A family business built on dedication to the arts.
Our Story
Diana Tutus was unofficially started around 2005 when former ballerina and lifelong seamstress Diane Stapp Pitts began making custom costumes for the ballet school where she taught. She continued to build her business over the years, continuing on a mission to support the arts and create costumes for dancers who were also her students. Her daughter Alicia Pitts-Hall grew up surrounded by dance and costume-making. When Alicia was in high school, she became an apprentice seamstress and in later years, grew her skills and education under Diane’s expert tutelage. Diane has officially retired as of 2024, but still remains a frequent consult as her daughter continues the business.
Care from the beginning
Diana Tutus began with the desire to make costumes that dancers feel beautiful wearing. From the baby tutu Diane made for Alicia’s first halloween to pieces designed for family, students, and friends, all of our costumes have the same attention to detail. We believe all dancers deserve to wear a costume that makes them feel empowered.
Diane
Diane began dancing at age 6 and trained with the Dayton Ballet, one of the first regional ballets in the nation, as well as earning scholarships to train with the Joffrey Ballet. At 18, she became a founding member of the Dayton Ballet’s first paid professional company, then progressed to the Milwaukee Ballet and eventually the Atlanta Ballet under the direction of Robert Barnett. Following her ballet career, she began working as a computer programmer/analyst and received a Bachelor of Science at Georgia Tech. With her degree, she worked at the CDC and served as the technical lead for their tuberculosis database. When she met her husband, Dave, and had her first daughter, Alicia, she retired from work. It wasn’t until Alicia was old enough to start ballet that Diane returned to teaching and got to involve her younger daughter Jessica in the class as well. When the school she was teaching with decided to perform classical pieces, she began to design and construct tutus for them - it was the logical next step after a lifetime of sewing throughout her ballet career and hanging around costume shops learning techniques! Although she is retired from both teaching and costuming as of 2024, she is a frequent consult and still remains involved in the business - after all, it’s what she loves!
Alicia
Although Alicia took ballet classes with Diane as a child, she soon realized she would rather be behind the curtain than on stage. She grew up helping her mom with sewing projects and quickly grew her costuming skill set on her own terms. While getting her Bachelor of Arts in English, she also volunteered in the university theater costume shop and took costume construction and design classes to continue her involvement with stage costuming. With her English degree, she pursued a fulfilling job in accessibility and put her writing skills to use as an Audio Describer, writing and voicing scripts for TV accessibility. After 5 years working full time as an Audio Describer on thousands of TV episodes, she officially left her full time job to take over the family costume business and continue creating audio description on a freelance basis. It was the best decision she’s ever made!
Diane, with the Dayton Ballet
Diane (center front), with the Atlanta Ballet
Alicia’s first Halloween in the tutu Diane made
Diane and her husband Dave at Alicia and Rachael’s wedding. Alicia made her wedding dress and Diane made Rachael’s suit!