A style lesson learned from the Met Costume Institute Gala 2010: Business in the front and party in the back is one way to make your dress stand out from the crowd. Or maybe that's party in the front, business in the back?

Several starlets showed up in dresses cut like cocktail dresses in the front to expose lots of leg, but long in the back to be ball-gown appropriate.

Kristen Stewart did a variation on the look in Chanel Haute Couture, with a sheer panel in the front. Stella McCartney dressed Liv Tyler and herself in the half-and-half dresses. And Sienna Miller wore a spangly Pucci dress in deep blue.

It's sort of a cool idea in theory. But in reality, the neither-here-nor-there look can come off a little like a man's formal tail-coat reshaped for a woman. We don't recommend it for anyone but super leggy stars attending events that focus on making a fashion statement.