Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, usually in black ink, influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement that also included Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler.
Recently I came across this Cinderella illustration. Beardsley wrote his own version of the Cinderella story to accompany his illustration, and although the image itself may seem innocent enough, the story is more along the lines of the dark and twisted fairy tale interpretations. It appeared in The Yellow Book of July 1894 and personified the powerful role that fashion has within a society. Beardsley changes the ending of the story to turn happy children's fairytale into a murderous mess of fashion and jealousy.
As he wrote:
You must have heard of the Princess C. with her slim feet and shining slippers. She was beloved by the prince who married her but she died soon afterwards poisoned according to Dr. Gerschovius by her elder sister Arabella, with powdered glass. It was ground I suspect from those very slippers she danced in at the famous ball, for the slippers of Cinderella have never been found since.
Anyways, I would wear this dress!
P.S. If you're in a mood for a fairytale, check a story of King Pedro and Inês de Castro here!