Venice Film Festival 2026: 5 Looks, 5 High-Street Versions
Venice ran from 2 to 12 September, and the verdict was in by about the second night: nobody came to the Lido to cause a scene. No dress built like a sculpture,...
Venice ran from 2 to 12 September, and the verdict was in by about the second night: nobody came to the Lido to cause a scene. No dress built like a sculpture, no twenty-foot train. What landed instead was plain in the best sense: one colour, one good shape, done properly.
Which suits us, because that's the only sort of red-carpet dressing the high street can genuinely match. A gown whose entire idea is 'red' doesn't need a couture workroom behind it. Here are five looks from this year's carpet, and where to find something close.
The Venice palette
The five shades that did most of the talking on the Lido.
Chanel red
#E1251B
Archival gold
#C6A15B
Blush satin
#F3D0D4
Pale sage
#C3D2C1
Taffeta black
#15120F
Penelope Cruz's red Chanel column
Cruz turned up in custom Chanel, in a red saturated enough to flatten everything behind it. Scoop neck, narrow straps, a bodice seamed so precisely it sits like it was built on her, and a band of red fringing across the hip that behaves like texture rather than decoration. Everything else was turned down: blunt fringe, sharp bob, one pair of drop earrings. Copying it costs nothing, which is the mildly annoying bit. You pick the loudest colour you own and then you do not add a second idea to it.
Shop red dresses
Borrowing from Venice
One colour, nothing competing
Cruz's red and Dern's blush both work because nothing on them argues back. If the dress is a strong colour, the shoes, bag and jewellery should be quiet enough to vanish in a photograph.
Buy the shape, not the fabric
Duchess satin, taffeta and silk chiffon are what make these gowns behave. On the high street you're mostly buying crepe, scuba and satin-back polyester, so choose a style with the structure sewn in: a boned bodice, a seamed waist, a lined skirt with some weight to it.
Break the sweetness
Black patent slingbacks against pale pink is why Dern's dress looked like a film premiere and not a christening. One hard element is usually enough.
A narrow column needs surface
Jenner's Armani is a plain shape carrying heavy beadwork. If you're buying a slim maxi, get one with something happening on it, beading or sequins or a metallic finish, or a camera flash will turn it into a nightdress.
Party season starts roughly now, and this is the carpet to raid for it. Nothing here expires in a fortnight and nothing needs a stylist to explain it. Colour, cut, and the nerve to leave it alone. If Cruz has talked you into the red, we went further into that in Red Season: How to Wear Autumn's It-Colour. One practical note: occasionwear stock turns over quickly between now and December, so the rails above will look different in a month.