We’ve now covered a lot of areas for Margot Fonteyn Month– her early life, her career, fashion, and performance highlights. However, I find her immensely fascinating for her off-stage life, as well. While a lot of dancers’ lives are largely focused on the stage, Fonteyn had a lot happening off-stage. Between her celebrity and her marriage, she was never short of excitement and drama. Today I’m going to focus on her mainstream fashion career, as well as her political involvement. Without further adieu, let’s get to Margot Fonteyn’s offstage life….
Fonteyn in Fashion
Fonteyn was one of the biggest names in fashion in the mid-twentieth century. Because she was a celebrity, her fashion was followed by millions. And knowing that, designers wanted her to wear their clothing. During the Second World War, she had modelled for different British designers and stores to promote British fashion. In 1949, Fonteyn and the future-Royal Ballet went on a global tour to promote the ballet and British culture in general. Fonteyn, and five other principal dancers were chosen to wear and promote several British designers throughout the tour. The designers chosen included Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell. However, she wore more than just British pieces…
I’ve linked a talk from Rosemary Harden here, the curator at the Fashion Museum in Bath, speaking on Fonteyn’s influence on fashion and the tours!
Fonteyn was first introduced to Christian Dior and his house in 1948 while in Paris to dance. She was won over by his New Look at overtly feminine style. She wore a DIor day dress for her 1955 wedding to Dr. Roberto (Tito) de Arias and would continue to wear pieces from the house after Dior’s death.
Fonteyn was introduced to a young designer, Yves Saint Laurent, when he took over at Dior after Dior’s death in 1957. She continued to purchase from the house under Saint Laurent, and then followed him when he opened his own house in 1960. Although she was in her 40s and now a married woman and an ambassador’s wife, she continued to wear Saint Laurent’s youthful styles. While dance and fashion continue to have a strong relationship, there have been few dancers who have had the same impact as Fonteyn.
…Gun-Running?
This would be where Fonteyn’s life really takes a turn into the unexpected. In 1937, a young Fonteyn met Tito Arias, a Panamanian student, while the company was performing in Cambridge. They didn’t meet again until 1953 when Fonteyn was touring the US, and Arias began to pursue her despite being married with children. He filed for divorce, and the couple were married in Paris in February 1955. Shortly after they married, Arias was appointed as the Panamanian ambassador to the Court of St. James’s (aka Great Britain).
Arias’ family was fairly well connected in Panama and South America in general. In April of 1959, he staged a coup against the President, and attempted to smuggle in arms on their boat, The Nola. The crew aboard the boat weren’t having it though, and reported Arias. He quite literally jumped ship and Fonteyn stayed with her own yacht to distract authorities. The British Embassy pulled strings to have Fonteyn extradited to New York City while Arias stayed put at the Brazilian embassy in Lima. Fonteyn’s notable status (she was Dame Margot Fonteyn by this point) in Britain played no small role in helping her dodge any consequences for her involvement. Although at the time many claimed Fonteyn had no knowledge of the plan, later documents would show that both knew what was happening.
And no, Arias’ coup was not successful. After being elected to the National Assembly in 1964, he was shot only 2 months later and would spend the rest of his life as a quadrapalegic. Fonteyn continued to dance for so long to continue to pay for Arias’ ever-mounting medical bills.
I hope you’ve learned something new about Margot Fonteyn’s offstage life!
Cheers,
The Historian
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