WHO WORE WHAT?.....Cannes Film Festival: Days 4-6 Top 10 Best Dressed/Best Dresses!

WHO WORE WHAT?.....Cannes Film Festival: Days 4-6 Top 10 Best Dressed/Best Dresses!

 Red Carpet Goddess: Thai-British actress and L'Oreal Paris Ambassador Araya A. Hargate in Alexis Mabille Couture Fall 2014

This year's Cannes Film Festival has been OUT OF CONTROL FABULOUS in terms of the COUTURE that has been on display on the red carpet. I've covered my Top Ten Best Dressed (or Best Dresses!) of Cannes 2017 Day 1-3 which you can read HERE, so now it is time to continue my "Red Carpet Report" and discuss my Top Ten Best Dresses of Cannes 2017 Days 4-6. Lots of $100,000+ costing gowns to discuss. Oh, and on a side note: Why actresses don't look THIS COUTURE FABULOUS at the Academy Awards is beyond me and very, very frustrating but oh well. It seems the red carpet mantra is...Oscars: Safe. Cannes: Go For It!

Gown Divas: (L to R) Araya A. Hargate, Sonam Kapoor and Aishwrya Rai Bachchan--2017 Cannes Film Festival Cannes France

Let's begin with one of the Red Carpet Divas of the Cannes 2017 Festival--Thai-British (and slightly pregnant) actress Araya "Chompoo" A. Hargate. I must admit that I had no idea who she was until this year's Cannes Film Festival--even with her (as of writing this post) 7.2 MILLION Instagram followers! But now, darlings...she is my new favorite STYLE MUSE...

Queen Araya: Araya A. Hargate at "The Meyerowitz Stories" Cannes 2017 Premiere--Araya wore this entrance-making gown from French designer Alexis Mabille Couture Fall 2014. This style may be from a 3-year-old collection, however, it is still SO NOW, and SO RED CARPET FAB! The strapless design featured an off-white column gown with a gorgeous lipstick red "puffy" overcape attached in the bust line with volants and Empire-waisted bustier. All that stitching you see on the overcape was done BY HAND. It's Haute Couture after all. Araya sure knows how to make an entrance! Definitely, one of my Best Dressed of Days 4-6 Cannes 2017 Film Festival.

Fuchsia Araya: Leave it to Ms. Hargate to not just have one--but TWO--of my Best Dresses from Days 4-6 Cannes Film Festival 2017. This is another fabulous gown that she wore, this time to the Premiere of "120 Beats Per Minute" (120 Battements Par Minute). This UBER Princess gown is from Zuhair Murad Spring/Summer 2017 Haute Couture. The gown was EVERYTHING! Araya has learned that if there was ever a moment to wear SUPER HUGE ballgowns...it's Cannes! (Maybe Aishwarya Rai Bachchan taught her this!). 

The strapless gown featured an asymmetrically placed front bodice bow and multi layered silk tulle ballgown skirt all sewn by hand. How anyone sits in one of those small velvet movie theater chairs in this $100,000+ costing Couture gown is beyond me. But, she looked beautiful and Red Carpet perfect--at least for Cannes.

Sonam Kapoor in Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017 to "The Killing of a Scared Deer" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Bollywood super-actress and L'Oreal Paris Ambassador (naturally!) wore this golden gown from Elie Saab Haute Couture. The gown featured gold and crystal hand-cut lace applique over nude tulle column gown with overskirt with a plunging sweetheart neckline. She looked DIVINE.  The gown was the finale "Wedding Gown" look of his most recent Haute Couture collection shown in Paris in January of this year. The gown--as seen on the runway--was a tad bit more "revealing". For Sonam, there were more golden appliques added to cover her up and the sequin work was changed so it didn't look so much like palm trees in a Dubai dessert oasis.

Sonam Kapoor in Custom Elie Saab Couture to "The Meyerowitz Stories" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Yes kids, Sonam Kapoor is now TWICE on my Best Dressed of Days 4-6 of Cannes 2017 List. In other words, this Bollywood Diva is SLAYING it! I loved this pink sequined-and-organza-crinoline gown from Elie Saab Haute Couture. The gown had a gorgeous column base dress with a soft silk georgette overskirt. It was belted and she accessorized it with...

FABULOUS jewels including those incredible finger-to-wrist bracelets. Oh, and by the way,  did I mention that her gown was CUSTOM?. So, yeah, not just Haute Couture but really, really, really...made JUST FOR HER. For free! (This would be beyond the $100,000 price tag). Kapoor has 10 MILLION Instagram followers so I am guessing the Elie Saab P.R. crew is hoping some of those followers might buy an Elie Saab perfume or pair of sunglasses the next time they're in at Duty Free or a high-end department store! Irregardless, Thank You Sonam for being Two-For-Two in the Fab Cannes Red Carpet Moments!

Andie MacDowell in Roberto Cavalli at "The Meyerowitz Stories" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Model/Actress Andie MacDowell looked gorgeous at Cannes in this black and violet gown from Italian fashion brand Roberto Cavalli. The gown was elegant, chic, and sexy! And MacDowell looked AMAZING in it. I loved the shape, the dramatic bow, the draped bodice and side front slit. Andie is almost 60 years old (You GO GIRL!) and seriously, she could teach some of the 20-year-old's a lesson in red carpet fabulousness!

Aishwarya Rai in Ralph & Russo Spring/Summer 2017 Couture at the "120 Beats Per Minute" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Oh yes...everyone bow down to Queen Aishwarya. I love that she basically has showed up to this year's Cannes Film Festival to show everyone in the world why she was crowned Miss World many, many years ago. This gorgeous actress/model/Bollywood Diva has still got it (not that anyone thought she lost it!).  I loved this strapless red ballgown (Aishwarya loves a ballgown!) from Ralph & Russo S/S 2017 Couture collection.

The original style--as seen on the catwalk--featured a less-structured bustier (mainly because it was for the super teeny 32" bust measuring model!), and for Rai Bachchan, the bustier was constructed with a little more, shall we say, support. I thought Aishwarya looked like a Red Carpet Goddess...in Red! One of these days, she just needs to bring out that "Miss World" crown and just wear it on the red carpet. It would make A LOT of gays very, very happy! (i.e.: Me!).

Eva Longoria Marchesa Pre-Fall 2017 at "The Killing of a Scared Deer" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Miss Eva gave you some Cannes Red Carpet Realness in this blush colored sequined-and-applique tulle gown from Marchesa Pre-Fall 2017. This is such a beautiful gown, a beautiful 30's-like silhouette, but updated with the nude/blush coloring. I especially loved the capelet detail of the gown and her styling was perfection. Muy bella Eva!

Lana El Sahely in Ralph & Russo Couture Fall/Winter 2016 at "The Killing of a Scared Deer" Cannes 2017 Premiere: Freelance stylist and founder of LArmoireDeLana Blog, Lana El Sahely wound up wearing one of my Top Ten Best Dresses from Cannes 2017 Days 4-6. I have no idea who she is but she was important enough to get a free Ralph & Russo Couture gown--at least for a night. And it looked gorgeous! The style featured white silk crepe gown with pale blue silk organza overskirt hand appliqued with ruffles and embellished with China blue silk thread-work, crystals and glass bead embroidery.

Barbara Meier in Alexis Mabille Spring 2017 Couture at "The Meyerowitz Stories" Cannes 2017 Premiere: German fashion model and actress--best known as the winner of the 2nd cycle of Germany's Next Top Model--wore one of my Top Ten Best Dresses of Cannes 2017 Days 4-6. This royal blue gown was from French designer Alexis Mabille. His Couture creations have been getting some exposure at Cannes which is great; I ADORE his designs. This dress featured an off-the-shoulder style with sequined godets highlighting the neckline with a beautiful simple belted column gown. I also loved her center parted chignon hairstyle.



Last but Not Least in my Top Ten Best Dressed of Cannes 2017 Days 4-6...

Naomi Campbell in Atelier Versace Spring 2017 at the Cannes Fashion For Relief Fundraiser Gala: Leave it to Miss Naomi Campbell to make it onto my Top Ten Best Dressed of Cannes 2017 Days 4-6. She wore this super sexy Atelier Versace Spring/Summer 2017 gown at the "Cannes Fashion For Relief" fundraiser event. The blush colored silk georgette dress featured an intricate Swarovski crystal encrusted web over the base of the gown, as well as side front slit to show off Campbell's iconic legs. This was a perfect choice for Naomi and she, naturally, wore it fabulously.

WHO WORE WHAT?.....Met Gala 2017 BEST DRESSED!

WHO WORE WHAT?.....Met Gala 2017 BEST DRESSED!

La Queen Katy: Katy Perry arrives at the Met Gala 2017 in Maison Margiela Couture Spring/Summer 2017

Tonight was the Met Gala. In case you have been living under a (Fashion) rock for a while, this is THE FASHION Prom, or the Oscars of the East Coast. The Met Gala--formally called the Costume Institute Gala and also known as the Met Ball--is an annual fundraising gala to raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and signals the opening of a new exhibition...

Metropolitan Museum of Art: "Art of In-Between" Exhibition featuring the work of Rei Kawakubo and Commes des Garcons

This year's exhibition pays homage to the work of Rei Kawakubo and Commes des Garcons with "Art of In-Between" (Photo above), opening May 4th and running through September 4th. Rei Kawakubo is known for her avant-garde and ability to challenge the traditional notions of good taste, what's "fashionable" and on-trend. Kawakubo has built an empire on making people think about fashion on a different level--or more specifically in dualisms: Clothes/Not Clothes, Male/Female, Fashion/Anti-Fashion, and so on. Now, before I discuss my Best Dressed/Favorite of the night and in the event that you are still not aware of what Comme des Garcons' design philosophy is, here is an amuse-bouche:

Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons 

So...with that out of the way, there was a certain expectation on my part, at least, to see some FABULOUS avant-grade, or at the very least, slight nods to this or Comme des Garcons and this dualism theme of hers and the brand. And this is also how I chose my Best Dressed. Sorry but not sorry to all the Selena Gomez lovers out there but this pretty creme-colored dress designed by Coach (they do gowns now?) missed the mark:

NOT MY BEST DRESSED: Selena Gomez in Coach at the Met Gala 2017

Completely. It was nice and perfect for a black-tie upscale wedding in NYC, but the Met Gala? Nope. Sorry. I get that she's young (well, 24 ain't that young!) but yeah, I get NADA, Nothing, Zip...of a even the slightest of nods to Kawakubo or Comme des Garcons or anything UBER Haute Fashion. I want a little bit of DRAMA huney! And BTW: What is with those shoes???



OK, now that I got that off my chest...time to move on to my Best Dressed Top 15:

Katy Perry in Maison Margiela Couture Spring/Summer 2017: Now THIS is how you pay homage to Rei Kawakubo and Commes des Garcons. She may not have been wearing the genius' designs but she was doing her part by attending in another Fashion Bad Girl--I mean boy--John Galliano and his design for Maison Margiela Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017 collection.

Maison Margiela Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017 by John Galliano

I loved this red tulle, sequined and crinoline concoction. It featured one of Kawakubo's favorite colors: scarlet red. And played on the notion of Fashion/Not Fashion, Soft/Hard, Romantic/Fierce, avant-garde, as well as a "Blood Bride" perhaps. I love when fashion makes one think, stop, pause, cause conversation, and Comme des Garcons always does and so does this. Thank you Katy: You nailed it huney!

Zendaya in Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2015: Zendaya showed up to the Met Gala 2017 to slay it. And she did. I loved this over-the-top printed silk SUPER ballgown. The gown was from Dolce & Gabban Alta Moda Fall/Winter 2015 collection. It's not "vintage" but it wasn't recent and yes, if one were to order this, it would set you back $100,000+...

I loved the romantic edge with the extreme fabulousity that Rei Kawakubo would probably admire. Just for the hair alone, I bow to her (and her stylists!) huney!

Rihanna in Comme des Garcons Fall/Winter 2016--Three Words: Go On Rihanna! I know that this is a bit cray-cray but HELLO! Newsflash: It's an homage to Comme des Gracons kids! Educate yourselves! Miss Rihanna wore this volant-filled look straight from the runways and the Comme des Garcons Fall/Winter 2016 collection shown a year ago. Naturally, she had to add her own twist and style it with those Diva leg-strapped heels. Thank you Rihanna for giving me SOMETHING and for wearing Comme des Garcons to a Comme des Garcons Met Gala! Not sure how she sat down to eat...or just sat down period but hey, sometimes one must suffer for fashion.

Lily Collins in Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2016: I loved this look on Lily Collins. She wore a strapless ballgown from Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2016. The gown is probably a $100,000 design exquisitely hand-made of tulle, duchesse silk satin and hand applied crystals. It's sweet and perfect for a Billionaire Heiress Sweet Sixteen bash but Lily made it fresh, more modern with that cropped black wig, honoring Rei Kawakubo's iconic hairstyle. Take a lesson Selena Gomez on how to make pretty just a little off-putting and more Comme des Garcon-ish.

 Solange Knowles in Thom Browne Fall/Winter 2017: I know that many people out there will think "Oh No Nick!" but YASSSSSSSSS!!!! I thank Solange for GIVING ME! Thank goodness this wasn't a basic creme colored evening dress. That's not what the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons Met Gala 2017 is about darlings! Solange got it! Loved this black puffy jacket with train ensemble. In case you didn't read a recent WWD Trend Alert article HERE, it's all about the Puffy Jacket huney! And those shoes were EVERYTHING!!!

Lily Aldridge in Ralph Lauren Custom: Model Lily gave her best avant-garde Fashion Diva look at the Met Gala 2017 with this white silk jersey gown with skin-revealing peek-a-boos from---of all brands--Ralph Lauren! Yes, kids, RAPLH LAUREN! This has NOTHING to do with Ralph Lauren but I am willing to give it a pass only because she looked AMAZING! That's why I put her in my Best Dressed Top 15. But seriously, she could have just said this was by "John Smith of Pocoima" and I would have believed that more than RALPH LAUREN! #JustSaying

Tracee Ellis Ross in Comme des Garcons: I LOVED this bold blue coat on Tracee Ellis Ross! It was dramatic, fashionable and OMG: It was from Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons! I admired the simple cocooning-like effect and what a fabulous statement it made. Miss Tracee's momma done taught her right in terms of simple drama and CHIC!

Lily-Rose Depp in Chanel: I absolutely loved this bubblegum pink strapless ballgown on Lily-Rose Depp. The design is from Chanel. The drop-waist design seems simple and classic and yet, there is the added detail of the sequined roses (for Lily-Rose perhaps?) and raw hem. Her makeup (those fab cat-eyes!) and hair were GORGEOUS! One could argue and say "well, what does bubblegum pink and a pretty ballgown have to do with Comme des Garcons?". Not much, but...she certainly created a striking image and I'm sure Rei would approve of that!

Rose Byrne in Ralph Lauren Custom: Once again, I am TOTALLY at a loss at what this plunging neckline tulle ballgown has to do with Ralph Lauren. But, I still give Rose and the fashion house of Ralph Lauren credit for this look. She looked beautiful and she did wear the color of the night: Comme des Garcons red. It was definitely a statement...and a good one!

Zoe Kravitz in Oscar de la Renta: Zoe Kravitz wore this Millenial Pink gown from Monse designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. The duchesse silk satin gown featured an overcape and bust accented with black ruffled embellishments. She looked regal and supremely chic. While this might have been a better outfit for a Balenciaga Gala Tribute, I still put her in my Top 15 Best Dressed just because she gave me something! And something dramatic and quite fabulous.

Blake Lively in Atelier Versace: Blake Lively gave everyone a serving of gold-and-feathered couture in this golden and blue feather gown from Atelier Versace. The hand-made $100,000+ costing gown (Blake got it for free) looked amazing on her and made her a Stand-out at the Met Gala 2017 red carpet.

Elle Fanning in in Miu Miu: Elle Fanning looked ethereal, gorgeous and the vision of a Romance Princess in this strapless baby blue silk chiffon gathered Empire-cut gown from Miu Miu. Now, I don't know what this design and style has to do with the "Prada Junior" line of Miu Miu but once again, I guess I have to suspend fashion belief. Irregardless of this, I still included Fanning in my Top 15 Best Dressed. The gown was GORGEOUS, dramatic and she looked incredible. Would Rei Kawakubo approve of such prettiness and Romanticism? Probably not. But at least, she made a Gown Statement!

Aymeline Valade in Marni: French model Aymeline Valade looked INCREDIBLE in this blue satin and gold sequined suit from the Italian fashion house of Marni and its incoming designer Francesco Risso. This suit was GOOOOOORGEOUS! If you're going to wear a suit to the Met Gala, this is it!

Amy Fine Collins in Thom Browne: Vanity Fair writer Amy Fine Collins looked so super chic, I couldn't miss placing her in my Top 15 Best Dressed of the 2017 Met Gala. I loved this "Victor/Victoria" tuxedo-meets-sequined gown from Thom Browne; it blended that dualism context of Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons to a "T"! 

Finally...

Dakota Johnson in Gucci Custom: Dakota Johnson wore this black silk gown with ruffed detail from Gucci/Alessandro Michele. Some say this was a bit "Gothic" but I actually think it was quite Romantic and beautiful but yet still a but directional to possibly satisfy La Kawakubo! 

So there you have it: My Top 15 Best Dressed of the 2017 Met Gala! Who were YOUR favorites??