Fan Bingbing opened up her 2012 Cannes Film Festival account in typical traditional fashion this evening at the opening ceremony.
She glided down the red carpet like an elegant swan wearing an ivory embroidered Christopher Bu strapless gown.
The green accents on her gown were complemented with emerald Chopard jewels and a green-and-gold Elie Saab clutch.
An orangey-red lip colour and a traditional hairstyle completed her look.
Thanks to those who shared that Fan’s hair is a symbol of the Tang dynasty’s noble women and the gown has embroideries which tells the stories of the four beauties of ancient China.
Credit: Getty
This is beautiful too.
Trust Fan Bing Bing to bring it! The carpet wouldn’t be the same without her dramatic, daring gowns. She looks gorgeous and I love it.
+1. I love the traditional hair.
A beautiful gown too…but she is so boring in a very symmetrical way…her hairdo looks crazy…
Agreed. She can have nice gowns and a good stylist (more often than not) but she’s boring.
Her hairstyle is to restore ancient ways in China.If you know chinese history ,you will understand the clothes is a traditional way and her hair also has a historical significance.
+1
she would be among my best dressed if she had not worn that wig
i don’t think that’s a wig, haha
+1. I can’t get pass that hair. Trying to hard probably?
So beautiful, she looks like live figurine
hmmm… she obviously appreciates the impact she made last year in *that* gown! Still, the make-up and hair make this a fresh look.
Guys look no further…the Queen of Cannes is BACK! She looks amazing!
Although am not a huge fan of the print of the gown..But,I still gotta give major props to her for always wearing a traditional wear… on her first red carpet walk at cannes…and also making each and every look of hers ENTIRELY different from one another.
Can’t wait to see more red carpet appearance of hers!
That’s not print, lol~~ it’s embroidery, which takes much more effort than print.
And I was wondering where our Cannes darling is. Here she is!
Ok her hair is kinda weird but I can overlook it because OMG what a gown! I looove the embroidery on it and it fits her perfectly.
i love the dress, make up and accessories but have some reservations on the hair (i am sure it is in keeping with the cultural meaning of the look, but it looks like she has sideburns)
I love her for always going traditional at Cannes.
This is another stunning look, minus that hair.
Fan is the only lady who can carry off such atypical looks aplomb! Kudos to her!
Her hair ruins the look for me. Her face looks weird…
(too bad, the dress was so special!)
isn’t the clutch by Elie Saab ?
yes, thanks
J’adore!
I LOVE that she wears a gown with traditional chinese inspiration.
She looks fantastic!
it’s only bcs of the angle! her hairdo is typical for ancient chinese women, and so does her gown, the whole idea is from Tang Dynasty. i found some pics from a chinese blogger and it looks much better, according to that blogger the name of the gown is “唐代仕女瓷瓶裙” http://ww3.sinaimg.cn/large/4a966cefgw1dt0ouf95nlj.jpg
nice~~~~
I’m sorry but I really can’t look past the hair. It drags the whole look down! I’m all for keeping with traditional culture but with a modern twist (which in this case would be the hair please!)
Fan’s hairdo comes from some ancient painting in Tang dynasty from 1300 yrs ago.
I admire her courage to add traditional element to her look but the hair looks far more acceptive in the painting rather than real life.
……..Although I have deep passion for Chinese art, this does shock me,not in a good way. Fan you scared me.
still good to see her lost a few pounds.
Same old story: Fan Bing Bing trying too hard – I know all celebrities put a lot of thinking and effort into their red carpet looks but somehow it doesn’t show as much as it does on her…
Very much agreed.
a royal look. the idea comes from the Tang dynasty, which is the golden age of Chinese history. Actually she’s about to play the most beautiful Chinese woman in a film back to the Tang dynasty, which i guess is one of the reasons why she chose this look. btw, the designer of the gown as well as her stylist is her best friend. of course she’d always do the “got ur back” thing.
Her gown is meant to resemble the ancient Chinese paintings. The floral motif is common amongst those paintings and image of the people are meant to tell a story. I’m not sure if it is suppose to be a specific painting though.
I’m chinese but not sure what’s the meaning of the gown but green means spring or renewal. It also represent health, prosperity, and harmony. But I think she chose the dress for the renewal or spring.
that’s great thanks
Read about her didnt bring any gown to Cannes when she landed, she was going to pick one from the local boutiques. Apparently, the gown hunt was not that successful but we got to see this gorgeous gown which is even better!
I LOVE the embroideries on the gown!
The inspiration came from colourful Chinese vases made in the late Qing Dynasty.
If you look closer, it has embroideries of women on the lower part of the gown, which are the traditional Four Beauties in Chinese History,
wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Beauties
As for the hair, I do believe it is the traditional hair style back in Tang Dynasty. but Dont quote me on this! Lols
It is also a refreshing colour! the past two, yellow and red, are usually associated with the Royals, but this is just stunning, including the contrast with the bright coral lippie!
thanks for the explanation
The blogger should use other pics instead these two. I found a much better pics online.
Gahh. This is fantastic. I’m not the biggest fan of Fan Bing Bing’s at all, but I am a sucker for cultural dresses, and I love that she wanted to bring a piece of her heritage to the red carpet, and did so while staying fresh and modern.
SO much love.
She looks great but the hair is a little off-putting.
Everything but the hair works.
Her hair is a symbol of the Tang dynasty’s noble women and the gown is from the blue and white china with the pictures describing the stories of the four beauties in ancient China.
thank you
OMG, this is such a weird look, but she is ROCKING it.
Thank you all for your help with discovering the meaning of Fan’s look
I don’t care that the hair is meaningful, it looks awful. It doesn’t ruin the look though, I love the dress.
SHE’S BAAAACCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! DAMN I MISS HER!!!
I am loving this look from head to toe and I especially love the fact that Miss Bingbing is not shying away from showing off her cultural identity (I’m asian as well!). I know that her hairstyle or embroidered dress may not rock some peoples’ boats, but for once it is nice to see celebrities appreciating their cultural backgrounds. Western style of dressing and hairstyle isn’t the only option. Marcel waves is an example of a hairstyle which people appreciate simply because it is more famous and acceptable, not to mention ‘western’. I hope people understand what I’m trying to say
This! i so agree with you!
I hear what you’re saying and I agree.
The hair is so Fellini and magical. The whole look is so baroqe….Love it.
Thank you FC for always featuring Fan Bingbing at the first instant! I love her for always bringing such excitement and surprise onto the red carpet.
As for the dress, the bordering patterns of her gown resembles the intricate designs of the chinese porcelain. As for the female figures at the bottom, they are the legendary “four beauties” of the Chinese history.
Hope this helps. =)
thank you xx
That gown is fantastic – but I cannot get on board with the hair and also dislike the lipcolor.
She looks lovely and I love the dress and the hair. She was going for a artistic portrayal and she did it to perfection. ANd I seriously LOVE that she brings it on the carpet everytime and put chinese art and fashion in the spotlight everytime. I wish Indian actresses would do the same. Sabyasachi is Elie Saab’s Indian twin. Always embellished. Gorgeous but still, there is so much more to Indian fashion.
Enjoying the comments on this post – great to learn a bit about ancient history and culture. Her gown is stunning, and I love the earrings.
ITA.
Always count on Fan to bring some muchly appreciated exotic glamour. Not my favorite look from her but she surely looks captivating.
bravo!she is saying I am asian and I look good.
proud of her identity.
Four beauties:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Four_Great_Beauties.jpg
This is gorgeous. I love her Fashion Patriotism.
I would hate the hair as a red carpet hairdo, but since it is going with the theme, she gets a pass.
the dress is a work of art, but i hate the make-up, hair and earrings with a dress like that you dont need anything else.
She looks fantastic!!
Every single year I ook forward to teh Fan Bingbing Cannes gown, adn she didn’t diappoint. Nothing will top teh dragon dress of 2010, btu she looks gorgeous. I didn’t like teh ahir at all, which is what ruined last year for me too, until I read the explanation. The gown is so beautiful and interesting but yet elegant at the same time. I love Fan when seh si liek this, charismatic and elegant but neither deja vu princessy nor gimmicky.
amazing! one little negative; not keen on the choice of emeralds as the green is not quite the right shade… I’d have gone for citrine jewels.
While this may or may not be my best dressed of the day, I do love and embrace the theatrical boldness of it! I also love reading the explanatory comments, it makes me appreciate it all so much more This is the red carpet made less one dimensional, something more than the strictly westernized ideal of beauty – lovely.
ADORE. SO glad to see her–she gives me chills with her unbeatably beautiful and individualistic sense of style. I love how she goes for a traditional look on the first day, generally. The hair would not usually get a pass, but given the historical significance I think it’s a great choice. The dress is gorgeous, and she wears it so well. BDOTD!!!!
oh,sooooooo beautiful
The gown is amazing! And the look is so well executed. I’m not sure if I like the hair but the longer I look at it, the more it grows on me.
She looks FANtastic!!! Her dress screams Chinese but her hair screams Japanese Giesha. I no like!! And the shade of the earrings are distracting….
Historically, the Japanese copied Chinese fashion and culture during the Tang Dynasty. This hairdo is also one example of ancient Chinese influence on Japanese hair styles.
wow ,she is so beautiful
SHE ALWAYS LOOK AMAZING!SHE’S NEVER BORING!
Love her skin tone and her dress and her styling. Don’t really care about the story behind the styling of her hair, but it looks abit stupid.
She’s extremely exciting when it comes to fashion, but I hate how plastic her face looks.
She looks pretty, love her makeup, earrings and clutch, witch works so well with her gown.
But there’s two things that I don’t like about the look, first is her HAIR. Even though I know it’s a symbol of ancient Chinese women, but seems like she is trying too hard on this “ancient style”.
Second, besides the color and print, I don’t find any difference between this dress and the crane dress she wore last year. It’s like two same dress with different color/print.
Hopefully we can see her in different great looks the next few days. ex. the Atelier Versace violet gown last year was stunning.
Love this look. She knew this dress and hairdo might bring controversy, yet still went for this look that she likes. This beautiful lady has guts!
Her famous quote: How many compliments I can take, then how many slanders I can resist.
That was very well said. A beauty with a brain.
Another: I do not need to marry into the purple, I myself is the purple.
Fan Bingbing I am surprised she doesn’t have a thread already. I think she’s gorgeous and she has great style.
Such a beautiful gown！Amezing look！ Christopher Bu ! Good job !!!
i love it!
Oh dear. I adored her dragon gown from a couple of years back but this is like a cartoon version of that look. The hair and makeup are also awful.
She looks adorable!!
I was kinda expecting her to wear an Elie Saab gown. I think she looks pretty. See I told you, L’Oreal is going to be using pop makeup on their ambassadors. Loving the bright orange lip color. Hairstyle, don’t quite understand.
I am not her biggest fan but here she looks stunning & unique,even like the hair,make up is beuatiful,and I want her earings so bad
Really boring, no visual center on the dress, all the elements are too scattered. And not chinese at all!
Her look is actually very meaningful and representative of Chinese history.
Come on! Look at her hair and her dress. Still thinking she is not Chinese at all?
I very much love the tradition and symbolism behind this look. I think she looks amazing and beautiful, I very much appreciate it when Fan brings us something unique like this.
I loved her first look at Cannes 2010 (my BDOTY).
I liked her first look at Cannes 2011.
I dislike this one.
Love if
I was amazed by my boyfriend when I asked him how he thinks about this look. lol
He knows it must have cultural meaning, and thinks it’s supposed to be like a China vase. So he thinks if it’s a pencil/bodycon dress, which has a shape more like a vase, would be better!!
But I’m worried too……. afraid he’ll “come out” someday….. lol
Haha, your boyfriend is so funny. I hope he’s not gonna come out. It’s no hard to find a stylish straight man.
the Queen of Cannes!
OMG! Love the dress sooooooo much! Wish I could afford to purchase this dress. It is amazing. She wears it well. There is no other that can follow this look. Being of part Chinese, I am so proud of the look. Her hair is amazing, just the way it is worn traditionally. No American actress or model can come this close to perfection in my eyes.
I appreciate the whole dressing… it reminded me of some ancient costume styles of e.g maids of honor in those Chinese TV series. My mom used to watch them, I still remembered the palace filled with TOO MUCH INTRIGUE between women sharing one husband…
Hah! That kind of TV series is always a hit.
I am from China and her hair is a typical style of Tang Dynasty. I definitely love her and regard Bingbing as the most beautiful lady in Asia.
Like her!!! really pretty
This is beautiful! I love to see her embrace the Asian/Chinese culture the way that she does. Like her sensational gown at the 2010 Cannes. I really don’t think she can top that gown but I’ll die if she does!
Special design, I like the green!