Everyone was buzzing on Twitter over this illuminated Zac Posen gown. It was unknown at first who would be wearing it and initially the rumor was that Heidi Klum would arrive in this amazing dress. Given Heidi’s tendency to look ridiculous on the red carpet, this kind of effort seemed wasted on her, so thankfully that story was false. Claire Danes showed up in this dress, which perfectly fit the Manus x Machina theme and drew comparisons to Cinderella, at least when the dress was unlit. When lit, all I could think of was Katniss’s flaming gown at the Hunger Games.
Look at the video of this dress. The slightly frayed edges are lines of light which edge the hem, waistline and down the bodice. The skirt and rest of the dress look like a starry night. Zac Posen designed with light and made it a feature of the gown. Zac Posen is Cinna. Claire explained in an interview on the red carpet (that’s below) that she had a stool to sit on during the event because she couldn’t sit in a typical chair. Like Karolina Kurkova in her lit up Marchesa, she rode in a bus to the event as she couldn’t sit down, but this design and execution is superior in every way. It’s amazing.
#ClaireDanes' #MetGala gown has the newsroom talking this AM! What were YOUR fave looks? https://t.co/mIwA6DI4lr pic.twitter.com/BpCAXzQMyC
— Robin Meade (@RobinMeade) May 3, 2016
I feel bad for the other women I’m sticking in this post, because after Claire everyone else can just go home, but we have a lot to get through today. Brie Larson’s ruffled tiered Proenza Schouler was like a longer, less inspired version of Taylor Swift’s Louis Vuitton. The similar dresses, which are both silver with patterned sequin, are sleeveless with ruffles, side cutouts and black detailing, are likely a case of “great minds” lumping trends together. That said, I think Taylor’s dress worked a bit more with them theme. I do like the scalloping on Brie’s dress. Her slicked back hair and dark lip fit the motif. Those witchy shoes need to go though.
Continuing the silver trend we have Naomi Watts, in mirrored Burberry. This dress is slightly similar to the Armani gown which Naomi wore to the Oscars in that it’s strapless and full length with a similar shape. I love how this fits her like a glove and has just the right amount of floral sunburst detailing. Her understated makeup, wavy hair and diamond jewelry complement the look so well.
Here’s an ET video with more on Claire’s gown:
photos credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
Claire is the winner of the night for me – she rarely ever delivers fashion wise but she killed it last night.
And lol I said the exact same thing when I saw Brie Larson, her dress is crazy similar to Taylor’s.
And Naomi looks beautiful but I feel like this is a look she clearly loves – it looks great on her but it’s nothing new.
ITA, Dani, Claire is the winner of the night. Finally someone took the theme and got creative, instead of just draping themselves in silver. I love the dress so much!
For sure Claire won hands down. The gown was just a fashion MOMENT.
Yeah, no one can touch that Posen gown.
Of all the metallic gowns last night, Naomi’s was my favorite.
This is the first dress I saw was trending on Instagram & after looking at everyone else’s it clearly is the winner. Usually Posen doesn’t do it for me but he absolutely nailed the theme, everyone wore metallic while he made Danes illuminate the whole Met Gala.
I wasn’t going to click on this precisely because Danes is usually a huge miss or just straight-up boring in terms of her fashion choices, but my jaw dropped when I saw these pics.
Just incredibly beautiful.
yeah, I don’t normally think much of Posen as a designer because he’s never struck me as a maker of anything other than basic party dresses, and Danes has always seemed more Serious Actress than fashion girl.
But damn did they kill it last night! She looked amazing, and the light-up was perfection. Good one, Zac. And props to Claire for carrying it off so perfectly.
Yes, yes and yes.
She looked like a modern Cinderella. Naomi looked great as well.
That dress is stunning. Best of show.
Amazing! Stunning! Everyone else could have just gone home!!!
Posen has delivered the best dress at a few Met Galas. That incredible dress Karolina Kurkova wore that was painted and had that insane structure jumps to mind, as do a few others. He seems to know how to get the drama just right without going overboard, how to honor the theme in a creative way without getting too costumey, how to use structure to create drama, and all the while flattering the ladies wearing the dresses. I don’t always love his dresses but he knows how to do a Met dress, that is for sure!
Wow for Claire! I like all these gowns to be honest. Perhaps they work best in low light?
It’s so simple. Futuristic Cinderella. I love it.
Lovely. A shame they could not find a way to light to effect on the red carpet.
Though all the flashbulbs would have probably made it explode!
Agree. I thought so too. She was definitely the winner of the night.
I think it’s more of a glow-in-the-dark kind of technology. Whatever it was she totally killed it.
That is pretty darn cool (Claire’s gown). I agree about Brie’s shoes, those look a bit old-school. If I could look like Naomi Watts for one day….
Gorgeous dress on Claire! Am I terrible for thinking such an amazing idea was wasted on someone as basic as her? Now imagine that dress on someone like Lupita!!!
O.O you’re totally right lol, in a way I’m glad that someone who almost never stands out at these type of events was undoubtedly THE stand-out.
But you’re totally right, can you imagine if this was on Lupita or Fan Bingbing??
My god. Fan would have looked SO BEAUTIFUL in it too.
Fan would’ve been incredible! She’s exquisite, yet strong – huge yes!
That said, Claire was just gorgeous in the dress, and her exuberant personality made the dress seem all the more exciting. To me, she was a great choice.
Slow clap for Claire! Absolutely flawless. The detailing on that gown, even without the illumination, is just stunning. Perfect hair and make-up too.
WOW! I am speechless. She looks stunning and the dress is breathtaking
yeah, the hair was the perfect choice for this – less Cinderella and more futuristic Grace Kelly, especially with that dress.
I can see they hate it over at Lainey’s but damn, can we give C some props for actually committing to this?
I agree. This is THE moment of the night. Blown away by the dress, her hair, makeup, poise, etc. WOW!!!
And Naomi, you look FANTASTIC too. Good on ya, girl!
Amazing! I’m a hands in the dirt, combat boot wearing lady, but I’m jealous. I’d love to clean up for an event in that.
p.s. I love that we can hear her kid counting in the background.
Claire looks stunning, the epitome of class…but that gorgeous dress looks like a wedding gown to me.
It looks like something from Disney’s Spectromagic or Main Street Electrical Parade. I just wasn’t impressed with this BC I’ve seen Cinderella, Aurora and Belle wearing the same idea.
🙁
Claire’s gown brought it! fantastic. Well done, team Posen!
That gown is amazing! Claire was my fav from last night!
Gimmick and fashion are not the same thing. Let’s wear clothes that glow in the dark. That you can’t see anything special about unless the lights are out? I’m sorry, I think it’s very silly, and her styling is terrible. I guess I get the stick in the mud award today.
@GNAT I think it’s a beautiful dress, albeit perhaps not terribly original design without the lighting effect. It also looks like it’s beautifully constructed and actually fits her (something all to rare these days). That said, I think this is one of those Met gala themes (like the punk one a few years ago) that was was going to attract a lot of ugly as some inevitably interpreted any modern or futuristic theme as bondage sex toy shop.
It would be a very beautiful traditional wedding dress, I think. And it does fit her very well.
Absolutely agree. It could have gone very wrong if the dress didn’t properly fit her but like this the combination of traditionally tailored princess dress and flashy gimmick worked perfectly. She’s gorgeous and so is the dress.
ha ha I do see what you mean.I do think it was very on theme versus the usual “look at me I’m a discoball robot”, I am just soooooooo disappointed it was on HER. I think with someone else, with some mad styling it would have been so cool
Snazzy I couldn’t agree more. Additionally, I find her to be almost too smug and intolerable, and therefore I could almost
Imagine this dress giving her a Goop like inflated ego and sense of self.
She’s way too blah to wear this. Even the way she walks in it, she’s not owning the fact that this is magical for the event, she’s kind of taking a page from The Taylor Swift school of feign surprise.
Hmmm, this seems to have annoyed me more than it should! Haha. (:
I agree. I don’t see the greatness of it either.
You’re wrong actually. At the Met gimmick and fashion are very much intertwined!
I guess that’s a matter of opinion.
@Brea ITA! I think a lot of people don’t realize that the Met Gala is unlike your typical Oscar or Globes red carpets–if there is one event where you almost come in “costume” to… this would be IT.
@GoodNames, yes, while as usual personal opinion and preference does come into play, the Met Gala is an event centered around costume and fashion. Every year there is a theme and it is not your basic HW self congratulatory awards ceremony. It seems that if you were educated re: the history and purpose behind the Met Gala, perhaps the styling would make more sense and seem less “silly”.
#GNAT, totally agree. It looks like a big Princess dress you would see at Disney, and a Christmas angel ornament that goes on top of the tree when the lights are out.
I think the light-effect would have been cool if it were something you could see during daylight. But who walks around in the dark in a gown?
Big puffy wedding dress look. Sigh.
Lit up Disney princess. Naomi is stunning.
I agree 100%. There was a wedding dress a few years ago that lit up and the video of the bride’s first dance went viral. That’s all I can think of when I see this dress.
Imo gimmick and fashion usually are pretty much the same thing. It’s all about money, and getting attention in order to get said money. And as I said below, Barbie did this 30 years ago.
Well, I see your point, but I mean REAL fashion and style, not Lady Gaga fashion, if that makes any sense.
Look at Claire looking like a princess. Beautiful. She looks the same as she did in MSCL. Now, Naomi is rocking my style. Love her dress….lucky girls.
My fashion obsessed friend texted me last night saying that she needed resuscitation after seeing Claire Danes’s dress… So I’m assuming this is a good thing. It looks pretty boring to me except for the light up part… Giving me serious Cinderella vibes.
Brie Larson seems a 40 years old woman. Very bad
I don’t think she looks old, but she certainly looks miserable. I have yet to see a single photo of her smiling on the red carpet.
Forget everyone else. Danes rocked the carpet. Magical. I was speechless.
I think is too young and Princessy but at least she is on theme and commited so off that alone and SJP looking like a Hamilton Extra i Have to give it to Claire
Also for shame that an Oscar Winner cant get a better dress
Also this was very lacking in imagination overall very uninspired, I Rented a Badgley Mishka gold dress for a wedding last week and the impression I get is that I could have worn it at the MET gala no biggie and That Is not a Compliment, Im a Peon with no access
Claire for the win!
Claire Danes wasn’t just the best dressed that night….that has to be one of my favourite looks ever!
Claire’s dress was something else. Amazing!
Naomi for the win!
amazing dress ! futuristic yet timeless anna wintour needs to give her the cover
Claire was definitely the best-dressed on the carpet last night. The gown is amazing and it’s good to see a celeb dressed to the theme compared to a lot of other dresses last night.
Claire wins.
That dress is gorgeous, and Claire wore it well.
IBM seems to be the only tech company involved. The other material science techies missed the boat. This event was made for these innovators to collaborate with fashion designers. And women in STEM careers like Marissa Mayer from Yahoo should have been there too.
There is a lot going on in fiber development. FX There is a new high performance polyethylene fiber called ‘al dente’ that is spun from natural fats such as olive oil that is 2x as strong as those spun from petroleum products. One application for the fiber is bullet proof vests. Lee McQueen (RIP) would have won the day with say a crazy bullet-proof bustier and fun poofy skirt.
Women in STEM should not be expected to have to deal with the fashion industry too. Just because they’re women? No.
Zac Posen’s gown for Claire Danes was constructed out of fiber optic fabric, and used 30 arduino type battery packs. Some serious tech company had to be involved in there somewhere!
IBM Watson did an amazing job, co-creating a dress with emotional intelligence, that lit up in response to Watson’s analysis of tweets and social media comments!
Serious risk there, as well.
That’s so cool MINNFINN!
Perhaps they weren’t interested with Mr. Apple co-chairing?
It does look like a Cinderella dress but damn is she making it look good!
All she needed was a veil and a bouquet . . . and a groom, of course.
It’s just a Cinderella dress to me, so nope. Though it looks amazing when lit up.
Brie Larson needs a new stylist, because that outfit is terrible.. above the ankles, ruffled up, sequins dress? What the heck!
I actually love the disco mermaid-style sequins but damn Brie’s dress could stand to lose a ruffle. Or ALL OF THEM.
I hate her but that dress was magnificent. I was all ‘ohhhhh’ ‘ahhh’ when I saw it last night. She was the absolute winner of the night being so on point with the theme.
When I first saw photos of Claire’s dress, I loved it. I thought the fit was perfection and I loved the bodice. I didn’t even know it glowed, but now that I see it in the dark, I love it more. Yes, it’s a bit gimmicky, but it fits the theme very well in my opinion. I’m surprised it’s a Posen for the win.
Just happy someone tried to stay on freaking theme. The Met Gala is when you BRING IT, boring basics need not apply.
But no, she wasn’t the only win for the night. Kate Hudson and that one model who’s dress light up and changed depending on the tweets and response online was also amazing.
It’s pretty and fits well. The lights at least stay on message.
This is a very bad year for this so far. Nothing spectacular to be had it seems.
Claire won, lovely dress.
I agree good job and will take it further a lot of people should have gone home or been asked to leave. Between the silly people all in white or white suits and the tacky stuff! These are are best designers??
No thanks
Um, well, it is lovely. But it makes me think of a couple dresses I had for Barbies that glowed in the dark. I loved those things when I was a kid, so my inner child is happy, but still. Barbie.
Zac Posen wins. This is a true innovation, and when you see it from different angles…wow. Perfection as far as staying on theme, and the detail that could still be seen in lights out is technical wizardry.
This is one of those rare occasions where Claire gets it right – she won the fashion stakes last night. It was a great look for her.
Also loved Naomi’s dress – am generally a fan of her style.
I’m still laughing at the fact that pretty much NOBODY except for, like, three people, got the theme right. Everyone went for a robotic/futuristic vibe, and as far as I know, this years’ Gala was about something completely different. It was pretty obvious that most of the attendants didn’t bother to learn more about it beyond the title. That being said, it wasn’t a complete disaster. I must admit I saw many beautiful gowns, and Claire’s was definitely one of them.
One of the real highlights to a disappointing red carpet.
In loooovvvveee with Claire’s look. It is to die for. So beautiful. Oh my gosh. Cinderella come to life. I love Naomi’s dress too. Kinda wish that Brie’s dress didn’t have that silly sash tie thing, and that she left those shoes in the limo, but over all it’s cute.
I get that it fits the theme and she looks nice and it’s a beautifully cut gown. But…I prefer drama that I can gawk at without having to turn off the lights. Also in my head, how do you amaze someone in this and still chat to that gorgeous guy in the dark lol. Anyway, this would be great for a stage performance. I think I prefer Gaga wearing something this feminine just to surprise. But Lupita and Fan Bingbing would also work it.
Danes dress is awesome, loved it.. That’s all…
Best MET gala look ever.
It looks like a leftover from last year’s Charles Jordan theme.
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding..😏
Claire wins! OMFG I LOVE IT