Right out of the gate, the co-chair of the evening set the tone. There were two approaches for the night: the art approach or the fashion approach. Nicole chose the latter, sporting a truly stunning red gown and a fabulous head of hair, but clearly not wanting to take the parade float approach. She looks like the movie star she is but elevated to that Met Gala level. We can’t say we’re in love with the feathers, but we’d still count this as an all-timer in her look book. Being Nicole Kidman with the dials turned up to eleven is all she needed to do.

The star of The Devil Wears Prada 2 opted for pants, which seems silly to point out, but actually makes for a slightly bold choice on a night where ostentatious gownery rules the carpet. We wish we could say the choice paid off for her, but the top half of this look is awkward and overdesigned and it gives the sense that she can’t move comfortably in it. When it comes to embellishments, it’s either the pearls or the tassels, but not both in the same look. That’s just too much. We don’t make the rules—except for that one. We just made it up.

The legend and co-chair of the evening also opted for a relatively toned-down look, but the combination of elegance and sparkly glamour is flawlessly executed and suits her perfectly. The collar piece, which is clearly depicting images personal to her, looks fit for royalty, as does that gorgeous hairstyle. We like the relatively simple design of the dress, and the fact that it’s a sparkly black. It lends the look a real sophistication and allows the silver elements to be the focal point.

This is what we mean by a more art-oriented approach, which means the look is outrageous enough for stagewear but is also executed to a couture level. This could not suit them better. It’s extravagant and dramatic, but there’s also an Erté-esque chicness to it. We can’t imagine they didn’t adore every minute of swanning about in this, because it was surely designed for exactly that purpose. We adore that headpiece but it must have been annoying to navigate all night, considering there’s a sit-down dinner involved.

When this guy (and his team, to be fair) gets it right, he really gets it right. We’ve been following his style evolution from the beginning and we’ve always felt his sweet spot was right here: a chic, tailored, non-traditional approach that plays into his devastating hotness and expands the boundaries of masculine presentation a little. It’s modern-sexy, it’s dramatic, and it’s elegantly bold. Perfect for him.

We tend to think it’s good that the evening allowed for a more fashion-oriented approach, but this does not impress, we’re sorry to say. We don’t love the design of the skirt or how low it sits on a fairly stiff bodice. The color looks nice on her but that’s kind of a given since it’s giving Met Gala Barbie, which makes the choice feel somewhat expected. The styling is gorgeous, especially that amazing necklace, but the design of the dress lets her down.

We love that the star of The Devil Wears Prada 2 showed up in the ultimate New York designer. This is stunning and it perfectly plays into her looks and her ability to work just about any kind of garment, up to the highest difficulty setting. It manages to straddle that line between art and fashion, embodying both in a way that feels fun and tailored to the setting; a walking salute to the museum itself in a way that’s fairly literal, but still looks fabulous because she’s so well-suited to it.

It’s a given that Lisa would show up to the Met Gala in something jaw-dropping and head-turning. In terms of bringing the drama, not to mention serving as a walking display of art, this goddess-vibed look can’t be beat. We wish we could say the extra arms, which were molded from her own, worked to the extent they were clearly intended, but they come off too much like mannequin arms.

It may take us a while to get over this one. The star of Michael has always been an absolute leader and trailblazer in pushing the envelope on formal menswear style, but this art-inspired look, which feels like it could be taking inspiration from Mondrian or Picasso, simply doesn’t play to his strengths. The whole thing comes off a little costume-y, as in “about to break into song” costume-y.

We’ve been saying for a while now that the unlined black lace dress was officially played out as a red carpet choice, but we’re always willing to make a special case when the design is interesting, the wearer is well-suited to it, and the styling is on point. This checks off all three, as well as the unstated Met Gala-specific fourth one: it’s just a little unusual and over the top. It’s not the most exciting or envelope-pushing look of the night, but we can’t find a thing to complain about.

This is exactly the kind of look that is most expected for the Met Gala red carpet and it’s certainly dramatic, unique, and statement-making in a way that feels exactly right for her, but we just can’t bring ourselves to say that it looks good. We have no doubt it embodies the themes of the evening in some way for her and for Christian Siriano, but the statement feels unresolved or overwrought and the design could use some editing. It’s the butterflies that sent it over the line for us.

We’ll give her this: she was somewhat savvy in her choices—as was the house of Schiaparelli. This design is an extremely toned-down one for both of them and relative understatement was the best way to go, given the controversy surrounding her serving as co-chair. As the wife of one of the richest men in the world, an over-the-top display might have invited blowback. Still, the whole look is a little basic, too tight, and doesn’t really fit either the art or the high fashion vibe of the evening. She looks like she’s at some high-roller gambling event.

We aren’t surprised that Charli XCX came to the Met Gala in an elegant and sophisticated look because her style has been evolving in that direction for years now. We are, however, surprised by just how low-key a design it is, although that’s not a criticism. It’s not the kind of viral-seeking fashion clownery that people sometimes over-expect from the Met Gala but we think it’s more than okay for someone who’s worn her fair share of outrageous looks in her career to just step out looking amazing.

This is fun, glamorous, and feels so much more playful and relaxed than her approach to the red carpet much earlier in her career. The color looks amazing on her and there’s certainly nothing wrong with serving up a little conventional movie star-style glam at the Met Gala. Our only quibble is that she’s over-feathered and we’d have liked the volume in that department reduced a little.

We’re going to count this as one of the bigger disappointments of the evening. We’re not let down by the understatement, since a lot of attendees went in the same direction, but there’s understated and then there’s just bland. The design is kind of chic, we guess, but the neutral color does nothing for her and the look is in desperate need of some contrast. At the very least some sparkle or color in the shoe department was called for, but overall, the look just doesn’t feel up to the appropriate level. She looks pretty, and this would be great for almost any other red carpet, but it’s kind of meh on this one.

We just can’t help but love this one, even though it feels like it would be more suited for some sort of Old Hollywood-themed Met Gala. Still, we can’t blame a girl with instincts as theatrical as hers to shy away from serving up a themey, costume-y look. What makes this work is both the cleverness of the design, because all of those strips of film could have come off incredibly bulky and clumsy, not to mention gimmicky and uncomfortable-looking. But the design is cutely sexy, which is exactly where her style sweet spot lies, and the styling absolutely makes the look. The headpiece is gorgeous and her hair and makeup look beautiful.

We could be wrong, but we get the sense that for this year at least, this sort of stage-costume approach just doesn’t fit the vibe, although it’s hard to say exactly where the line is. Regardless, the combination of fencing mask or robot mask or whatever you want to call that, plus what looks to us like a fairly standard bridal gown doesn’t feel interesting as a combination. We can’t do anything more than shrug at it.

On the red carpet, she has always worn the kind of fashion that automatically would be appropriate for the Met Gala, especially one with an art theme, so we’re not surprised she nailed it here. She has said that she always wanted to wear her partner Giles Deacon’s designs to the Met Gala and the wait has paid off for her. That red, which appears to be the color of the night, looks amazing on her, and for once, we actually love how the feathers have been deployed. The face mask seems less like a gimmick and has more of an old-time masquerade ball feel.

This is one of those looks where the longer we took it in, the more we realized that the wearer looks gorgeous despite the design. It comes off dramatic, yet with a sophisticated restraint at first glance, but the longer we look at that bird element, the more it just looks like some glitter-covered cardboard. It comes off craftsy instead of couture and the dress underneath is pretty basic.

The queen—and co-chair—arrived fashionably late to the carpet, but that’s how divas roll when they know they’re serving a drop-dead look. In this case, almost literally, as Beyoncé made for the most sparkly and fabulous queen of the dead in an insanely dramatic and cleverly designed skeleton gown. The look is elevated to the stratosphere by the cape of feathers, but we love the glove and crown designs the most. The best melding of fashion and art on the carpet this night.