The footwear at the heart of the age-old panto tale is a satirical jibe at fashionista king Louis XIV’s obsession with ornamental glass and impractical aristocratic stylesFor hundreds of years, the glass slipper has been synonymous with the tale of Cinderella and her midnight dash home from the ball. Now an academic has traced its 17th-century origins and uncovered a connection to the creation of the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles and the impractical fashions and fads of French aristocrats.“The glass slipper is a witty joke,” said Genevieve Warwick, professor of the history of art at the University of Edinburgh. It was intended to be a “literary mascot of French economic modernity” and a tongue-in-cheek reference to Louis XIV’s love of extravagant and often quixotic French fashion, especially in regard to shoes, she told the Observer. “No one could actually walk, let alone dance, in shoes made of glass.” Continue reading...
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