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Met Gala: Lots of beauty and butts

In a tiered strapless gown by John Galliano for Maison Margiela, Amal Clooney was the most elegantly dressed celebrity Monday evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala.

In a tiered strapless gown by John Galliano for Maison Margiela, Amal Clooney was the most elegantly dressed celebrity Monday evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala.

On the other hand, Vogue editor Anna Wintour - the grand dame of the annual, star-studded fund-raiser - caused the most pain. (Had there ever been any doubt, we are now crystal clear that there is such a thing as too much floral.)

But know this: Wintour may have had a surprisingly unfortunate sartorial misstep, but she continues to be the event's winner.

In 16 years, Wintour, 65, has turned the event from a sit-down dinner to a $25,000-a-ticket gala. She has raised more than $145 million to fund the museum's operating budget. The red carpet is more than 150 yards long, and just as many - if not more - of Hollywood's biggest names attend the Met Gala as they do the Oscars.

Each year ball-goers are asked to dress in the theme of the latest exhibit, a request that usually results in explosions of oddity and self-expression. Last year's theme was the architectural gowns of Charles James.

This year's ask proved much harder to comply: "China: Through the Looking Glass," exploring China's impact on Western aesthetics.

That made for a lot of red dresses (red symbolizing good fortune in Chinese culture). And it must be why Sarah Jessica Parker thought it appropriate to wear a flaming, red headdress - really, a fascinator by London-based hat designer Philip Treacy - atop a black-and-patchwork pattern, one-shoulder H&M gown. (The gown, by the way, was fashioned from sustainable fabrics as part of H&M's Conscious Collective program.)

And it also was why the carpet bubbled over with floral embroidery: Taraji P. Henson's strapless black-and-white Balenciaga was on theme and on trend.

But there were a lot of backsides showing, and that didn't seem to have anything to do with the theme - unless women trying to outdo one another's nakedness counts. The too-sexy-for-their-own-good triumvirate: J. Lo, Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian. They revealed it all in been-there-done-that sheer gowns by Versace, Givenchy Atelier and Roberto Cavalli, respectively.

Will they ever stop? Maybe next year.

After all, one of the industry's truest trendsetters, Rihanna - who last year bared her cheeks in a sheer gown with oodles more class - arrived at this year's Met gala in a brilliant yellow, fur-trimmed cape by Chinese couturier-to-the-stars Guo Pei.

I furrowed my brows at first glimpse, but they slowly relaxed when the cape dramatically spilled over the red carpet. It was breathtaking, even with her strange headdress and rusty red straight hair.

And then I giggled. I'm sure every star and designer will try to figure out a way to duplicate that moment of awe by next red-carpet season.

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@ewellingtonphl