>> Video: RJ Cutler's "The Met Ball" Short Film —Vogue posted a short video on the planning of this year's American Woman-themed Costume Institute Gala, but if you're looking for a more in-depth peek behind the scenes, The September Issue's director RJ Cutler produced a short film, The Met Ball, leading up to and covering the 2007 Paul Poiret-themed event, which was just posted online in its entirety. Among the highlights, Hamish Bowles trying on a robe at Tom Ford, which he calls "a bit too queeny for me," and Sally Singer summing up the event as such: "It's one of those evenings where there's no real inherent value to the meal -— it's a fashion dinner so there's never an inherent value to the meal; the whole point is to go to the bathroom a lot to keep looking at people as you go in and out of the bathroom, and see who's in the bathroom." [Part 1, Part 2]

>> There were no headbuttings this year at the Costume Institute Gala, but there were a few other surprises — particularly for Jessica Stam, who Tweeted last night of her slinky Rachel Roy gown: "I can't believe I put my dress on at 6pm and it was ripped all down the back. Last minute stitching before I hit the red carpet at the Met."

And there was Katy Perry, who nixed the de rigeur designer gowns in favor of a LED-flashing dress from a shop in France called CuteCircuit, earning her today's WWD cover. "I respect and appreciate Anna Wintour, but I'm doing this for me," she told StyleList. "That's what people should do, especially when they're representing true women in American fashion. [If] Anna comes over and says 'Shut that f-ing thing off,' I'll do it."

Sarah Jessica Parker debuted her first Halston Heritage design »

Vanessa Paradis will guest edit a special Cannes Film Festival issue of French weekly Madame Figaro and appear on the cover with Karl Lagerfeld.

Lady Gaga skipped the red carpet at last night's Met Ball but performed later in the evening wearing a sheer, jewel-encrusted cat suit.

Roberto Cavalli has been cleared of tax evasion charges.

InStyle magazine has teamed up with Decades Two to offer a selection of vintage sales online from consignors such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Courtney Love, Rachel Zoe, Selma Blair, and Julianne Moore.

Suzy Menkes reports on the Met's new exhibition, “American Women: Fashioning a National Identity” and writes that the collection is missing "crosscurrents to link past and present."

Source: Getty

From left: Gisele Bundchen in Alexander Wang, Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein, Marion Cotillard in Christian Dior, and Jessica Stam in Rachel Roy

Undoubtedly the year's most fashionable red carpet event, last night's arrivals for the Costume Institute did not disappoint. Designers walked hand-in-hand with models, actresses, and muses up the Metropolitan Museum steps for an entrance which Zoe Saldana said made the Oscars look like "a nice get-together." Our personal sartorial highlights were the sleek, long-sleeved evening dresses (like those above on Gisele Bundchen, Diane Kruger, Marion Cotillard, and Jessica Stam) which looked fresh and new among a sea of sleeveless gowns.

Source: Getty