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Met Gala red carpet: Um, you call that tech, fashion designers?

The theme for this year's New York Met Gala was Manus x Machina -- Fashion in the Age of Technology. We grade the outfits as they sashay down the red carpet.

Michelle Starr
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Michelle Starr
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1 of 10 John Shearer, Getty Images

Taylor Swift

As New York Times fashion director Vanessa Friedman tweeted, the 2016 Met Gala red carpet was positively awash with silver. Pop star Taylor Swift was among them, in a silver Louis Vuitton frock patterned with a crocodile skin print. While we like the idea of robotic crocodiles in theory, there's not really anything about the dress that screams Manus x Machina.

D- but at least it got us thinking about robotic crocodiles.

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2 of 10 John Shearer, Getty Images

Rita Ora

British singer-songwriter Rita Ora turned up in a Vera Wang gown that adapted the silver to a bunch of feathers. Sadly, they appear to be real, painted feathers rather than mechanical feathers that turn her into a magical flying person. They probably would have been hand-stitched, too.

D-

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3 of 10 Kevin Mazur, WireImage

Karolina Kurkova

Karolina Kurkova's Marchesa gown gets top marks. It's embedded with IBM Watson technology that lights up LEDs in the dress in response to people responding to the Met Gala on social media in real time. It's a magnificent blending of the human, the fashion and the high tech.

A+!

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4 of 10 Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images

Nicole Kidman

Oh, how we want to give Nicole Kidman points for her shimmering gown featuring space, moons and stars picked out in exquisite beading. Technology has shown us so much of space, but that's not really represented in Kidman's gown, sadly.

D

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5 of 10 Jamie McCarthy, FilmMagic

Lady Gaga

We really expected something more from Lady Gaga. Some flashing lights or something interactive. The jacket does at least have a circuit board pattern, and it is overwhelmingly shiny.

C- for at least thinking about the theme.

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6 of 10 Jamie McCarthy, FilmMagic

Zayn Malik

British pop star Zayn Malik turned up on the red carpet with his girlfriend, model Gigi Hadid, wearing...well, plate mail sleeves over a suit jacket. We think he needs marks deducted for going backward in time. Also for wearing plate mail sleeves over a suit jacket.

F

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7 of 10 Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images

Katy Perry

There is probably a reason for all those keys. It's probably not dress encryption. Is it steampunk? Is this Katy Perry's version of steampunk? Where are the cogs? And why is there a Tamagotchi hanging from her belt? This just raises too many questions, and refuses to answer them.

D-

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8 of 10 Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images

Beyoncé

It may not be intentional, but Beyoncé looks for all the world like an android in this flesh-toned latex gown. It's the lines at neck, elbow and wrist that make her joints look artificial. It's weirdly mesmerising.

Queen B-

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9 of 10 Larry Busacca, Getty Images

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

The point of this is obviously the silver, and Kardashian gets points for being reminiscent of robotic Maria from Fritz Lang's 1927 film "Metropolis." West's contact lenses make him look a bit like one of the synths from AMC TV show "Humans" too. But... those torn jeans...

C+

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10 of 10 Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images; Zac Posen

Claire Danes

It's not the first time we've seen a gown with embedded fibre optics, but this gown designed by Zac Posen and worn by Claire Danes is like something out of a fairytale. And it actually uses technology. You can see a video of it in action on Zac Posen's Instagram, here.

A

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