Mod & Bean

The MFA's Techstyle exhibit lingering fresh in our minds, the celebrity studded Manus x Machina -themed Met Gala further ignited our love for this recurring fashion-is-the-future theme. Clicking through Elle magazine's endless carousel of the night's looks as we battle Finals Season colds and attempt to stay dry during the monotonous rain of this week, we cherry picked some of our favorite looks and figured, in the spirit of doing anything but schoolwork, we'd toss them into a blog post.

Cue the stunning shot above: Jourdan Dunn immediately captured our attention in her metallic Balmain gown. Dunn was a refreshing canvas for Balmain's lead designer, Olivier Rousteing (while the Balmain-Kardashian relationship has produced some stunning looks, it's become a bit commonplace seeing the klan in Rousteing's corset ensembles event after event). Dunn's tailored Balmain piece managed to stand out in an ocean of disco balls and scaly fish filets — and truly embodied the dichotomy of (wo)man and machine.

Other gowns, like those donned by Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman, reminded us of Hunger Games-esque fashions — you know, like those dashing socialites who live in the Capitol. As we moved from picture to picture, designer to designer, we blurted the first adjectives that came to our minds: "Lobster" and "column" for the more disappointing pieces, "Queen of the Galaxy" tumbling off our tongues for Watts and Kidman.

Men's red carpet wear didn't seem to provide the most compelling canvas for the Manus x Machina theme, but we loved the metal arms on Zayn Malik's classic black tie look. His date, Gigi Hadid, stood out with brushed metal rings and chrome nails featuring over $2000 in crystals.

One of the nights most captivating ensembles came in the pairing of Claire Danes with designer Zac Posen for the incredible LED-laden gown shown below. When the lights went down, the organza 'Cinderella-esque at first sight' gown reveals the intricate fiber optics beneath.

While we soon found ourselves bored by the sheer volume of attendees donning metallic frocks and ensembles, we did like Kristen Stewart's striking silver eye makeup.

We also couldn't help but think of how perfect Valentino's recent galaxy collection would have been for the night (this might just be our love of Valentino gowns talking though).

The night featured tons of incredible on-theme looks — from Lupita's sky high hair and emerald green dress to Selena Gomez's steampunk Louis Vuitton piece — but a fair share of guests went a more traditional route, donning dresses, beautiful in their own rights, yet more akin to what one might expect on a typical red carpet. Below we've gathered some of our favorite looks that, while not embodying the Manus x Machine theme per say, were tasteful choices nonetheless.

Looking through red carpet looks following star-studded events like the Met Gala has long been a joy for the both of us, this year being no exception. Neither of us can contain our excitement over getting to see the Manus x Machina curated by Andrew Bolton when we visit the city this summer!

Xx Katherine & Maia