HOME | DD

Description
Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale, because she's the only one who's original story is just as Disney-fied as the Disney adaptation. Yeah, the Brothers Grimm picked it up later on and threw in all sorts of over the top dark details, but these aren't found in the earliest recordings. This is, incidentally, why Cinderella is also the canonical role model for my OC Grace, whose mother read her the story frequently before she died. Cinderella is just the embodiment of unapologetic femininity through which I can vicariously live out all my princess fantasies. She also has a much clearer provenance, unlike Snow White. I often see it said around the internet that the earliest version of the Cinderella story can be found in the Greek myth of Rodophis, a slave girl who had her sandal stolen by an eagle, only for that eagle to drop it in the lap of the Pharaoh and begin his quest to make the owner his wife. I see where they're coming from, but I tend to be kinda hesitant to draw direct lines between such disparate stories when all we have to go on are superficial motifs. I'm a linguist by trade, so I prefer to trace the lineage of a story by its direct cognates and literary ancestors. By this metric, the earliest version of our modern Cinderella story was composed in 1643 by Napolese author Giambattista Basile. His version of the story is titled "Cenerentola", which means "ash" or yes "cinder". In 1697, French author Charles Perrault compiled many of Basile's stories, including Cenerentola, which he rendered as "Cindrillon", again basically meaning "ash girl". This is the version which first introduces the elements we're most familiar with, such as the fairy godmother, pumpkin chariot, and glass slippers.

As such, this is likely the story you're most familiar with: Once upon a time, there was a rich asshole who married a mean old gold digger of a stepmother. She abused the father's biological daughter, Cinderella, because she was just too sweet to stand up for herself. Cinderella's stepsisters, meanwhile, were doted on with all manner of fine clothes, good food, and presumably a bit of Marie Antoinette's cake. Eventually, they were invited to the party held by the king's son, because what else is French royalty supposed to do? Actual governing? Feed the poor? Blech, of course not! Peasants are icky and gross! That's why Cinderella's step family refused to let her come with them, even though Cinderella was nice enough to dress them all pretty instead of garroting them while she had them right where she wanted them. This is where Perrault introduces Cinderella's FAIRY GODPARENT to soothe her tears, while in the Grimm version just has a little songbird come to her while she weeps at her mother's grave. Either way, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and Cinderella is all swagged out in the hottest dress this side of Versailles. She's all ready to go to that ball and flaunt her stuff, on the condition that she return before midnight, when the spell will run out of juice, because I guess this is just a rental fairy godmother. Cinderella actually gets multiple days at the ball according to both the Perrault and Grimm telling, though Grimm leaves out the midnight stipulation and just gives her social anxiety or something, I honestly don't know.

We all know how it goes from here. Cinderella rushes home before the clock strikes twelve and leaves behind only a slipper. Don't ask me why the slipper doesn't disappear along with the rest of her get up, there are just some questions Man is not meant to know the answers to. The prince, who had fallen head over heels for Cinderella (ha), picks up the slipper and proclaims that whichever woman has the foot that fits inside will be his bride. The stepsisters of course try to cram their feet in, but their big old hobbit feet can't quite make the squeeze. In the Grimm version, the stepmother forces them to cut off their toes and heels to make the fit, but the prince sees all the blood leaking out and is like ew gross. Then Cinderella comes out, and of course the shoe fits, and the prince carries her off to live happily ever after. In the Grimm telling, the stepsisters get their eyes pecked out by some ravenous songbirds, but this is another detail concocted in the twisted imaginations of the Grimm Brothers. In the Perrault version, sweet little Cinderella holds no grudge and offers them a place in her life as long as they treat her with the same kindness she has always given them. They may not deserve it, but Cinderella won't abuse her power over a petty thing like revenge. She was truly as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, unlike Snow White, who had her stepmother's feet shoved into red hot iron shoes. Though, to be fair, Snow White's stepmother was an attempted cannibal, while Cinderella's stepsisters were just kind of bitches.

Design notes, this one was tricky in a unique way. In many ways, Cinderella is the generic princess silhouette on which all others are based. It was hard to come up with something uniquely Cinderella when her very name is a byword for unprecedented beauty. I ended up taking a few inspirations: a 1922 illustration by Harry Clarke, a 19th century illustration by Carl Offterdinger, 1912's "At the Ball" by Sarah Noble Ives, and a couple illustrations from unknown publications from 1865 and 1875. I both do and don't like how this came out, I'm not sure how to put my finger on it. Part of me says it's just the big flower pauldron thing I took from the Clarke illustration. It probably works better in the more streamlined Jazz Age version he designed, but not for the poofier 17th century design that I was going for. Maybe if I had tweaked it a little more, it would've slotted into place better. Not sure. I like the rest of the dress, though. Even I have to admit, it's hard to see it as "Cinderella" without that classic Disney blue, but I told myself I was gonna separate my versions from the Disney version as much as possible, and the original sources describe the dress as gold and silk, so that's the direction I went. Perhaps this is something to revisit, but it's not incredibly high on my list. Sorry, Cindy, ur beautiful gurl.

Description
Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale, because she's the only one who's original story is just as Disney-fied as the Disney adaptation. Yeah, the Brothers Grimm picked it up later on and threw in all sorts of over the top dark details, but these aren't found in the earliest recordings. This is, incidentally, why Cinderella is also the canonical role model for my OC Grace, whose mother read her the story frequently before she died. Cinderella is just the embodiment of unapologetic femininity through which I can vicariously live out all my princess fantasies. She also has a much clearer provenance, unlike Snow White. I often see it said around the internet that the earliest version of the Cinderella story can be found in the Greek myth of Rodophis, a slave girl who had her sandal stolen by an eagle, only for that eagle to drop it in the lap of the Pharaoh and begin his quest to make the owner his wife. I see where they're coming from, but I tend to be kinda hesitant to draw direct lines between such disparate stories when all we have to go on are superficial motifs. I'm a linguist by trade, so I prefer to trace the lineage of a story by its direct cognates and literary ancestors. By this metric, the earliest version of our modern Cinderella story was composed in 1643 by Napolese author Giambattista Basile. His version of the story is titled "Cenerentola", which means "ash" or yes "cinder". In 1697, French author Charles Perrault compiled many of Basile's stories, including Cenerentola, which he rendered as "Cindrillon", again basically meaning "ash girl". This is the version which first introduces the elements we're most familiar with, such as the fairy godmother, pumpkin chariot, and glass slippers.

As such, this is likely the story you're most familiar with: Once upon a time, there was a rich asshole who married a mean old gold digger of a stepmother. She abused the father's biological daughter, Cinderella, because she was just too sweet to stand up for herself. Cinderella's stepsisters, meanwhile, were doted on with all manner of fine clothes, good food, and presumably a bit of Marie Antoinette's cake. Eventually, they were invited to the party held by the king's son, because what else is French royalty supposed to do? Actual governing? Feed the poor? Blech, of course not! Peasants are icky and gross! That's why Cinderella's step family refused to let her come with them, even though Cinderella was nice enough to dress them all pretty instead of garroting them while she had them right where she wanted them. This is where Perrault introduces Cinderella's FAIRY GODPARENT to soothe her tears, while in the Grimm version just has a little songbird come to her while she weeps at her mother's grave. Either way, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and Cinderella is all swagged out in the hottest dress this side of Versailles. She's all ready to go to that ball and flaunt her stuff, on the condition that she return before midnight, when the spell will run out of juice, because I guess this is just a rental fairy godmother. Cinderella actually gets multiple days at the ball according to both the Perrault and Grimm telling, though Grimm leaves out the midnight stipulation and just gives her social anxiety or something, I honestly don't know.

We all know how it goes from here. Cinderella rushes home before the clock strikes twelve and leaves behind only a slipper. Don't ask me why the slipper doesn't disappear along with the rest of her get up, there are just some questions Man is not meant to know the answers to. The prince, who had fallen head over heels for Cinderella (ha), picks up the slipper and proclaims that whichever woman has the foot that fits inside will be his bride. The stepsisters of course try to cram their feet in, but their big old hobbit feet can't quite make the squeeze. In the Grimm version, the stepmother forces them to cut off their toes and heels to make the fit, but the prince sees all the blood leaking out and is like ew gross. Then Cinderella comes out, and of course the shoe fits, and the prince carries her off to live happily ever after. In the Grimm telling, the stepsisters get their eyes pecked out by some ravenous songbirds, but this is another detail concocted in the twisted imaginations of the Grimm Brothers. In the Perrault version, sweet little Cinderella holds no grudge and offers them a place in her life as long as they treat her with the same kindness she has always given them. They may not deserve it, but Cinderella won't abuse her power over a petty thing like revenge. She was truly as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, unlike Snow White, who had her stepmother's feet shoved into red hot iron shoes. Though, to be fair, Snow White's stepmother was an attempted cannibal, while Cinderella's stepsisters were just kind of bitches.

Design notes, this one was tricky in a unique way. In many ways, Cinderella is the generic princess silhouette on which all others are based. It was hard to come up with something uniquely Cinderella when her very name is a byword for unprecedented beauty. I ended up taking a few inspirations: a 1922 illustration by Harry Clarke, a 19th century illustration by Carl Offterdinger, 1912's "At the Ball" by Sarah Noble Ives, and a couple illustrations from unknown publications from 1865 and 1875. I both do and don't like how this came out, I'm not sure how to put my finger on it. Part of me says it's just the big flower pauldron thing I took from the Clarke illustration. It probably works better in the more streamlined Jazz Age version he designed, but not for the poofier 17th century design that I was going for. Maybe if I had tweaked it a little more, it would've slotted into place better. Not sure. I like the rest of the dress, though. Even I have to admit, it's hard to see it as "Cinderella" without that classic Disney blue, but I told myself I was gonna separate my versions from the Disney version as much as possible, and the original sources describe the dress as gold and silk, so that's the direction I went. Perhaps this is something to revisit, but it's not incredibly high on my list. Sorry, Cindy, ur beautiful gurl.