No Sneakers at the Gala Screenings
Take note of the aforementioned “elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel” part in the charter.
While Vogue notes it’s never been a formally written rule that women have to wear heels on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet, it appears to have been the expectation.
“Last night I was stopped on the Cannes red carpet and told by this idiotic security guard that I couldn’t get into this premiere because I was wearing flats,” Variety’s former Editor in Chief Claudia Eller tweeted in 2019. “I threatened to post this video on our Variety website. I got in.”
Some actress—including Julia Roberts, Pamela Anderson and Kristen Stewart—have taken off their shoes on the red carpet and walked barefoot.
“There’s definitely a distinct code, right?” The Twilight alum told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “People get very upset at you if you don’t wear heels or something, whatever. But I feel like you can’t ask people that anymore. It’s just kind of a given. Like if you’re not asking guys to wear heels and a dress, you cannot ask me either. Which is nice ‘cause that’s different. Even four years ago, it was not even a question—you have to wear a dress. But now, it’s awesome, you can’t do that anymore.”
While “elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel” are now allowed at the gala screening, Cannes website points out sneakers are not.
