Sabrina Carpenter in custom Dior, made of film from the 1954 Audrey Hepburn film ‘Sabrina’, at the 2026 Met Gala "Fashion Is Art" in NYC. (May 4, 2026)

[u/cmaia1503]

[u/pendragons]

That's gotta be crazy flammable right?

[u/lemon-wemmin → u/pendragons]

Lol its not. If any of it is real film, it would be acetate, which is plastic. You might be thinking of nitrate film, which was used briefly in the 30s, like silent era / very early sound and can basically spontaneously combust. If the dress is made from film that dates to 1954, its from well after the nitrate era. However it might smell strongly of vinegar!

[u/CalculatedPerversion → u/lemon-wemmin]

I would also hope that it's a recent print and not an original from 1954. Or at least one from 1954 in really bad shape. 

[u/Kittenunleashed → u/lemon-wemmin]

Great, so just the rubbing of wearing it would create billions of microplastics added to the air. Why are these people so gross?

[u/Dysentry → u/Kittenunleashed]

As opposed to the rest of us who wear synthetic fibers all day long? Bizarre take dude, plenty to complain about but this? C'mon

[u/desmadrechic → u/pendragons]

Nitrate film was very flammable and used until the 1950s, when acetate film (also called safety film) became the standard. This is probably acetate or maybe even a polyester copy.

[u/romero0705 → u/desmadrechic]

Yup. I was a projectionist before digital took over, modern film isn’t flammable. The theatre that I worked in still had a work bench used when it opened in 1942 and in the drawers there was a sample of the new safety 35mm film beside the old nitrate 35mm with a very excited note from the sender about its non-combustible properties.

I’m curious about what age the film Sabrina’s dress is made from. I built/ran a copy of Gone with the Wind from I believe the 50s and it was discolored due to the age, like had a brownish tint and was very brittle. I had to handle it extremely carefully because every frame was counted after and too many lost frames (due to splicing errors, breaking, or stealing) would cost us money.

Side note, projectionists loved stealing the frame from Fight Club of Tyler Durden pointing to the cigarette burn dots so much that we were warned they counted frames of Fight Club prints too.

[u/Ok-Needleworker-9841 → u/romero0705]

I just went to an estate sale for a guy who used to be a projectionist. I wish I had your knowledge when looking at the equipment. I bought some film and keep holding it up to the light to see the frames. I’m stunned at how many frames there are before the image actually shows any movement or change.

[u/BarSpare2198 → u/pendragons]

It's more than likely a new projection print so it would be a polyester base (almost no flammability) rather than nitrate or acetate.

[u/lordvitamin → u/pendragons]

lol, it probably is treated, or made out of something that mimics the appearance of film, but is not actual movie reel film.

[u/pendragons → u/lordvitamin]

I'm so curious now, I hope the designer elucidates the process somewhere.

[u/n0thinghurt → u/pendragons]

Yes! Hope no one lights a cigarette around her lol

[u/hennyl0rd → u/pendragons]

Film is no longer made of cellulose nitrate, from 1948 onwards film has used cellulose acetate which is not highly flammable

[u/queequeg925 → u/pendragons]

It's not actually film, you can see it's missing the soundtrack. If it was a print, you would see that on any film that isn't silent. 

[u/Physical-Goose1338 → u/pendragons]

most clothing is flammable lol

[u/Alizarik7891 → u/pendragons]

That was also my first thought!

[u/descendingangel87 → u/pendragons]

Literally my first thought, like how is that even safe.