Lily James at the Cinderella Premiere

I kinda wish I knew Lily James in person -- I would love to know if she's as sweet and kind and good-natured as she seems in her acting roles. She's Lady Rose on Downton Abbey, and they've kind of evolved her character so that her temperament matches her name -- especially this season. And Lady Rose is basically Cinderella in the 1920s. So the casting for the Disney film seems particularly apropos.

And she looked absolutely stunning a couple nights ago at the premiere of Cinderella--like a real-life princess:

THAT DRESS. I am not overly savvy when it comes to high-fashion -- sometimes, I quizzically scratch my head when I see what celebrities wear or what models wear on the runway -- but I am in love with this dress. (Except the pockets. I'm not a fan of pockets.) It's a subtle homage to the 1950 animated dress, but modernized. 

 That train, that back. As a former swimmer, I'm a sucker for a dress that shows off and flatters the back. And the train? How could you not feel like a princess in that dress.

But the killer part? The shoes. A girl can't be Cinderella without her glass slippers:

There's a beautiful 360-degree video over at Facebook.They look really uncomfortable, really impractical, and I don't even care. I want to put them on and twirl around. (I'd probably fall though.)

I don't consider myself to be a girly-girl -- and I'm fully aware that a lot of women's fashion is rooted in traditional gender norms -- but sometimes a nice pair of shoes and a pretty dress are all it takes to make me smile. And I fully admit that I wanted to be a Disney princess when I was little. (There are times when I still want to be a Disney princess...) And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.