Cinderella, or the Glass Slipper

Two centuries ago furs were so rare, and therefore so highly valued, that the wearing of them was restricted by several sumptuary laws to kings and princes. Sable, in those laws called *vair*, was the subject of countless regulations: the exact quality permitted to be worn by persons of different grades, and the articles of dress to which it might be applied, were defined most strictly. Perrault's tale of *Cinderella* originally marked the dignity conferred on her by the fairy by her wearing a slipper of *vair*, a privilege then confined to the highest rank of princesses. An error of the press…