Founded in 1946, The Cannes International Film Festival is undoubtedly the most prestigious, glamorous and most publicized film festival in the World. Its 68th edition is currently on and yesterday it raised a storm for a not-so-glamorous reason. Apparently during the screening of the movie Carol a group of female guests were turned away by the security when they arrived at its screening wearing flats and not high heels! Todd Haynes’ ‘50s romance Carol has Cate Blanchett in a lead role, and the premiere happened last Sunday when this reported incident took place. An immediate outrage on twitter with #showmeyourflats hashtag exploded in solidarity. Actress Emily Blunt stated, “Everyone should wear flats to be honest. We shouldn’t be wearing high heels anyways. That’s my point of view. I just prefer wearing Converse sneakers.”
The amazingly fashionable red carpet at Cannes has always been steeped in tradition. Men usually wear tuxedos with bow ties and black shoes. Women wear exquisite dresses with stilettos. The ‘hosts’ of the festival seemingly keep a hawk-eye and the execution is met by the ‘security’ though there are no official acknowledgment of the same in any invite or otherwise.
Ironically the festival this year has been conducting panel discussions on ‘misogyny in Hollywood’ where actresses like Salma Hayek has been heard giving her very frank views.
What do you feel about this issue of compulsory dress-code or in this case shoe-code?
Do you feel there is too much focus especially on a woman’s way of dressing?
Should there be a red-carpet culture or standardization at all?
‘Style Vs. Comfort’, what’s your choice on a daily basis?