Did Cannes Really Slip Up on the Heel? How Unfashionably Sexist

In a year touted as Cannes’ “year of la femme”, the film festival shot itself in the mouth by ‘banning’ flats.

Never since Cinderella dashed off into fairytale midnight leaving a dainty glass slipper behind, has the “high heel” seen such a resurgence in popular media. Cannes can take all the credit for the renaissance, ushering in a new wave of feminism by shooting its own foot in the mouth (pun intended).

Last Tuesday, the world’s most prestigious film festival turned away a group of women from a film screening ­– inviting a world of trouble for itself that just refuses to die down. The screening in question was Todd Haynes’ lesbian romance Carol which was especially earmarked to highlight a year that Cannes had declared was the “year of the woman”. Irony much?

Emma Thompson, the Martini and the Heel

Women have battled the malaise of the heel for centuries now. There have been meek diplomats and there have been warriors. When Marilyn Monroe traipsed into male hearts in the 1960s, perched atop precariously high stilettos, she must have known she was setting the trend for feminine sex appeal and desirability.

The trend has refused to buck since then ­– although not for lack of trying. Last year’s Golden Globes, for whoever remembers it, was particularly delightful. Everyone’s beloved Emma Thompson wobbled on to the stage, with a martini in one hand and blood-red Christian Louboutin heels in another. Pretending to be drunk, the actress slurred “My blood”, pointing to the red in those devilish heels – before she did the unthinkable: lobbing them over her head!

There were screams of raucous laughter – almost of relief – from rows of female comrades at the event who had all stuffed their feet into vertiginous high heels for the night. Emma Thompson had created a stir – a stir that was here to stay.

The Year of “La Femme”: Irony Much?

The Cannes “ruling” this year couldn’t have come at a worse time for a festival that boasts of being the elysium of high fashion and glamour. The slew of films originally lined up had already seen a lot of criticism for not having had enough female representation. Salma Hayek gave a talk on gender equality, while Carol was intended to turn the winds somewhat in Cannes’ favour. Alas, that fell flat. (Again, no pun intended.)

Why was it even such a big deal? A group of 50-something women were turned away from the screening for wearing “rhinestone flats”. If one were splitting hairs, it wasn’t even like they were wearing sneakers! The Cannes rulebook (so to speak) dictates something vague like women should be dressed well with smart footwear. My my, how specific.

The festival organisers of course went into a tizzy trying to explain away the fiasco in their own (you got it) marvellously vague way. While Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has insisted the high heels aren’t obligatory (“the rumour…is unfounded” he said on twitter), the festival press office issued the following statement:

Regarding the dress code for the red carpet screenings, rules have not changed throughout the years (Tuxedo, formal dress for Gala screenings) and there is no specific mention about the height of the women’s heels as well as for men’s. Thus, in order to make sure that this rule is respected, the festival’s hosts and hostesses were reminded of it.

Whatever that means.

The fashion world has clearly a long way to go to shake itself off the high horse of high heels and black tuxes. But the bigger statement is simple, really: Women shouldn’t be obliged to wear high heels anyway. After all, how can you continue the good fight if you can’t stand upright?