The Ugly Stepsister: Satirical Prints and Fashion History

Event details

In modern retellings of Cinderella, the ‘ugly’ stepsisters are portrayed as awkward caricatures, out of fashion with the social circle of court and foiled by their downtrodden, yet conventionally attractive stepsister. In eighteenth-century portrayals, however, they are described not as ugly, but as haughty and proud, and depicted in prints in the height of fashion. This paper utilises the trope of the ugly stepsister – caricatured both in body and dress – as a framework to consider how satirical prints functioned as representations of contemporary fashion in eighteenth-century London and the burgeoning empire. Though often held in contempt by dress historians, satirical prints were produced in the heart of London’s fashionable streets and not only captured, but actively responded to and even instigated the fashions worn. This symbiotic relationship between printmaker, fashion maker and wearer offers insight into the ever quickening pace of fashionable change and speaks to the entwined nature of printmaking and fashion in the reign of George III.

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