The official dress code for the Cannes Film Festival calls for formal gowns, little black dresses and any shoes save fashionable trainers. Unfolding outside opulent hotels and beach stores, the unofficial dress code favours an all-white palette above all else. For celebs like Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez to arrive in the French enclave in hues of ivory, cream, and ecru, and for me to cover them all at Marie Claire, wondering how I could ever get away with white-on-white in actual life, it’s a time-honoured custom.
Having worn my fair number of white skirt ensembles, I have always appreciated the appearance of a sharp white sundress. When I wear them, those looks barely lasted 24 hours without a scuff mark or stain. The clean fabric and the closest open Tabasco sauce bottle seemed to have a magnetic pull. A day of wearing white would end, and I would lament having strayed from patterns and prints. But as Bella Hadid arrived in Cannes for the festival’s 2025 edition, I suddenly wanted to put aside my doubts about the all-white summer style anyway.
Not just because of her beautiful, honey blonde hair, Hadid emerged from her private sedan looking like a beam of sunshine. A vintage-looking white bustier top matched with straight-leg trousers would fit the Cannes hotel walk-up motif, beat the south of France heat, and complement her Old Hollywood-gone-Western flair. It’s the sort of straightforward mix that transforms a formerly scary hue to seem far more approachable. Although the credits were not accessible at press time, I could readily find a variety of comparable halter tops and straight-leg trousers for the same pin-up appearance. I cannot comment on how she maintained it so immaculate.
The Orê belle creator rounded off her complementing ensemble with caramel brown accessories from one of her favourite designers. A new top-handle bag from Vintage Saint Laurent went well with the heels. Tying a thin white ribbon to her handbag’s handle, she added her spin on the silk scarf trend—another stylistic advice I intend to steal and paste.
With a far wider palette, Hadid and stylist Molly Dickson created ripples at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Among the offerings was a back-baring white Jacquemus dress; so was a plunging historical Versace gown, a golden vintage mini, and the nakedest Saint Laurent outfit to ever walk the official red carpet. Still, it’s her basic mix of a white halter top and white trousers that I’ll be replicating this spring and summer. I ordered the interpretation below with a Tide to Go pen.
