A few weeks ago, I covered the ongoing controversy with Lily James’s Cinderella waist. Disney had released several official images from their new live-action film, and one of the images (the header image of this post) seemed to be CGI’d or Photoshopped to give Cinderella an extra-tiny waist. There was much talk of feminism, body image, what we’re teaching our little girls, etc, etc. But Lily James says that she really does have a naturally small waist and she was wearing a tight corset, of course. Oh, and she also says that she had to go on a liquid diet to get a waist like that, so… mixed messages. Some assorted quotes from Lily James:

Naturally small waist: “I naturally have a really small waist. And on top of that, I have a corset that was pulled me [within an] inch of my life … The skirt’s big and the corset pulls me in, and that’s the point. That’s the shape [costume designer] Sandy Powell created.”

She could barely eat when she wore her costume: “When [the corset] was on we would be on continuous days so we wouldn’t stop for lunch or a lovely tea like this—you’d be sort of eating on the move. In that case, I couldn’t untie the corset. So if you ate food it didn’t really digest properly and I’d be burping all afternoon in [Richard Madden]‘s face, and it was just really sort of unpleasant. I’d have soup so that I could still eat but it wouldn’t get stuck.”

The controversy about her waist: “I think it’s all very hypocritical, and they contradict themselves, and they’re drawing more attention to it. I think all that stuff’s so negative, and you’ve got to let it wash over your head. I’m so healthy. I’ve got hips and boobs and a bum and a small waist.”

Promoting a healthy body image: “For girls growing up sometimes I think they get the wrong idea for what women should look like. And I think it’s so important to be healthy and confident and natural. And not put too much stress on trying to be thin—I don’t get the thin, thin thing at all. I’m actually finding it really hard not to eat right now.”

[From E! News]

Well… I think she’s mostly right, I guess. She’s a small girl overall, and yes, she does have a naturally small waist. The corset made her even smaller, of course. I’m unclear about whether she went on an all-liquid diet to fit into the corset and costumes or whether she could only drink her food because there was no room in the corset for solid food. But I think there was probably some post-production magic done on some of the Disney images and perhaps in the film too.

Photos courtesy of Disney, WENN.