than enough to elicit concern. It is vital to dissociate the clothing from the potentially toxic mindset that may accompany it. With trend cycles getting shorter and shorter, it is hard to say whether balletcore will escalate into a considerable trend in 2022 or whether we should save our money and closet space for the next craze. Either way, I pray this trend starts and ends with ballet pumps and wrap tops and foregoes the potential damage associated with the ballerina ideal.