Carey Mulligan is the toast of Cannes

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10 April 2012

The Oscars has a reputation for being the biggest fashion show on earth. If it is, Cannes is surely a close second. For one thing, it goes on for nearly a fortnight, so allows for whole private-jet loads of outfits. And for another, actresses have so much more scope. There isn't just one red carpet, there's a whole series of them, and that's before they even get started on the yacht gangways and after-parties.

With such tremendous fashion activity in mind, it's little wonder it has taken a smidgen longer than usual to arrive at one earth-shattering conclusion: the ballgown is over. Or at least, it should be where this festival is concerned. Not convinced? Take a look at the wardrobe choices of our latest style-crush, the spellbinding Carey Mulligan. Running rings around her fellow thespians as they shuffled up the red carpet under layers of pink taffeta, Mulligan's understated, effortlessly chic ensemble choices semaphored that she's a serious actress, not one whose predominant concern is making it onto a best-dressed list. A Londoner, so well versed in the art of putting together apparently effortless outfits, Mulligan chose standout looks that included a pared-down prom dress from
Prada's new Print Collection as well as a shin-skimming cocktail dress by Roland Mouret.

She was joined by a host of fashion-savvy contemporaries. The equivocally stylish Michelle Williams opted for a knee-length, tulip-shaped tweed dress by Suno, while Lost star Evangeline Lilly showed off her legs in an acid-bright fringed dress by Pucci. Rachel Bilson chose a leopard-print shift dress by Isabel Marant for her first Cannes appearance, and Dasha Zhukova, Pop Magazine's editor at large, opted for a scalloped-edge dress by Vionnet.

Then, of course, there were the French. So impossibly chic are the stars of Gallic silver screen that they make red-carpet dressing look like child's play. Marion Cotillard turned heads in a body-skimming polka-dot halter dress, while Clotilde Courau, actress and wife of the Prince of Venice, dazzled in a ruffle-detail mini-dress by Lanvin. Strikingly out of place were the princess-style floor-sweeping couture gowns that look twee, dated even, in comparison.

While there may long be a place for fairytales in fashion, Cannes, it would seem, is no longer where they happen.

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