When A-listers assembled in New York for the Tony Awards this week, there was one standout trend on the red carpet - and for once it wasn't florals, frills or colour-blocking.

A flock of stars including Carey Mulligan and Claire Danes had swapped their usual high-glamour looks for more modest attire, with high necks and long sleeves replacing cleavage and short hemlines among the Hollywood elite.

Indeed, there was barely a glimpse of décolletage on display despite the northern hemisphere hurtling towards the warmer summer months - so what could be behind this dramatic change?

According to one fashion insider, the trend has much to do with the #MeToo movement that emerged in late 2017 in response to allegations of sexual assualt against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

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Carey Mulligan in a sleeveless dress featuring a plunging neckline in early November last year (left), and covering up in a floor-length floral number at the Tony Awards this week (right)

Stylist and designer Lucas Armitage (the-timeless.com) told MailOnline: 'Fashion can be a barometer for the tone and mood of society.

'Study fashion closely enough at any given time period and it will reveal that, more then simply what is "on trend", fashion holds up a mirror to the current zeitgeist and so it’s little wonder we are seeing the-A list become more demure.

'We are living in a time where rather shocking women are still fighting for equal treatment and to live in a society where men do not abuse positions of power to exploit them.

'The #Me Too movement has had a wide reaching impact and designers and celebs have not only carried flowers and adorned pin badges, the tone of women’s fashion has take a notable shift to the more reserved and demure.

Rachel Weisz has similarly swapped shorter hemlines (seen in Cannes in 2015, left) for longer sleeves, sweeping skirts and higher necklines (right)

Former Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts in a leg-baring playsuit in London last year (left), and swathed in a floor-length maxi in April 2018 (right)

British actress Emily Blunt has also adopted a more demure red carpet look, as seen in this pretty pink red carpet look (left) compared to this high-necked number (right)

Actress turned lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, has swapped thigh-grazing mini dresses (left) for more masculine tailoring, like her look at a San Francisco broadway show in April

Twilight star Kristen Stewart once favoured leg-baring mini dresses and vertiginous heels (left, in July 2017) but she is now more likely to don a demure floor-length gown (right, in May)

Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland in a thigh-flashing sheer dress featuring a plunging neckline in November (left), and wearing a high-neck polka dot number in June this year (right)

'As a stylist I always try and embody the sentiment of the female I am dressing and right now any female in the showbiz industry will have been impacted or certainly have the ‘#me too’ movement in mind when dressing for a big event.

'I feel slightly saddened that many of the females here feel they have to adjust their wardrobe choices due to the abuse of power in recent times but arguable they may feel they are taking reactionary measures in order to be taken seriously and appear relevant.

'Personally the aesthetic is very pleasing, the romance of the full ruffle dresses is super on trend and the demure necklines too were featured heavily on SS18 catwalks like Preen and Caroline Herrera.'