Cinderella | Children’s Fairy Tale Portraits

Connecticut Children’s Fairy Tale Portraits | Cinderella

After I finished the Snow White fairy tale portrait (which is currently hanging in my daughter’s room) I asked the model what story she would like to do next and she said, “Cinderella.”

Fortunatley for my limited sewing skills she did not want to do Cinderella at the ball, or even Cinderella in pink rags after her step-sisters tore her dress to shreds. No, she wanted to do a children’s fairy tale portrait of herself as Cinderella in the peasant clothes she wears while being oppressed by her step-mother. OK then.

We went to the fabric store together and she picked out the colors she wanted for the dress and I found a pattern and I set to work. Did I mention my sewing skills are limited? I learned how to set a sleeve and insert a zipper for this particular fairy tale portrait, and contemplated the value of the pre-made costume. I really always emphasize with these portraits the importance of clothing; admittedly the woman at the cutting counter gasped when I said all this linen was for a child’s costume but if you use cheap fabrics like the acetates and polyesters that most costumes use it shows and the final picture doesn’t look as good. This is true with regular portraits too – clothing matters.

A wonderful friend suggested a location because she knew I wanted to use an open hearth for poor Cinderella, sleeping in the cinders but it took me so long to finish the dress (that lousy seamstress thing again) that I as afraid it was too cold to hang out in a short sleeved dress. However, we got an unexpectedly nice day in November and we went out and shot the fairy tale portrait. And played in the pond. And the woods. Oh, and by a stream.