The glass slipper
Annie Lebovitz feat. Scarlett Johannson
The idea that you can dress yourself as a new and better person is what makes fashion so seductively empowering. Clothing has always been invested with transformative – even redemptive – qualities. The rags-to-riches Cinderella story is timeless, the ultimate aspirational fable which places a value on clothing beyond the material: the ball gown makes her princess-worthy and the glass slipper stakes her claim the life that goes with it. Again in Pretty Woman, the hemlines drop as her refinement grows, and a change in wardrobe marks a change in her life fortune.
Every time we get dressed we make choices about how we want to be treated and what we want others to think of us. It might be a painfully self-conscious process where every part of ourselves is scrutinized in an attempt to micro-manage our image, or it may be as carefree as a slick of chapstick and towel dry hair as we fly out the door. But the array of sartorial nuance contained in an outfit is about more than image – it’s about the prospect of a better day, a better life. It’s a display of optimism, ultimately.
No woman understands this more than the modern day Cinderella herself, Victoria Beckham. From the stage school insecurity of hotpants and lycra mini dresses to the womanly assurance of 50s chic, Victoria’s making a lady of herself with all her might. She has fashioned herself into a persona beyond Posh, finally (and studiously) following the story of those neck and hemlines like any wannabe princess would. But does it buy the happy ending? As the first lady of make-believe, only time will tell whether Louboutin really does make glass slippers..
