New Money
Manhattan, New York
The proverbial Cinderella Story is the very definition of the Roaring Twenties, as young Cindy Tremaine is about to find out.
By the late 1910s, poor Cindy is struggling to maintain the hope that she promised her parents she'd never give up, as she is worked to exhaustion by her abusive stepfamily. With the limitations placed on both the poor and women, she knows that her only realistic way out of this hellhole is through marriage. With her natural beauty and charm, she’s confident she could score a wealthy man, if she just had some way of worming herself into one of those upper-class social gatherings...and into something nice to wear. It seems impossible...
But then Cindy starts to notice some surprising upgrades in her stepfamily's lives. She's carrying and cleaning luxury items that would be pricey even for her filthy-rich relatives. Without revealing how much she's learning, Cindy gradually worms information from her stepmother and stepsisters about how they're affording all these things, and becomes familiar with the growing system of Credit—"Buy now, pay later." Credit Unions have been opened since the early 1900s, and as of 1914, Western Union and some department stores have begun issuing the first ever credit cards. The doorway Cindy needs to set her plan in motion has just opened before her, like magic.
While out running errands, Cindy looks around and realizes that social mobility is exploding all around her. Immigrants are fleeing persecution and starting new lives here in America. The African American community is undergoing a cultural revolution of art and music. The number of high school students in the country has doubled, and more and more of them are going on to college. To top it all off, women are finally about to win the right to vote.
Relying heavily on the advice of magazine columnist “the Fairy Godmother,” Cindy learns that the most important thing in winning over others is “it,” and all “it” is, is confidence. Clara Bow demonstrates on the silent screen, and Cindy practices dancing to the radio whenever her step-family isn’t looking (much to the chagrin of her rodent friends, who scramble to get out of her way). “It” finally all pays off when the most eligible bachelor in Manhattan throws a Gatsby-worthy New Year's ball at his mansion, on the eve of Prohibition. This December 31 of 1919, Charles "Charming" Prince's courtyard is lined with pumpkins full of alcohol that will only be legal for a few more hours.
The party is a wild display of extravagance and decadence that Jay Gatsby would envy. But the most enthusiastic dancer is a girl who no one knows. She must come from an incredibly wealthy background, with all her extravagant jewels and sequins. She belts it out on top of the pumpkin kegs to the roaring cheers of guests and servants alike, kicking her heels in a pair of art-deco glass shoes. The smitten heir jumps up onto the pumpkins to dance with her, and suddenly Cindy forgets all about money.
In the crowd below, Cindy’s stepmother narrows her eyes suspiciously, while her two daughters bury their heads in some pumpkin kegs.
Before Charming can get the girl’s name, the clock strikes midnight…and an ambush of FBI agents burst from their hiding places around the mansion’s grounds, hollering, “This is a raid!” Prohibition is now officially in effect. Feathers and sequins fly through the air as guests tear across the courtyard. Coppers are hacking the pumpkin kegs to pieces with axes, spilling their contents onto the brick paths below. Cindy’s stepmother tries to bribe the police lieutenant, while the stepsisters catch booze from the wrecked pumpkins in their bucket hats. Charming searches frantically for his dance partner, but Cindy has already taken off in her rented limo.
The next morning, no one from the party seems to know the mysterious woman. Did 200 drunken dancers all hallucinate the same girl?
Then, finally, among the overturned furniture and smashed pumpkins, Charming’s butler finds an art-deco glass slipper—the largest purchase on Cindy’s new credit card.
A/N: I really did Cindy dirty in this series for a long time. She's my least-favorite Disney princess, and her ballgown doesn't give one much to work with. Her overall motif felt too similar to Elsa, who I like much better. Still, I could have tried harder. I was inspired to give this another shot after seeing Amit Naftali's take on a flapper Cinderella. In addition to that picture, I also based my redo on this dress. Her new hairdo is based on this picture of actress Greta Garbo. And as before, Cindy's headpiece is inspired by Daisy Buchanan's from "The Great Gatsby" (2013).
