Cannes Film Festival is known for showcasing film and fashion, but apparently flats are so last year. The film festival is being blasted for turning away a group of women in their 50s, some with medical conditions, for wearing -- gasp -- flats to the red carpet screening of the lesbian-themed Carol (costarring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara), according to ScreenDaily. 

 

Carol, a love story set in the 1950s, had women of all ages lining the red carpet ready for the premiere only to be denied due to the festival’s dress code. This may sound like part of the film plot from the 50s, but it was a reality for several moviegoers. Although the festival has declined to comment on the matter they have confirmed to The Independent that it is required for women to wear high heels to all red carpet showings, even if the flats are rhinestone-studded, as those worn by the ousted women reportedly were. 

 

Blanchett and Mara star alongside Sarah Paulson and Carrie Brownstein in the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt. Blanchett plays the titular character, a socialite who falls for a younger woman, played by Mara. Brownstein and Paulson costar as another couple in Carol’s life. No word on whether the ladies wore flats in the film. The movie will be premiering in the U.S. later this year where flats are encouraged.