On a crisp October morning, the staff of the New York City Ballet Costume Shop was hard at work on the monumental task that consumes them for two and a half months each fall—readying more than 150 costumes for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. The 18-member team, including drapers, stitchers, a cutter, a dyer, and a fabric shopper, among others, is accustomed to tackling myriad assignments, from transforming designs into stage-ready costumes, to recreating costumes for ballets not seen in years, to fitting a custom-made tutu on a dancer stepping in a new role.

But The Nutcracker is unlike any other ballet. Not only does it have an exceptionally large cast, it showcases a breathtaking array of spectacular stage garments designed, more than 60 years ago, to impart and amplify each facet of the ballet’s magical story. “With The Nutcracker, you’re diving into real storytelling,” says NYCB Director of Costumes Marc Happel, during a chat in the shop’s fabric-filled studio overlooking the Hudson River. “When that curtain goes up, you want to transport your audience through those costumes to the 19th century, to a different world."

The Nutcracker’s inimitable costumes were devised by Barbara Karinska (1886-1983), known professionally as Karinska, the virtuoso costume designer of whom Balanchine once said, “There is Shakespeare for literature and Karinska for costumes.” Born in Ukraine, she began designing costumes in Paris, where she met Balanchine while working for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1939, she moved to the U.S., and extended her creativity to theater productions, operas, the Ice Capades, and films (she won one of the first Academy Awards for costume design, for her Joan of Arc costumes in 1948). In 1949, she designed the glamorous costumes for Bourrée Fantasque, her first job for NYCB. Sharing an aesthetic kinship with Balanchine, she went on to create iconic costumes for more than 75 ballets and become the NYCB costume shop’s first director.

Happel attributes the brilliance of Karinska’s Nutcracker creations to their “incredible variety” and their ability to guide audiences from the reality of the opening scenes—“the little girls’ party dresses were based on real dresses from that period”—to the fantastical human-sized mice and the second act’s wondrous “candy box of design,” as he describes it. “I think even adults sit back a bit in awe of the amount of design and creativity on the stage."

The Nutcracker costumes audiences see today are meticulous recreations of Karinska’s original designs, reconstructed from her sketches and “the bible,” a catalog of swatches and trims from each piece. Ballet costumes experience requisite wear and tear, and each year, Happel, with his wardrobe staff, decide which pieces to refresh or replace. Research sometimes creates unexpected opportunities. After finding an early photograph of Columbine, the life-size, wind-up doll Drosselmeier brings to the party, for example, Happel realized that the costume’s color had lost its vibrancy and it was restored to a more authentic hue.

Karinska’s remarkable originality and inventiveness lend dimension to what the audience sees onstage. For example, “I think most people walk out thinking the romantic tutus the Snowflakes wear are pale blue,” says Happel. In fact, the ethereal skirts are constructed from five layers of tulle—flesh tone, pale pink, pale blue, more pink, and an overlay of blue—arranged to impart a rich depth of color. “She was a magician at that.”

Known for adding charming details audiences rarely see, Karinska adorned the Hot Chocolate bodices with bespoke brooches—an image of Balanchine for the Principal and a likeness of NYCB co-founder Lincoln Kirstein for the Corps women. 

And Karinska was often ahead of her time, Happel observes, citing the witty elements of corsetry on display in the boned bodices worn by Dewdrop and the Marzipan Shepherdesses. “She did that decades before Jean Paul Gaultier and Madonna decided corsets would work on the outside,” he says.

After 20 years of running the shop, Happel remains energized by how beloved and integral the production remains to New York City’s holiday season. And every year, when young performers see themselves in costume for the first time at their initial fittings, “There’s joy and possibility in that moment,” he says. “It reminds me of the magic that first drew me to this art form—seeing how much it means to them, how transformative it can be.”