The Cannes Film Festival has been rocked by sartorial ‘controversy’ when news emerged of several women over 50 being denied access to the premier of Carol because they dared to wear flats instead of heels. Quelle horreur.
Emily Blunt is having none of that and dismissed the strict Cannes footwear rules with a nod and a wink (we imagine) at the press conference for her new film Sicario.
“Everyone should wear flats, to be honest,” she said. “We shouldn’t wear high heels anymore. I prefer to wear Converse sneakers.”
She then made the very good point that it’s, you know, just a little bit oppressive to require women to conform to traditional gender norms or risk the humiliation of being denied entry.
“That’s very disappointing, just when you think there are these new waves of equality,” she said.
Sicario director Denis Villeneuve offered a show of solidarity by joking that he and co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro would “walk the stairs in high heels tonight.” They didn’t, in the end, but it’s the thought that counts. (Is it?)
Emily Blunt thus far remains the only female celeb at Cannes to comment on the heels debacle (death to the first person who tries to make #heelgate a thing), but a few media types / rock stars have weighed in on the issue:
*thinks* If I were at Cannes, I’d wear flats – but have some heels ON MY HANDS. Yeah – ban THAT motherfuck #cannesheels
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) May 19, 2015
Dictating what height a woman’s shoe needs to be [ie: high] – including women with ‘medical conditions’ – seems like very bad policy indeed.
— Tara Moss (@Tara_Moss) May 19, 2015
Just got kicked out of Cannes for not wearing high heels. ??????
— Dad (@markhoppus) May 19, 2015
.@Lisa_Wilkinson takes her heels off, after women wearing flats at @Festival_Cannes red carpet are turned away. pic.twitter.com/aoSmfqfmWz
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) May 19, 2015
And lest we forget Emma Thompson at last year’s Golden Globes rocking up to the stage martini in hand and flinging her Louboutins over her shoulder.
In light of the media ‘shitstorm’, Cannes director Thierry Frémaux took to Twitter to deny that high heels are a woman’s ticket of entry. Translated, his tweet reads: “The rumour that the Festival requires high heels for women on the steps is unfounded.” Or, if you can speak French because you’re fancy like that, here’s the tweet itself:
@marcmissonnier Pas du tout. Et la rumeur selon laquelle le Festival exige des talons hauts pour les femmes sur les marches est infondée.
— THIERRY FREMAUX (@THIERRYFREMAUX) May 19, 2015
Based on the recently accelerated trend of Converse-as-acceptable-red-carpet-wear (Scarlett Johansson kicked things off in 2003 at the Venice Film Festival, followed by K-Stew rocking up to the MTV Movie Awards and then, of course, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler wore ball gowns with Converses at the 2013 Golden Globes), we predict stilettos will be extinct by 2023.
Bring. It. On.
Image credit: Tristan Fewings and Clemens Bilan via Getty Images.