The Cannes Collection: A Further Taxonomy

Continuing our series on the Creatures of Cannes, let’s turn our attention to the behavior known as Gawking. Here, you are encouraged – one might even say – incited to Gawk.

Exhibit #1: Female Firefly


This aging beauty was first spotted with a young woman in tow who had been hired (I kid you not) to carry the bustle of her gown as they hurried to a reception. (That was the first attention-getter.) I might have given this no more notice save for the moment when someone shouted: “Her dress has lights on it!”

And indeed, she/it did. The only thing that could make this scene a little more classy? A cigarette! No sooner had she begun to draw a crowd, she beckoned for a cigarette and for a minute or so – until the gasper was lit – it flapped impotently in her mouth as she continued to talk to her admirers.





Exhibit #2: Runway Confection


At each of the evening events, you see young women who have been dolled up in what some might called “haute couture” and others might call “not couture”. They are usually skimpy affairs (the dresses and the women) with real flowers, fake cotton candy, fishing tackle and miscellaneous other items strategically placed to avoid arrest. In this particular case, coming down the stairway in the Palais after midnight, this woman in what appeared to be a lime green outfit from the Jetsons posed for gawkers like me who were armed with digital cameras.

I’m guessing the point is that some women are expected to ask – “And just who IS the designer of that dress?” I’m just not sure WHO would ask that question of this particular dress.