Hollywood vs Bollywood at Cannes 2013

The 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival red carpet looked a lot like the Bollywood Filmfare Awards this year. Apart from the usual suspects, Freida Pinto and the faces of the L’oreal Paris brand Sonam Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, there were a host of newbies joining in.

Amisha Patel in Manish Malhotra and Puja Gupta in Gauri and Nainika, Aishwarya Rai in Gucci Premiere, Aishwarya Rai in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla

We are all for Vidya Balan being an appointed jury member, she deserves it, but what in the world was Ameesha Patel doing at the esteemed French film festival? In any case, the multi-cultural ambience offered an increasingly variable fashion component so we are not complaining in the least.

Vidya Balan in Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Sonam Kapoor in Anamika Khanna, Sonam Kapoor in Shehla Khan

There were a few faux pas on both sides with Vidya playing the traditional Indian card a bit too hard. While we can forgive the done and dusted Sabyasachi high neck and long-sleeves-politician-looking saris, the ethnic nose ring and dupatta over her head was unforgivable, and whether it was intentional or just a naive styling choice, her overly contrived look came across as fake and just plain silly. We have never once seen the Dirty Picture heroine cover her head at any Indian award show, so why now? This in no way implies that one should not opt for Eastern wear; we thought Sonam’s Shehla Khan Black lace lehnga choli was one of the most beautiful ensembles of all. That brought us to our first Cannes misfire trend, the oversized tribal nose ring also seen on Sonam who usually doesn’t fall for such tacky nuances.

Aishwarya Rai in Elie Saab, Aishwarya Rai in Saint Laurent, Jessica Miller in Dior

Zoë Saldana in Emanuel Ungaro, Carey Mulligan in Vionett, Rooney Mara and Jennifer Lawrence in Dior and Emma Watson in Chanel

After considerable misses, Aishwarya is finally starting to get it right. Her lace embellished black Elie Saab gown was one of the most applauded of the entire event and even though the teal silk Gucci Premiere didn’t work quite as well, the Abu Sandeep vintage European motif dress, with a touch of English Rose, was a pretty choice for the red carpet. The actor was also part of the most popular Cannes trend — solid black and white. She picked an insanely smart Saint Laurent high-waist mermaid cut belted skirt and a button-down tucked in shirt. It almost seemed like there was a pre-planned secret dress code given the amount of celebrities who showed up in nothing but simple structured black and whites.

The bell-shaped ball gown may look physically daunting to wear but it always gets the job done. Its flamboyant cut instantly attracts attention and associates with a certain fairytale charm that is ingrained in our psyche. Sonam and even Malika Sherawat worked the look stunningly, both in Dolce & Gabbana, while Hadewych Minis was a close runner-up. A slightly more modern version was modeled by Bernice Bejo who topped off her white net wedding dress cut with a navy blazer. We loved her innovative assembling technique.

Nicole Kidman in Dior, Malika Sherawat, Sonam Kapoor in Armani Prive

The world is having a midi moment. The ‘70s bell-shaped dress seems to be ‘the’ silhouette for summer time and it took some time getting used to as the length can be slightly tricky to wear. But it grows on you, especially when it comes with pockets as it did on Sonam’s Armani Prive dress.



 

Dita Von Teese in Elie Saab, Jessica Biel in Marchesa

The cut takes you nicely inwards at the waist and has an air of sweet finesse. The midi was in fact so popular that both Sonam and Dita Von Teese ended up wearing the same Elie Saab sheer tulle dress!



We have already talked about the universal canary yellow colour rage when we discussed red carpet trends seen at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week (PSFW) 2013, however it is worth mentioning again just to show you the glittering Elie Saab version worn by Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio.

Cheryl Cole in Zuhair Murad, Eva Longoria in Versace

The sheer trend that was introduced with great delicacy and technique by the likes of Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta and Elie Saab is now being grossly abused by the likes of Zuhair Murad and Versace among others. It is time to put an immediate end to this so-called trend now as it borders on tacky and tactless, not to mention leading to unavoidable wardrobe malfunctions as is the case of Eva Longoria.

Jada Pinkett Smith, Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga

A subtle micro trend that caught our eye was the circular reverse scoop neckline on Carey Mulligan’s Balenciaga jumpsuit and Jada Pinket Smith’s orange sheer dress. We may not be crazy about Jada’s dress on the whole, however, we do appreciate the clean-cut away neckline that is a nice change of pace from straight and plunging.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.

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Correction: An earlier version of the article was running an older picture of Malika Sherawat. The error has been rectified.