Cannes 2019: Elle Fanning just exposed the dangerous side of the red carpet

Elle Fanning

Credit: Getty

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Cannes 2019: Elle Fanning just exposed the dangerous side of the red carpet

By Hannah-Rose Yee

6 years ago

As one of the Cannes Film Festival’s jury members, Elle Fanning is required to attend dozens of events over the course of a few weeks. After fainting on the red carpet, the actor has spoken out about the dark side of these events.

It’s a tough life, this red carpet business.

We’re not being facetious. For celebrities attending a glamorous red carpet event like the Cannes Film Festival, it’s a marathon not a sprint. The hair, the makeup, the dress, the shoes, the jewels… The work involved in getting a star onto the red carpet and in front of the world’s assembled photographers isn’t to be sniffed at.

Elle Fanning knows this better than most. As a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury the actor is required to attend night after night of events and screenings, each one requiring a new gown and ensemble. And at the most recent event Fanning’s sweetly-embroidered corseted Prada gown was so tight that it caused the star to faint.

“Oops, had a fainting spell tonight in my Fifties Prada prom dress but it’s all good,” Fanning shared on Instagram. “Dress too tight. Time of the month,” she added.

“Worth the fainting spell,” actor Michelle Monaghan commented on a picture of Fanning in the outfit. “I feel you, girl. Same thing happened to me, when I was maid of honour at a wedding. Glad you’re feeling better!” a fan responded.

We’re glad that Fanning is fine, but her experience exposes the worrying dark side behind all the glitz and the glamour of the red carpet. It’s 2019, not the Fifties. Why are we lacing ourselves into restrictive, “too tight” gowns in the name of fashion? Fanning might play a Disney Princess onscreen, but in real life she shouldn’t be forced into a corseted dress that squeezes her until she has a fainting spell. 

What is this, Keira Knightley in the 2003 motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean?

The question of wearing a corset in the 21st century reached fever pitch in 2015, when Lily James spoke about the way wearing a corset on the set of Disney’s Cinderella impacted her body.

“When it was on we would be on continuous days so we wouldn’t stop for lunch or a lovely tea… you’d be sort of eating on the move,” James told E! News. “In that case, I couldn’t untie the corset. So if you ate food it didn’t really digest properly and I’d be burping all afternoon in Richard [Madden]’s face, and it was just really sort of unpleasant. I’d have soup so that I could still eat but it wouldn’t get stuck.” 

Yes, both James and Fanning looked gorgeous in their corseted princess gowns. But we have to end this relentless red carpet charade and stop forcing women into tight gowns that restrict normal bodily functions, squeeze internal organs into unnatural shapes and, ultimately, prove so constrictive that they cut off the blood and air supply to the head. 


Images: Getty

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