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ometimes, one can only wonder if happily ever after is but a fleeting concept made to assuage people’s minds in troubled times, if fairy tales really are just for children. But lest we forget, a fairy tale is but a beautiful story in a beautiful world. And there is beauty amidst the madness of our own world, and it is magnificent. There is beauty in a mother’s love, a lover’s touch, a stranger’s kindness. Beauty is good and goodness is beautiful and it is so easy to lose sight of the simplicity of that notion.
Perhaps that is why the world of high fashion is so intriguing. It celebrates the beauty that is so often lost in the presence of reality. The world of high fashion is one that gathers much of its inspiration from fairy tales: the goodness and the darkness. There’s a strong resemblance between the two worlds. Both couture and fairy tales garner a magic that is almost intangible except in our dreams, and they teach the world to appreciate beauty simply for being beautiful. They play on symbolism, exploring femininity and pushing the boundaries of social norms. However, while fairy tales remain very classically symbolic of good versus evil, high fashion takes the beauty introduced in fairy tales and challenges it, a more progressive version of the same art. Designers such as Alexander McQueen and Dolce & Gabbana have been known
to pay homage to the classics here and there, such as with D&G’s Fairy Tale Collection in 2016 or McQueen’s 2007 green velvet dress with golden tresses resembling Rapunzel’s hair, while designers like Noritaka Tatehana or Comme des Garçons have been more liberal with their interpretations. Noritaka Tatehana created a modern version of Cinderella’s glass slipper in 2014 and Dorothy’s ruby slipper in 2010. In Spring 2015, Comme des Garçons revealed their interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood’s red hood. Fairy tales and fashion have given and taken ideas from each other from as early as the 1930s when Mary Liotta created a gown adorned in silver stars resembling the dress that “glistens like the stars” in the tale “Allerleirauh,” and they continue to do so in the form of Yeezy’s Season 4 glass slippers. They are two worlds that are seamlessly threaded together. Just as fairy tales hold influence over fashion, fashion holds great power in the fairy tales themselves. It symbolizes status, wealth, power, vanity, transformation, good and evil. The evil witch is always represented by dark clothing while the princesses are pure and light. There is significance behind color, texture, and design. The most famous may be Cinderella’s glass slipper, a symbol of purity. In “Grimm’s Fairy Tales,” Rapunzel’s golden hair is symbolic of magic, power and beauty, but it also brings out the vanity in her capturer. The colors in Snow ►
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