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Ladies at the Cannes Film Festival were turned away from a premiere for having the audacity to not wear high heels.It's especially ironic given the feminist appeal of the film where women were turned away. Several middle-aged women were refused entry at Sunday's screening of Todd Haynes' '50s lesbian romance Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. The dress code for the red carpet at Cannes is very strict, but some of the guests were older women with medical conditions. They were banned for having the nerve to desecrate the Cannes red carpet with rhinestone flats, according to Screen Daily.
One Cannes regular told Screen: "Someone I know was turned away for wearing nice flats, nothing you would wear to the beach. They were in their 50’s. They told her she could go and buy appropriate shoes and come back."
Emily Blunt told Variety the move to ban flats seemed silly: "I think everyone should wear flats, to be honest. We shouldn’t wear high heels anymore. That's just my point of view I prefer to wear Converse sneakers. That’s very disappointing."
Asif Kapadia, whose Amy Winehouse documentary Amy screened at Cannes, said his wife was given a hard time before she was eventually let in:
@muirkate happened to my wife (eventually let in)
— asifkapadia (@asifkapadia) May 19, 2015
Festival spokeswoman Christine Aime told the Associated Press that a mistake had been made: "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."
"Shoegate" comes at a time when the entertainment industry is under fire for its sexism.
