NEW YORK (AP) - The grande dame of the Met Gala, Anna Wintour, arrived early Monday in a fringed, white body-hugging gown by Chanel and acknowledged her life is not a great example of the evening's theme, the convergence of man and machine.
"Me? I can't cook. I can't do anything with my hands," the editor-in-chief of American Vogue told reporters, kicking off the huge night of fashion and celebrity at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The annual Met Gala, organized by Wintour for 18 years, brings in millions for the museum. The carpet - red, beige and pink this year - wends up the museum's grand staircase and is always a blinding display of A-listers from film, music, sports and fashion.
The event celebrates the Met's new exhibit opening Thursday, "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology," which, according to curator Andrew Bolton, seeks to prove that the machine is an "equal protagonist" to the hand in creating the best fashions of the recent past, present and future.
Some early arrivals at the gala went metallic, perhaps to emphasize the machine part of the evening's equation, including Poppy Delevingne in low-cut silver tiered spangles and jewels on a Marchesa gown, her platinum hair hanging loose. Also in silver: Rita Ora in a Vera Wang gown with a full train of feathers and sheer reveals at the side of her thighs and Tony-winning actress Sophie Okenedo wearing Tome.
Taylor Swift, one of the evening's co-hosts, wore a short silver sequined Louis Vuitton gown with high black gladiator sandals. Cindy Crawford wore a classic long metallic silver Balmain.
Others, including Wintour's daughter, Bee Shaffer, chose to celebrate floral elements in Bolton's exhibit. Shaffer accompanied her mother in an elegant black gown with a spare floral design and a long train, from Alexander McQueen.
Actress Alicia Vikander took the idea of "machine" to a new level in a multicolored mini. It, too, had a gladiator feel with a bright red bustier effect over armor-like copper and loose skirting, paired with a tough-girl pair of Louis Vuitton combat boots.
Idris Alba, another of the evening's co-hosts, wore a white tie and black tails from Tom Ford. So how does he get ready for the Met Gala?
"Take your time. Make sure your shirt's down and the whites of the cuffs are out," he said.
Uma Thurman paired her creamy Tommy Hilfiger gown that had a high side slit with a huge vintage brooch from Cartier pinned to one shoulder strap.