Rent Ball Gowns Part of the Biggest Cannes Trends

Red carpet trend: Feathers.  Who wore it well: Carine Roitfeld. Uma Thurman.  Who wore it badly: Bar Rafaeli.

Red carpet trend: White/Champagne ball gowns. Who wore it well: Diane Kruger. Anna dello Russo. Salma Hayek. Bar Rafaeli. Who wore it badly: Courtney Love.  Similar ball gowns for hire: Alice & Olivia cream ball dress. Hire: £79. Original RRP: £269.  Gold silk ball gown for hire, Dina Bar-El: £99. Original RRP: £558.

Red carpet trend: Ruffles. Who wore it well: Julia Saner, Julia Restoin-Roifeld. Who wore it badly: No overt faux pas in particular. If we had to give 1st prize to either of the aforementioned, Julia’s Pucci ball gown would probably get our vote.  Our favourite GMD ruffle ball dress for hire- this Aftershock Audre sundress.  Hire: £39. RRP: £95.

Red carpet trend: Cut-out detailing.  Who wore it well: Giovanna Battaglia, Angela Lindvall. Who wore it badly: No overt faux pas in particular. If we had to go for ball gown look over the other, it would have to be Giovanna’s, particularly as she accessorized with the dapper Vladimir Restoin-Roifeld on her arm.

If you fancy delving into the deep end of fashion challenges that is ‘doing’ cut-out, then this Marc by Marc Jacobs number will ease you into the trend gently. Rent this Marc Jacobs dress for£69.  Or ‘cut’ a dash in a plum Jasmin di Milo dress. For hire: £69. RRP: £505.

Rent ball gowns by dress designers worn by the BAFTA Stars

The annual British film and television awards ceremony, held last night, attracted over 5.3 million views- the largest audience to tune into the ceremony since 2008.  Amongst award winners, Vicky McClure scooped the Leading Actress gong for her role in This is England ’86, while comedian Jo Brand confessed to being completely ‘gob’smacked’ at having won Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role in hospital satire Getting On.   But enough about the awards. What we really want to know is what did they wear!?  We list some of our favourite ball dresses of the evening, plus some of the red-carpet crises that caught our eye.

A Temperley Ball Dress for Minnie

Minnie Driver in a Temperley ball dress.  The 41 year old, something of a red carpet event veteran, showed off her waif, model-esque figure in a white, form-fitting Temperley gown.  Rent Temperley ball gowns from GirlMeetsDress, such as this long Violetta dress.  Hire: £229. RRP: £2,159.  With price tag like that, who knows, it probably cost more than Minnie’s.  She’ll be wanting to borrow yours next!

Marchesa Ball Gown Choice for Annette Bening

Another ‘lady in white’ on the red, defying her 50 something age, was American actress Annette Bening.  In an asymmetric off the shoulder white Marchesa ball gown, Annette oozed timeless glamour.  Looking as good as she did, Annette certainly gave some of her younger acting contemporaries something to red-carpet dressing food for thought. Marchesa ball gowns for hire can be found in our Marchesa and Marchesa Notte ball dress designer index.

Lanvin Ball Gown Glamour for the Lady in Red

We absolutely loved Emma Stone’s Lanvin ball gown, a one shoulder two tone red flowing gown. With nude shoes, gold clutch and cuff, a relaxed up do and barely-there make-up, Emma let her dress do the talking on the red carpet; her outfit truly stood out as a red carpet winner.  And amazingly, the matching colour of said carpet if anything enhanced and didn’t detract from Emma’s retro-glam-tastic maxi ball gown.  A GirlMeetsDress in house designer favourite, Richard Nicoll’s bodice dress has the two tone look down to a tee.  This Richard Nicoll ball gown for hire: £179.  Original price: £1,119.

From Stella McCartney to a Marchesa Ball Dress, Penelope is Paparazzi Perfect at Cannes

Last week, in its 64th edition, the Cannes Film Festival began. Which is news worth celebrating in our opinion, since this means actresses in divine dresses making red carpet parades a plenty.  Never a lady to disappoint when it comes to what she wears on that only-too-well known actor catwalk, Spanish seductress Penelope Cruz looked ravishing in her midnight blue Stella McCartney dress.  From the Stella McCartney A/W ’11 collection, the figure hugging dress with its flattering bodice, and below the knee cut looked fabulous on the actress, who posed for photographers at the Pirates of the Caribbean Premiere.

And just like  in her flawless Casadei satin stilettoes at photo-call number one, the doyenne of red-carpet dressing didn’t put a foot wrong come her second red-carpet appearance.  Opting for a floor-length jewel-encrusted lilac Marchesa ball dress, with fanned tulle detailing on the shoulders and from the knee that went into a train, there wasn’t a single paparazzi lens not pointed direction Penelope.  The latest Pirates of the Carribean movie star wasn’t the only red carpet regular to show up in Marchesa. Rachel McAdams appeared in a red organza silk tulle Marchesa ball dress with embroidery detail at the premiere of her latest film, Midnight in Paris. (Marchesa really ruled on the red carpet this year!)

A Calvin Klein Ball Dress for Diane Kruger

Another of our favourites for her red carpet ensemble (and not just because of her arm candy accessory-Joshua Jackson- we wish could accompany our dress on the red carpet!)  in a divine curve worshipping sequin backless Calvin Klein ball dress was Diane Kruger.

Rent a Marchesa Ball Dress, Calvin Klein, or Stella McCartney – with GMD now you Cannes!

These ladies really did show how Cannes is done, and we couldn’t agree more with their choice of designer evening dresses and ball gowns.   Here at GMD we currently love this Calvin Klein gown (right) – a dark blue strapless jersey number with leather accents.  If you want to step out in Calvin Klein why not rent this £1098 ball dress for just £179?

Or if like Pen and Rach, it’s Marchesa you’re after, take a look at the gorgeous pink tiered Marchesa ball dress (£950). Rent this stunner of a turquoise Marchesa ball dress for a summer do for just £159.  Who said you couldn’t do Cannes glam when not in Cannes? From London to Ibiza, straight to LA- New York, Marchesa to Calvin Klein! Sorry, that’s us getting distracted by J-Lo on the radio.  You might not be going to Cannes but you ‘cannes’ rent a Marchesa ball dress.  View our full ball dress selection .

It’s not just us plebs that get turned away in our dresses for the races.  In recent years even members of the royal family have been apprehended for their lax approach to dressing for the races.  And to find evidence of this we need look no further than Zara Phillips’ dress for the races she wore to one of the more scrupulous race meetings in terms of dress code- Royal Ascot- in 2008.  A black dress with red floral pattern, there was a huge slit running up to the top of Zara Phillips’ thigh- a dresses for the races no-no even for royalty. (Albeit it wasn’t as though Zara was going to be turned away from the royal enclosure; not with Queenie for a Grandma, and for the fact that she’s quite the horse woman!).

Royal Dress Disasters

While Zara might have the wherewithal to do what she likes, the daring shown by Zara doesn’t translate when it comes dresses for the races worn by other members of the royal family. Amongst dresses for the races that shocked attendees of Royal Ascot, was the Colette Dinnigan number worn by Princess Eugenie to Ascot in 2008.

A Gi-Gi-ant Dress Catastrophe

Since the fashion catastrophes of recent years witnessed at Royal Ascot, Ascot authorities have been at pains to redefine exactly what is meant by ‘formal day dress’ mentioned in the race meeting dress code mandate.   This was probably provoked by the huge number of dresses for the races that did not meet dress code guidelines.  Since the outbreak of inappropriate dresses for the races, authorities issued a new statement saying that for ladies ‘only formal day dress with a hat or substantial fascinator will be acceptable.  Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and/or miniskirts are considered unsuitable.’  In addition, ‘midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour.’

2011 Dresses for the Races Forecast

2008 seemed a golden year for risqué dresses for the races.  But what will the dresses for the races forecast look like for 2011? We can’t wait to find out. (And secretly hope there will be a few faux pas as it keeps the whole event interesting!). But to avoid looking ‘interesting’ why not hire a designer dress from our site.  The dresses pictured are part of the designer dress hire collection specifically for the races.