Abstract
In Disney iconography, Cinderella’s glass slipper has become metonymic for the Cinderella story itself. Not merely an article of footwear, the slipper is associated with both Cinderella’s radical makeover and the restoration of her rightful identity, and, King argues, has come to be endowed with transformative powers that shed light on her true identity. In Disney’s live-action Cinderella (2015), this characteristic is extended to other characters’ footwear and costume more broadly, as identity and authenticity shape the film via sartorial coding. This chapter explores the film’s portrayal of footwear and other clothing, as well as color, style and material, and the makeover process, showing how these visual features serve to reinforce the framing of Ella as natural and modest and her stepfamily as artificial and excessive.
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Notes
- 1.
The Fairy Godmother’s transformation suggests the Loathly Lady, a beautiful and powerfully magical fairy who sometimes appears in the form of an old crone.
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King, S. (2019). New Shoes, Old Paths: Disney’s Cinderella(s). In: Hermansson, C., Zepernick, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Children's Film and Television. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17620-4_6
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