Balletcore is back, and this time it’s more Black Swan than Sugar Plum Fairy. You may remember the term popping up on your TikTok FYP around 2022 with hyper-curated looks of frothy, pale pink tulle. It was almost a hybrid of the “coquette” and the “clean girl” aesthetics, sharing all of the latter’s complicated connotations. The most notable difference this time around is that the trend is being spearheaded by actual dancers; it feels more real, as if accompanied by sweat and tears rather than a matcha latte.
As with many fashion moments, multiple seeds need to be planted in the collective consciousness for it to take off, and the resurgence of balletcore is no different. The first thing that caught my eye was classically trained ballerina-turned-pop star Adéla Jergova, who made sure nobody forgot her name whilst opening for Demi Lovato and Tate McCrae on tour. Her dominant pop performances, from the choreography to the looks, are that particular strain of coming-of-age hyper-sexuality that takes me back to the days of Christina Aguilera. Her USP is the intensive ballet training evident in her sets. And then there’s the fashion. Her looks are black and daring, but her hair is ironically pink, a colour we associate with the ultra-feminine prima-ballerina image, yet somehow, when it colours hair, it’s rooted in punk rebellion.
Journalist Liana Satenstein went online at the top of the year and made her case for a return to grey, cotton workout wear that shows sweat rather than is designed to hide it. The video references a piece she wrote before the explosion of athleisure and pristine workout sets that hide all evidence of perspiration, instead harkening back to the glory days of ’80s workout gear.
I also observed a lot of fashion press taking notice of Patricia Zhou, who is currently dancing in Cats in the West End. In our video interview that accompanies her Best Wardrobes in Britain story from August 2025, Zhou shows her incredible wardrobe, with dynamic looks and so many interesting nods to femininity. A standout look is a pink feathered dress with a bow, paired with black leather Miista boots. Zhou is not bound to the ballerina “look”, but she can acknowledge it in outfits where softness sits comfortably with tougher pieces.
On Instagram, she shares videos in the dance studio, dressed in a sleek black vest and capris with pink pointe shoes and a fiery red pixie cut. The whole image reminds me of Edie Sedgwick. Known for being an It girl and “superstar” at Andy Warhol’s Factory, Sedgwick started many trends in the ’60s with her silver cropped hair and heavy eye makeup. Her signature look came from her ballet training: she would walk around New York in black tights, a black leotard and a little T shirt or jumper on top. The trend was born purely because she couldn’t be bothered to change her clothes.
Meanwhile, a post by content creator and founder of Violet Papers, Lara Violetta, piqued my interest, revealing her “perfect” outfit formula for her Pilates class, which deviated from the contrived, chronically online image in your head: a nude-illusion leotard from Bloch paired with a visible Agent Provocateur bra (hot pink with blue bows): very chic. For the outer layer she had thrown on an off-shoulder Rick Owens jumper with a slightly sheer knit and a coveted Matthieu Blazy Chanel bag. My own ballet-class look of choice is often centred around a black leotard and sheer blue tights. I feel like having advanced-level style compensates for my beginner-level skill.
Fashion’s fascination with ballet’s history has remained constant. What changes is how overt the references are. “Ballet flats and tutus drop in and out of the trend cycle, but designers have never stopped looking to ballet for inspiration,” says online ballet archivist, Cheyenne Postigo. But to bring it closer to the present day, Marc Jacobs spring/summer 2027 collection nods to dancewear, with its layers upon layers and jumpsuits with contrasting high-cut leotards sewn on. Unlike Ferragamo’s spring/summer 2025 ballerinas, which were still muted in tones even if they had a realness of their own through the mix-and-match styling, Marc Jacobs’ girls were in saturated jewel tones that trade blending in for centre stage.
There are plenty of moments that have led to this evolution of balletcore, but I believe the most important piece of the puzzle is Madonna. Confessions II, the long overdue follow-up to her 2005 masterpiece, Confessions on a Dance Floor, is transporting us back to the Capezio-clad, Farrah Fawcett-haired music video for hit single “Hung Up”, in which she ran riot around a dance studio in the now-famous fuchsia leopard-print and nude tights cut off at the knee.
Madonna also has everyone reminiscing over Frida Giannini’s cropped leather jackets from her time at Gucci that were worn in the single’s music video and throughout her tour, but that’s a story for another day. Last month, Madonna turned the cover of Vogue Italia pink and committed to the bit for the press run of the album. She lies on the cover, legs stretched and wrapped in kneepads that lay over brown fishnets. Is she in a full baby-pink look? Absolutely, but her leotard is tightened with a corset, and she’s wearing her signature fingerless gloves (also pink). It’s womanly and soft, but you don’t know if her next move will be a tendu or a haymaker—it has grit.
Rosalía leapt into the ballet aesthetic for her LUX tour, but she too opted for a less prim-and-proper image of a ballerina with her tattered tutus and dishevelled hair. A personal favourite was a custom look by Yasmina Atta, in which she donned a bare face, styled by Joe Carayol. Here, Rosalía didn’t just take on the style; she spent months training to dance in pointe shoes with Belarusian prima ballerina Tatiana Yerakhavets. During the tour, the singer also wore those Christian Louboutin pointe heels. Wearing high heels might be the closest a non-dancer can get to the pain of being en pointe, as though the fashion almost wasn’t enough; she had to chase the grit. Professional Dancer, Madeline Woo launched her clothing line Maddwoo Studios in 2025 with the intention to prove that ‘rigorous tradition and radical self-expression can co-exist’. Madeline’s own look is atypical in the ballet world: Her extremely long black hair (often worn down while dancing) and tattoos stand out, and paired with her immense talent lead to work with brands like Coach and the launch of the Crocs x Simone Rocha collab.
True to life, ballet as an art form comes with rigorous, painful training that often causes lifelong injuries. You may see that not-a-hair-out-of-place, soft-pink-ensemble look at a show, but in reality, it’s all haphazard layering, mixing sheers and stretch jerseys in different colours. It’s a balance of soft and hard. As the curtain rises on deceptive aesthetics and the ache for the dishevelled human touch grows stronger, it’s no surprise the trend is back for a more honest encore.
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