Goodbye nipples and “indecent dresses”: the Cannes red carpet is getting prudish

It's official: there will be no nipples or cloud dresses.

According to a festival representative contacted by the American weekly, the aim would not be to regulate the style of dress per se, "but to strictly prohibit full nudity" on the festival steps.

Except that this ban raises some questions.

“Why such prudishness all of a sudden?

' For reasons of decency',

justifies the FAQ

of the festival.”

The British daily newspaper The Guardian

“No one can say for sure what particular outfit convinced festival officials to change the event’s guidelines,” concedes The Hollywood Reporter. “But red carpet nudity is definitely a hot topic, especially since Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori’s Grammy appearance, where she posed for photographers in a sheer sheath dress—in effect, naked.”

The British daily The Guardian also points out that Bella Hadid, Natasha Poly, Elle Fanning, Meredith Mickelson “and many others have paraded in Cannes in recent years in sheer outfits.”

“This explosion of transparent dresses has revealed many stars’ nipples during the last

Cannes Film Festival”

The American weekly The Hollywood Reporter

As for outfits “whose volume hinders good circulation,” according to the words of Cannes, it is difficult not to think of the cloud-shaped dress worn by the singer Tems at the 2023 Oscars, “which obstructed the view of the spectators seated behind her in the Dolby Theatre,” continues The Hollywood Reporter .

The Cannes Film Festival also aims to prevent excessively long trains from disrupting the flow of traffic on the red carpet.

“So, what are you allowed to wear? Dark tie, evening dress, cocktail dress, and elegant sandals.”

“with or without heels.”

The British daily newspaper The Guardian

In terms of shoes, since in 2015 women were (scandalously) refused entry to the premiere of Carol because they were not wearing high heels, the festival's policy on this matter has relaxed somewhat.

Look at Julia Roberts and Kirsten Stewart, who, in response, climbed the stairs barefoot in 2016, and Jennifer Lawrence in flip-flops in 2023.

Finally, two unknowns remain.

Already, it is not impossible that these rules will be relaxed for the festival's official partners , "including the Chopard and L'Oréal brands, or those of the Kering group. Some of their muses are known for having climbed the steps in bulky or transparent outfits during recent editions," the American weekly points out.

And then it is worth asking whether these rules only apply to female nudity.

Are they just another straitjacket designed to control what women are allowed to wear, to show – and how they are allowed to show it?

In other words, will male nipples be treated the same as female nipples? If so, let's remember that some rules are meant to be broken.