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Met Costume Gala: Celebs bring star power and glam to red carpet

Beyonce, Jessica Alba attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala on May 7, 2012. Getty/CBS

(CBS/AP) It's known as one of the most glamorous red carpets of the year, with movie stars, models and even a few star quarterbacks putting on their most fashion-forward outfits for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala.

On Monday night in New York, Beyonce showed off her post-baby figure, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel stepped out as an engaged couple, and Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady cozied up on the red carpet.

Pictures: Met Costume Institute Gala 2012

Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Klum, Tim Tebow and Florence Welch were also among those to weave through the tented grand Fifth Avenue entrance to celebrate the new fashion exhibit that compares and contrasts the designs of two Italian women: Miuccia Prada, who wore a pantsuit to the event, and the late Elsa Schiaparelli.

Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue, serves as hostess of the event, and she wore a white gown with lobster-motif gold embroidery by Prada. Carey Mulligan, Wintour's co-chairwoman this year, wore a Prada cocktail dress with metallic fish-scale beading, and Gwyneth Paltrow had on a steel-blue Prada dress with heavily embellished pockets.

Among others donning Prada: Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman and Linda Evangelista.

Unlike other big celebrity red carpets, where designers just want to hear the stars utter their names as the creators of their dresses, they are the A-list dates here. Michael Kors escorted Hilary Swank, wearing a red halter gown; Parker, in a metallic floral-print gown with long sleeves and belt, came with Valentino; and singer Lana Del Ray, cloaked in a long black cape, came with Joseph Altuzarra.

Jason Wu brought model Karlie Kloss, who wore a mostly hot-pink gown with an underlay of black beaded lace; Karolina Kurkova, in a rose-gold sequin gown and beaded cap, attended with Rachel Zoe; and Doutzen Kroes wore a one-shouldered, black-and-white gown as she walked arm-in-arm with Roland Mouret.

January Jones could have stopped traffic in her bright yellow custom Atelier Versace bustier gown, and model Coco Rocha also went the bright route, matching pink curls in her hair to the tank top she wore under a vintage taxi-yellow suit.

Other fashion moments:

- Scarlett Johansson in a custom bustier gown embroidered with gold thread and pearls and a long tulle skirt by Dolce & Gabbana.

- Ashley Greene in off-the-shoulder Grecian gown in white silk with chiffon pleats and fringe by Donna Karan, who also made Nina Dobrev's black-and-gold asymmetrical gown with a pooling train inspired by a gown Paltrow used as a costume in "Great Expectations."

- Bundchen in a high-slit black gown by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, who also dressed Liv Tyler, Kanye West, Rooney Mara, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, who wore a sheer black gown with strategic beading and a purple ostrich-feather hemline.

- Jessica Chastain in a corseted blue satin dress with crystals, pearls and crinoline by Louis Vuitton. Vuitton, designed by Marc Jacobs (who wore a black lace get-up), also outfitted Dakota Fanning in a lavender organza gown.

- Cameron Diaz in a long-sleeve, crystal-fringe embroidered gown by Stella McCartney, who also dressed Kristin Wiig in an orange lace dress.

- Welch in a cream-colored, organza tiered dress by Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, who also dressed Cate Blanchett in a black feather gown with ostrich hem.

Tell us: Who do you think was the best-dressed star at the Met Costume Gala?

Watch below as "CBS This Morning" co-host Erica Hill reports on the gala:

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