The return of real glamour (even if not everyone got it right)



It is the fashion world's biggest night of the year, eclipsing the Grammies, the Globes, the Baftas and even the Oscars.



The Costume Institute ball held annually at the Metropolitan Museum in New York is supposed to celebrate a new exhibition (this year, the subject was the history of the pioneering American woman).

But the fashion folk on the night preferred to compare notes on how on earth they managed to squeeze into all these teeny, tiny confections.



All white: Emma Watson donned a super-revealing, one-shoulder Burberry gown while Kate Hudson's Stella McCartney frock is fabulous but the clumpy shoes let it down. Katty Perry, right, sparkles in pale pink CuteCircuit dress complete with tacky LED lights



Standing on the sidelines of the proceedings, you could be forgiven for thinking the financial crash had never happened.

The profligacy was incredible: the stretch limos, the diamonds, the canapés that went uneaten...



Full-on glamour was the overriding theme: there were dresses, most notably by Marchesa and Dolce & Gabbana, that used metres and metres of duchesse satin or gold and silver lamé.

Every inch of every frock was embroidered or embellished.

There were Marie Antionette corsets and huge, overblown rose prints.



Blue: Mad Men's Christina Hendricks shows off her famous curves in a gown by L'Wren Scott and Sienna Miller, right, looks over fussy in Emilio Pucci and loses points for flashing too much flesh while Carey Mulligan looks gamine in purple Miu Miu but she should have lost the opaque black tights and heavy shoes

There was a return, too, to the full make-up (stand up Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez) and carefully coiffed hair we haven't seen since the Thirties - which makes sense, given that stars in those days understood their job was to cheer us all up and offer escapism from everyday woes.

The women on the red carpet on Monday night understood we are all in need of a little fantasy.



Two things struck me about the whole proceedings. First, could the world's most famous fashion designers have chosen a more awkward new erogenous zone to introduce to us poor women than the upper inner thigh?



Stunnin in strapless: Rachel Weisz in Oscar de la Renta was the best dressed of the night while Renee Zellweger wore a much-too-clingy gold Carolina Herrera dress. Eva Longoria Parker, right, who wore silver Marchesa dress, had the best quote of the evening: 'When you can't breathe, that means it's a good fit

This previously concealed part of the anatomy was being flashed all night.

And second, isn't it slightly encouraging that even women with stylists, American Express Black cards, freebies, discounts and personal trainers still manage to get it wrong sometimes?

One of the standouts was Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, who silenced her critics as she stepped out onto the red carpet in a dress that flattered her figure in all the right places.

Fit for a princess: Jennifer Lopez in gold Zuhair Murad that shows off her amazing hourglass figure and Anne Hathaway in a fairytale dress by Valentino with Bulgari jewels

Dressed in a blue gown by Mick Jagger's fashion designer girlfriend L'Wren Scott - with an unusual pom pom-style accessory on her shoulder - Christina looked happy and confident in her own radiant fair skin as she posed for pictures on the red carpet.

And it was an extra-special night for Christina, who is famous for her role as Joan Holloway in the hit US drama Mad Men, as she was also celebrating her 35th birthday.

Christina came under fire in January for wearing a ruffled peach-coloured Christian Siriano gown at this year's Golden Globes awards.

Fashion veterans: Naomi Campbell defies time and gravity in a black asymmetric gown by Dolce and Gabbana and Demi Moorein a slashed-to-the-thigh Lanvin gown. Bit is she trying a little too hard?



She caused a flashbulb frenzy in the dress which clung to her hourglass curves, but she was slated by fashion journalist Cathy Horyn who insunuated that she was a large girl by observing: 'You don't put a big girl in a big dress. That's rule number one.'

P.S. WHO'S THE OAP IN STACK-HEEL TRAINERS? Mick Jagger, 66, raises his game in platforms while L'Wren Scott shimmers in one of her own designs

The New York Times, which ran Horyn's piece, admitted the photo of Christina had been slightly distorted inadvertently due to an error during routine processing which widened the shot, and it was replaced.

And despite many - including her actor husband Geoffrey Arend - jumping to Christina's defence, the actress admitted that she was left embarrassed by the scrutiny.



Speaking to New York magazine, she said: 'It kind of hurt my feelings at first.

Anytime someone talks about your figure constantly, you get nervous, you get really self-conscious.



'I was working my butt off on the show, and then all anyone was talking about was my body!'

But last night her confidence was back as she attended the fashion event which was hosted by The Gap's Patrick Robinson, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and chat show queen Oprah Winfrey, and celebrated the opening of the 'American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity' exhibition.

Christina was joined by her Mad Men co-star January Jones, who stood out in a short hot pink Yves Saint Laurent with a gothic black pattern, which she accessorised with long black gloves and towering black heels.

It was the sort of Mad Men match-up that will have fans in paroxysms of delight - and looking forward to many more.









