Winners and losers at the Met

Best in show at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute gala: Venus Williams in bronze; Beyonce in ruffles; Maggie Gyllenhaal in eggplant.

Linda Perney | amNY.com

May 6, 2008

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Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Iron Man are the talk of the Met these days, but at the Costume Institute party last night there were heroes and villains, too.

Vixen-in-chief: Anna Wintour, who stayed remarkably true to the cartoonish theme, with the ultimate wicked-witch dress: If the devil wasn't wearing Prada, she sure was wearing puffs.

Assistant vixen: Gisele Bundchen in what appeared to be pastel bondage straps.

Cartoon time: Lake Bell in short black with glittery red thunderbolts; Amber Valletta in bat-shouldered glitter and a bare back; Bee Schaffer in a purple ballgown that looked as if it had walked right out of the enchanted forest; Scarlett Johanssen in Cinderella tulle (plus, of course the fairy-tale ring), Mary Kate Olsson, looking more than ever like Poor Pitiful Pearl, in dowdy gold lame; Katie Holmes, really, really trying, in tomato red with cartoon-blue shoes. That cartoon blue also showed up in Zac Posen's shiny pants (call us old-fashioned, but put that picture next to George Clooney, in his classic tuxedo, and see who wins).

Surprise: Donatella Versace, for once, actually looked OK, and her daughter was perfectly pretty in pale lavender. Ivanka Trump was graceful in what appeared to be miles of off-white and taupe chiffon. BUT the necklace-around-the-forehead thing is so Lady Di.

Yesterday's heroines, today's tired moms: Jennifer Lopez, who could once light up a red carpet, looked positively wilted in tiered teal. The kindest thing to say about Julia Roberts is that she was probably looking for timeless elegance; instead, she got terminal boredom.

Getting ruffled Kate Mara's neon yellow gown, Eva Longoria in eggplant, Claudia Schiffer in ice, plus really, really bad shoulder ruffles on Mischa Barton -- the rest of the dress was no bargain either.

Prettiest in pastel: Natasha Richardson in pale pink; Eva Mendes and Camilla Belle both in washy aqua.

Worst in show: So bad, words just about fail: Thandie Newton's awful mini-dress; Diane Kruger in silver ruches with pink shoes; Stephanie Seymour in transparent black, seemingly channeling Barbra Streisand's ancient Oscar debacle; Wendy Dench in a dress that appeared to be half cheerleader costume, half ballgown and entirely horrible.

Best in show: Venus Williams in beautifully draped bronze; Beyonce in delicate ruffles; Liv Tyler in the perfect one-shouldered black dress; Maggie Gyllenhaal in deep eggplant with touches of color at the hem.

Classiest of them all: George Clooney (but you expected that) and his girtlfriend Sarah Larson in perfectly restrained one-shouldered black and white. In fact, black and white showed up really well amid all the color: Emmy Rossum's print party dress was just plain pretty. Piper Perabo's graphic gown was coolly elegant. Even Sarah Silverman looked pretty good, in her black and white polka dots.