It's known as the Oscars of the fashion world, but the Met Gala is actually much more fun when it comes to the red carpet. Where the Academy Awards is a sea of dull, strapless column dresses, the Met Gala, held annually in New York, is the fashion industry's chance to shine and experiment.

So last night's celebrations saw everything from Marc Jacobs in a lace dress, white pants and swashbuckling pirate shoes to supermodel Anja Rubik's exposed hip-bone and very-nearly-exposed bikini wax. Read on for our favourite looks from the evening...

Minimalism is dead and more isn't nearly enough. SS12 is all about clashing prints, maximalist accessories and layers of colour and texture.

It's time to pile on your brightest, boldest pieces, throw on your kookiest accessories and adhere to the only rule that matters this season: there are no rules.

Looking for some inspiration? Look no further...

Like many feminists who happen to love fashion, Miuccia Prada has had some difficulty reconciling her role in the industry with her politics. It's an industry which is, for the most part, by and for women yet it's often accused of promoting an unhealthy body image and playing the patriarchy's game by encouraging women to invest in their appearance.

It's a struggle Prada has discussed in the past, but this week she revealed that it almost stopped her from entering the family business altogether. She told Newsweek's Robin Given that at first she "hated" fashion:

"I was a feminist in the ’60s and can you imagine? The worst I could have done was to be in fashion. It was the most uncomfortable position … And I had problems for so many years; only recently I stopped.’

In the end she decided that depsite her misgivings, "so many clever people respect fashion so much and through my job … I have an open door to any kind of field. It’s a way of investigating all the different universes: architecture, art, film. I also realized people respect me because I’m good in my job.’

So what do you think? Can fashion and feminism ever be easy bedfellows?

Pringle of Scotland has struggled somewhat to find its identity over the past decade. Claire Waight Keller took things in the right direction, and after her departure to Chloé, many thought that the appointment of Alistair Carr as design director in March last year was another strong step for the heritage label.

However after just over a year with the company, Carr has resigned, a decision described by WWD as "mutual" and "amicable". He had been an exciting appointment for Pringle, and fashion followers hoped he would inject his sporty, edgy aesthetic into the knitwear brand.

His collections were well received by the fashion press, however Jean Fang, Pringle's CEO has suggested that the brand will now go in a different direction, telling WWD that the company plans to open smaller stores, emphasising "core product, such as luxury cashmere and wool separates with a modern edge".

Carr's role will be filled by the in-house creative team and fashion shows will be replaced with presentations.

Jonathan Kelsey is cooing over a pair of champagne-hued glittery slingback stilettos with a black satin heel. Girlish and saccharine sweet, they lie somewhere between Disney princess and Studio 54 and would tick the pink/sparkly/towering boxes on many a shoe lover's wish list.

"I've got a pair of these at home for my god-daughter," says the Carlisle-born shoe designer. His god-daughter is just three and she'll have to wait until she's 18 to get her hands on them, but when she does, she's got quite a treat in store.

"Every season I order her a pair of shoes [from my collection] and when she turns 18 I'm going to give her all 36 pairs." Talk about a fairy godfather. "Her mum doesn't get to look after them," he adds, "because I know she'd start wearing them."

The recession must be hitting even harder than first thought if Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue is resorting to wearing the same dress twice.

Eddy's response to the suggestion that she donate her old clothes to the homeless in a vintage episode of Ab Fab sums up the attitude of many in the fashion industry: "I'm sure they've got enough to contend with without the added humiliation of wearing last season sweetie."

Wintour bore the humiliation well when she attended a state dinner at the White House this week in a Chanel couture dress she first wore to the Met Ball in 2009.

With the price tags on Chanel couture often running into six figures, Wintour has probably reduced the CPW (Cost Per Wear) of this particular dress by about £50,000. Well, in these troubled times, we all have to cut back...

I have very little time for heels. They're uncomfortable and hurty and they make me fall over. And frankly, if a professional strutter can't navigate a catwalk in them then there's little hope for the rest of us.

At Anthony Vaccarello's show this week, model Pauline Hoarau had a nasty fall in her Giuseppe Zanotti heels but made a brave attempt to continue, stumbling with every second step until two models had to help her to hirple to the end, poor thing.

See the video for the whole sorry episode after the jump and watch out for model Othilia Simon who, to her eternal shame, marches right past her fallen comrade.

Where the Oscars should be an opportunity for a showcase of truly interesting fashion, the fear of ending up on 'worst-dressed' lists across the globe has actresses reaching for the safest gowns they can find, choosing to take sartorial risks at the after parties instead, or indeed on lesser red carpets.

The result has been that nominees tend to fall under neither the best or worst-dressed category. They are merely 'dressed'. At this year's Academy Awards, held on Sunday evening in LA, there was a scattering of bright spots in a sea of bland frocks.

Few failed miserably when it came to their fashion choices, but equally few excelled. Those who did made it on to our best-dressed list. Those who didn't were probably wearing shimmery 'greige' column gowns. Come back, Bjork's 2001 swan dress; all is forgiven...