Based on the legend of the Selkies, seal-like creatures who could shed their skins to become beautiful humans.
Selkie legends claim if a Selkie's skin is stolen, she loses any ability to return to her seal form or the sea from which she came. Typically, the legends only describe instances in which a fisherman steals a skin in order to keep a Selkie as his wife, but they never mention what will happen if a human were to wear the magical skin… probably because the only non-Selkies daring enough to try are not humans at all, but water-faeries.
Unfortunately, the water-fae can't always quite fit in the significantly larger sealskins, so they usually resort to stealing those of baby Selkies and doing a bit of impromptu tailoring.
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