Today it�s time for another Fashion Watch segment.

Usually I save the fashion snarking for the Oscars or other big media event, but in the last couple of days I have been moved to comment on the fashion on display at the MET Costume Institute Party of the Year. Were the photographers particularly bad, or is this the worst collection of celebrity/socialite outfits collected in one room for quite some time? The combination of horror and blah was overwhelming.

I know there was a Versailles theme, but Amber Valetta must feel like she arrived at a Halloween party only to discover that, aside from Anne Heche�s hair, she was the only one in a costume.

Others seemed to try to embrace the theme without having any clue about what actually constituted mid-late 18th Century French fashion.

For example, a large number of women seemed to be of the view that Versailles was located in ancient Greece. Of the numerous �goddess� dresses the majority looked boring and made their wearers look somewhat more dumpy frumpy than I suspect they actually are. I�m looking at you Ashanti, Kim Cattrall and Donna Karan, Sheryl Crow, Molly Sims and Serena Williams.

While I think that Marina Rust looked pretty compared to some of the other guests, she also looked like she was fleeing a Jane Austen novel.

Moving on to those who didn�t appear to be going with the theme � to their general advantage � I thought Carolyn Murphy, Sally �way too skinny� Albemarle, Mandy Moore, Stella McCartney and Naomi Watts looked great.

Speaking of that last picture, all the debate may have been over whether Sara O�Hare is pregnant (one would hope so), but Scarlett Johansson�s dress also made her look somewhat expectant. Loved the colour though. Lucy Liu also suffered a bit from this syndrome.

Renee Zellweger looked blah � I think the dress is wrong for her colouring - Natalie Portman looked uncomfortable and Eva Mendes just looked awful.

But more fashionably distressing what the apparent equation of �Versailles� and �ball gown� with �1980�s prom dress�. Witness, Famke Janssen, Tory Burch, Benhaz Sarafpour, and Helen Lee Schifter.

I could go on, but will restrain myself other than to add that in addition to those special mentions above, there was such a string of ill-fitting, style-free and/or generally unattractive dresses that I had to wonder whether everyone had either used up their quota of fabulous outfits over the holiday season, or were saving everything up for some other event over the northern summer that they actually regarded as the �Party of the Year�.

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On a completely separate note, I also have a peeve I feel the need to rant about.

My real name is a fairly common name, and is quite similar in both spelling and sound to another slightly more common (apparently) name. In fact, there�s only one letter difference. One is clearly a derivative of the other. Let�s say, purely hypothetically of course, that my name is Ulia. Which is very similar to Ulie. Quite a lot of people wind up calling me Ulie. And I�m okay with that, they sound the same, easy enough mistake to make. Not a problem.

Except in one circumstance � when I write to them. I absolutely loathe it when I write a letter or, more often, an email, which clearly states that my name is Ulia. Usually in more than one place. And the recipient emails me back, sometimes mere minutes later, and addresses me as �Dear Ulie�. Can�t you read? Or is it that you can�t type? Pay attention people! I don�t offend easily, but this drives me absolutely fucking nuts.

End rant.