# Cinderella's Fur Slippers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 22, 1999, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28 "1999-04-22T23:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 1999, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/1 "1999-04-22T23:21:00Z")
I like to see these myths debunked as well as anyone, but I’m left unsatisfied with the debunking job (cf. column 1/29/99.) I looked up verre and vair in my French dictionary. Verre indeed means glass, but vair is translated as vair. Not very helpful, but you know how French people are. Anyway, a quick check in Webster’s informs me that vair is a particular type of squirrel fur much prized during medieval times. It doesn’t specifically mention if it was prized for making slippers however. The way I see it, the point that glass slippers appear in versions of the story other than the French one is irrelevant. We already know they appears in the English versions. The questions to answer are: 1) Could those versions be based on an earlier French version which made the switch? 2) Are there any known versions of the story in which Cinderella did wear fur (especially vair fur) slippers? Obviously, more research is needed. Greg Charles ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/2 "2016-05-08T23:05:48Z")
Snopes maintains that Perrault’s slippers [were indeed constructed of glass](http://www.snopes.com/language/misxlate/slippers.asp), not fur. Indeed, [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella) notes that the key phrase appears as _verre_ (glass) a total of 3 times, and not in the homophone variety _vair_ (fur). It wasn’t a typo. There _has_ been some controversy over the years: [Honore de Balzac](https://jackiefox1976.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/cinderella-and-the-fur-slipper/) advocated the fur hypothesis during the mid 1800s, but most modern scholars are not convinced. As Sandra Ragsdale of the National Court Reporters Association notes, “We simply have no text of Perrault’s story where fur slippers appear, only glass ones.” And since this has been issue has been investigated on and off for 150+ years, I’d say the odds that fur slippers appear anywhere among the 300 or so traditional versions of Cinderella are pretty slim. I hope Mr. Charles accepts my apologies for taking 17 years to address his question. I’m still working through my inbox. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/3 "2016-05-09T16:52:30Z")
[Vair isn’t just any squirrel fur,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VairWikipedia) it’s the winter coat of the Eurasian red squirrel, from the really cold areas of the Baltics. In those specific circumstances, the coat has a strong contrast between the white belly fur and the darker “blue-grey” fur on the back, legs, and head. You can make striking patterns. From the looks of the picture, you can get a good display on a cloak, or some other large, flat area of garment, but it would be pretty pointless on slippers, which are too small to hold a repeating pattern. As a heraldic pattern on shields, the standard vair pattern looks like a stack of bells to me. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/4 "2016-05-09T17:25:23Z")
Is this the record for zombie resurrection from a single post (or in general), or is the ‘04-22-1999, 07:21 PM’ date on post 1 inaccurate? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/5 "2016-05-09T17:47:16Z")
What does the _column 1/29/99_ in the OP have reference to? I went through the archive and couldn’t find either a column by Cecil or a staff report of that date. Anyone have a link? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/6 "2016-05-09T19:04:59Z")
There is no column. This is all part of a convoluted plot involving time travel, socks, and **Measure for Measure** ’s insane desire to be THE KING!!! [Evidence](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=792572) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/7 "2016-05-09T19:05:23Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > What does the _column 1/29/99_ in the OP have reference to? I went through the archive and couldn’t find either a column by Cecil or a staff report of that date. Anyone have a link? I guess I was amiss. _Ahem_ Hi Greg Charles and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board! Generally speaking, we like to link to the original columns here, so that posters can absorb and celebrate the original words of the Perfect Master. [Here’s the link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1286/whats-the-story-on-the-ancient-chinese-custom-of-binding-womens-feet). It originally addresses Chinese foot binding, but a followup delves into the Cinderella story. No worries and enjoy your stay! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/8 "2016-05-09T22:01:02Z")
I can now see some noble yelling, “bring me the fur of one thousand squirrels”! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinderellas-fur-slippers/28/9 "2016-05-11T09:28:15Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Is this the record for zombie resurrection from a single post (or in general), or is the ‘04-22-1999, 07:21 PM’ date on post 1 inaccurate? Well, it beats [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=4243), which was also a revival of a single post. In fact, it beat it by about half a year, so that’s impressive. This thread has a thread number of only 19, but that doesn’t mean it was the 19th thread on the boards. I looked through several of the lowest numbered threads and found that there’s no correlation between the thread number and the post date. Thread #1 was actually posted in Jan 2000, for example. I’m going to guess that the conversion to vBulletin was responsible for this.