It's a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid, Plaid World: It's not that we don't appreciate the effort that Sarah Jessica Parker put into preparing for the Met's annual Costume Institute Gala. It's clear the fashion-adoring actress took the evening's AngloMania theme seriously, tapping Brit designer Alexander McQueen for a tartan creation appropriate to the occasion, where the stars traditionally don daring, traffic-stopping duds. Unfortunately, Parker is primed to cause a 10-car pileup as she steps out draped in every kilt Sean Connery has ever outgrown, resulting in a look that's less cutting-edge haute couture than cast-off Highland horror. The real pity of this plague of plaid -- beyond the chorus of cries from many an indignant Scottish clan -- is that it almost completely obscures what appears to be a not-quite-as-terrifying strapless tulle number hiding beneath. Also causing the former "Sex and the City" star problems are her copiously kohl-rimmed eyes, sandals better suited to a "Gladiator" extra and that bejeweled gas cap that's inexplicably perched atop her shoulder.

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