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Winners and losers at the Met

Linda Perney | amNY.com

May 6, 2008

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

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.