We reported a couple blogs back how some new restrictions were being placed on Cannes red carpet wardrobe choices that had far and away nothing to do with latex or any other textile being forbidden. This time the two big takeaway no-no’s were dresses with overly long trains and big dresses—“voluminous outfits” as they were called— and the ever popular ‘naked’ dress trend.
So, who bucked the trend, if anybody? And how did they, if they did?
Halle Berry quipped that she was dutifully obeying the restrictions. She had an amazing dress by Gaurav Gupta ready to go, but its train was too long. “I’m not going to break the rules,” she said at a press conference and didn’t, opting for a striped Jacquemus dress instead. Heidi Klum though did indeed go with her pink petal Elie Saab with its long train and Wan QianHui surely strutted just as rebellious in her own voluminous Wang Feng couture tulle gown.
As far as any hint of skin, Bella Hadid, known for showing plenty at Cannes and other places wore a Saint Laurent gown sporting an exaggerated thigh-high slit, showing some, but very little as compared to years past.
This 78th Cannes is not the first to add dress restrictions. In 2015, women were reportedly barred from screenings if they wore flat shoes instead of heels. A year later Julia Roberts walked the Cannes red carpet barefoot, Kristen Stewart wore checkered Vans at the opening gala dinner and Susan Sarandon also wore flats (elegant though they were).
The movie festival now officially approves “elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel.” And when it came to shoes this year, Alexander Skarsgård’s leather thigh-high Saint Laurent boots made the most news.
Beyond any of the above though, there hasn’t been so much resistance. But whether that it is because it is futile at Cannes now or there are just so many other options (though, no latex this year!) who knows?
