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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Glass Slippers & Conspiracies

Remember how I mentioned I hadn't seen anything regarding marketing of an iconic Cinderella shoe as a marketing/consumer tie-in to the upcoming movie (and that I wouldn't have been surprised if it ended up being an exclusive thing)?

Ta da! Disney has approached nine luxury shoe designer brands and asked them for their interpretations of a Cinderella 2015 shoe.

(In other words, they went the exclusive route.)

The distinguished designers, in alphabetical order, are: Paul Andrew, Alexandre Birman, RenĂ© Caovilla, Jimmy Choo, Salvatore Ferragamo, Nicholas Kirkwood, Charlotte Olympia, Jerome C. Rousseau, and Stuart Weitzman. Each brand has created its own interpretation of the famed glass slipper Cinderella accidentally leaves behind when the clock strikes midnight. 
...Swarovski, which produced the iconic glass slipper for the film under the direction of Academy Award®-winning costume designer Sandy Powell, provided the crystals featured in the designers’ shoes.

The words: PVC, perspex, transparent - these all make me think of ugly, squished, sweaty and deformed feet (especially in these heels! Are any under 3 1/2 inches??) Yikes. Feet can be very beautiful but, ironically, this combination seems a conspiracy against that ideal..

You can see the rest of the shoe designs HERE (none of which seem particularly innovative, but what do I know), along with statements from the designers about creating a new iconic Cinderella shoe. The rest of write up from Consumer Products is HEREincluding a list of where you're able to order these shoes, if you are so monied, er, inclined. (!)

In other Cinderella movie updates, there is a new TV Spot, focusing on an apparent conspiracy the Stepmother is "in" on, with regard to keeping Cinderella hidden and apparently there's a new full trailer due out tomorrow.

Here's the conspiracy:
I want to be excited, I do, but it's not feeling very unique - not even a different spin on a classic (and fairy tale writers out there know there are many, many ways to do that, even when restricted by using required/classic/iconic material). I know Branagh did his research. I know he read many versions of Cinderella in preparation for making this movie but I'm not seeing lots of evidence of that yet. Cinderella "pre-meeting" the prince so it's not love at first sight has been done so often (heck, Disney made sure this happened for Snow White so she'd have a little history with her guy before being woken up!), I just can't see it as being a different take (Ever After easily did it better and that was a very less-than-perfect movie.)

But... this little featurette came out today about the love story between Cinderella and the Prince so, for people who've never seen Ever After or The Slipper and the Rose (highly recommended) this may feel very fresh.

Without doubt, whatever it is, it will be beautiful.


5 comments:

  1. I quite liked Ever After. Been meaning to watch it again. Parts of it were silly but overall I enjoyed it. I liked the costumes and the period they set it in.

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    1. I like to watch it every so often. They did a lot of great things with the movie.

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  2. I adore Ever After, don't knock it! :) I think it's a perfect product of its time--a "girl power" retelling for the 90s. Come on, the part where she cleverly picks up the prince and carries him away to save his life? Love it!

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    1. Ha! This is great, seeing the Ever After fans come out of the woodwork. ;) But seriously, wasn't knocking it - it just has some rather obvious flaws that make for an uneven movie, but overall it was wonderfully fresh and very much needed for the time. It's sort of weird it isn't better known actually. And yes "anything I can carry? Your word, sir..." - that was great. ;)

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    2. Like the fact that everyone has an English accent yet the setting is France? Yeah... :) What else stood out to you?

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