2014 Met Gala Red Carpet Recap

Last night, Hollywood’s most stylish and fashion’s most powerful came out to celebrate the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new costume exhibit, Charles James: Beyond Fashion. Known in fashion circles as the “Super Bowl of Fashion”, the Met Gala is typically the one time of year celebs pull out all the sartorial stops and take some of the year’s most daring fashion risks. On Met Gala night, the biggest crime is playing it safe.

In keeping with the exhibit’s theme, this year, guests were required to come in white tie to celebrate noted couturier, Charles James’ work. (Meaning ballgowns for ladies and top hats and tails for men.) While this year’s theme was a lot easier to distill than last year’s punk theme, some of Hollywood’s leading ladies seemed to have trouble keeping to the dress code. (Cara Delevingne, I’m looking at you.) I’ve rounded up some of my favorites and least favorites below.

Best Dressed

Suki Waterhouse in Burberry

Suki was my #1 Best Dressed of the evening. Her frothy tulle Burberry gown was absolute perfection in my book. (By the way, I’m keeping this dress for future wedding gown inspiration… in white, wouldn’t it be to-die for?)

Emmy Rossum in Carolina Herrera

I love this dress! It’s youthful and beautiful and definitely adheres to the dress code of white tie. A beautiful ball gown!

Karlie Kloss in Oscar de la Renta

I love the drama of this gown. The styling is absolute perfection; with the black opera length gloves and the old Hollywood- inspired hair and make up.

Blake Lively in Gucci.

Speaking of old Hollywood- Blake stunned on the red carpet in this gorgeous Gucci gown that looked straight out of the ’40s. In all the best ways possible. (Plus, her arm candy wasn’t bad either…)

Selena Gomez in Versace.

Selena looked really polished and poised in this look. The dress fit her to perfection and I really loved the styling and makeup choices. Overall, I felt this was a really strong look.

Karolina Kurkova in Marchesa

At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of this Marchesa ballgown. However, it grew on me. The dress was beautiful and elegant, and was exactly what the Met Gala is all about- taking risks and celebrating wonderful fashion.

Jessica Pare in Michael Kors.

I absolutely adore Jessica Pare and think that she consistently looks amazing on the red carpet. With close fashion friends like Jason Wu, it’s easy to look good! I was surprised she attended as a guest of Michael Kors, and was thoroughly charmed by this beautiful, printed gown. Her hair, make up and jewels are always on point, and this time was no exception.

Allison Williams in Oscar de la Renta

Allison is sometimes hit or miss for me. I think she’s typically very stylish, but a lot of times, I feel she plays it safe and ends up on my neutral list. I thought she really pulled it out for the Met Gala, and loved this red OdLR on her. The fit was spectacular and the color was gorgeous.

Diane Kruger in Hugo Boss

Hugo Boss would seem to be a strange choice, if not for the fact that Jason Wu , who is a closer personal friend of Diane’s, now helms the line. I adored this dress! Such a beautiful color and cut. But really, Diane is always flawless and she always knocks it out of the park.

Emma Stone in Thakoon

I wasn’t sure at first how I felt about this two piece. While I LOVE it and think it’s so chic and gorgeous, I wasn’t sure if I felt it was entirely perfect for the event. However, a gorgeous dress is a gorgeous dress, and Emma Stone is a style superstar who can do no wrong.

Beyonce in Givenchy

Queen Bey in this lacy, racy Givenchy embodies the quintessential reason why I love the Met Gala. This look is over the top and glamorous- all the things that the Met Gala should be. A true fashion risk that paid off. The styling is perfection and I love the dark lip.

Joan Smalls in Vera Wang

This dress is absolutely killer. Vera’s creations always create all the right curves and Joan looks amazing, gorgeous, and fresh. I love the side braid and the dark lip. It keeps the look youthful and fashion forward.

Lupita Nyong’o in Prada

I know this one is controversial. Opinions on Lupita’s Prada are split, and while some of fashion’s elite continue to sing her praises, others claim this is a misstep. Part of me sometimes wonders if we’re all under the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ spell with Lupita, but at the end of the day… I think she’s fabulous, chic, and most importantly- a risk taker. I don’t think that you can truly be Hollywood’s Best Dressed without risking the Worst Dressed list sometimes. At the end of the day, fashion risks won’t please everyone. Being a trendsetter and fashion pioneer takes risk, and there are times that everyone won’t ‘get’ it. There’s always a little pushback when you’re breaking new ground. Chalk this up to a pioneer moment. I think the dress is truly a work of art and I adore the look.

Reese Witherspoon in Stella McCartney

I loved the color of Reese’s Stella gown. The cut was great, the color was vibrant, youthful, and eyecatching. I loved the styling and thought she knocked it out of the park.

Charlize Theron in Christian Dior

I. LOVE. THIS. I love that Charlize is wearing a suit jacket draped over her shoulders. The paneling on the dress is slimming and modern. Charlize always looks flawless and this look is no exception. Can’t get over THE JACKET!

Hayden Panettiere in Dennis Basso

I threw Hayden on my best dressed list because I was so impressed that she was appropriate, tasteful, and beautiful. Hayden has suffered many a fashion misstep, and this dress is absolutely perfect for the event. Kudos for finally getting it together, Hayden!

Hailee Steinfeld in Prabal Gurung

This look was FABULOUS. Hailee is a prime example of someone in Young Hollywood who just gets it. She is always dressed stylishly, age appropriately, and still fashion forward. The paneling on this dress is modern, young, and flattering. I love the high low hem and her make up is perfect.

Worst Dressed

Katie Holmes in Marchesa

My first thought on seeing this dress was: WHY IS KATIE HOLMES DRESSED LIKE BELLE FROM BEAUTY & THE BEAST? I posed the question on Twitter, to which one of my friends suggested that perhaps Suri had a hand in styling her mom. NO. Suri Cruise has flawless taste and would NEVER choose this outfit for her mother. Another friend, (the lovely, incomparable Rachel Ross) pointed out that her hair looked horrible and as if she had been in a fight with the Beast. Also, her dress is wrinkled. Overall… no.

Zooey Deschanel in Tommy Hilfiger

This made me sad. Zooey’s quirky style and vintage tastes typically lend themselves to a fashionable and glamorous look. In this case, I felt the dress’ material was too heavy, the wrong season, and combined with the odd styling make her look old. It’s a bad prom look, and I’m very disappointed in it.

MaryKate & Ashley Olsen in vintage Chanel.

Why. WHY. WHYYY. The Olsens are gorgeous, young millionaires, yet they insist on appearing at a white tie function dressed like 90 year old grandmothers. I can appreciate vintage as vintage, but this is just old lady, dated, and ugly.

Kate Upton in Dolce & Gabbana

Perhaps the biggest mystery of the evening is what is on Kate Upton’s head. This look is horrifying. It looks like a bad madam/saloon girl/pirate wench/witch. She’s such a gorgeous girl, and this does her no justice.

Sandra Lee in Dara Lamb

Part of me wants to applaud her for trying. She went out on a limb and embraced the theme and took a risk. But while starlets like Lupita took risks which paid off, this one fell flat and just looks silly and costume-like.

Elizabeth Olsen in Miu Miu

Why is Lizzie not allowed to walk the red carpet with her sisters? Is it because she chose a figure skating costume to wear to the Met Gala?

Shailene Woodley and Kirsten Dunst, both in Rodarte

I love Rodarte. I do. And I love both of these girls. They’re fashion risk takers and usually look flawless on the red carpet. I personally loved Kirsten Dunst’s 2012 Met Gala look, when she wore that amazing Rodarte suit. It was vintage done right. Both of these looks miss the mark for me.

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Valentino.

The first thing I thought of was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. She looks like one of those eccentric old ladies that roams around in a kaftan talking to her cats.

Cara Delevingne in Stella McCartney

I am so angry at this look. And the reason why, is because THIS IS A WHITE TIE FUNCTION. There is no planet on which wearing PANTS AND A CROP TOP are appropriate for a WHITE TIE FUNCTION. This outfit is more suited to the club, which is exactly where it should have stayed. So disappointed. This outfit, in my opinion, is disrespectful and lazy.

Chloe Grace Moretz in Chanel

I didn’t like this. I like the idea of the lace, and I appreciate that she tried to go for something young and fun, but really… it’s too fussy and weird.

Kim Kardashian in Lanvin

The shape of the dress is just all wrong for Kim’s body. This shape and silhouette is unflattering to her body type and makes her look heavy. She’s a woman of curves, and should be wearing something superfitted that highlights them and shows off her shape. Sofia Vergara is a prime example of a woman with curves who dresses them right. (And… she often opts for Vera Wang or Zuhair Murad… two designers who are EXCELLENT at highlighting curves.) Really, Kim needs to stick to less fussy silhouettes. The thing that I’ve noticed most is that Kim comes off as so desperate to be accepted into the fashion elite, that she often resorts to wearing things that are “high fashion” but don’t suit her body. She would have a lot more luck being accepted, if she finally embraced her body and dressed it properly.

Rita Ora in Donna Karan

This is just a mess. The dress wouldn’t be so awful if the sandals weren’t laced all the way up her leg and that weird thing wasn’t on her arm.

So that’s my best and worst. Tell me in the comments: who were your best and worst dressed?