It was the Met Ball last night.

"The what now?" I hear you ask … You know, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual fashion event in New York, where celebrities line up to have their picture taken on a plush red carpet wearing all manner of exquisite jewels and elaborate clothing.

"Fancy outfits and celebrities, then?" Yes, fancy outfits and celebrities.

Instead of taking you through a frock-by-frock narrative of what every Anna (Wintour), Sarah (Jessica Parker) and Taylor (Swift) wore - no, I have little interest in that either - I've decided to delve a little deeper and look at the story behind the celebrity fashion hoopla.

Let's call it a tale of fashion, society and influence and what that really says about how we dress today.

The theme for this year's Met Ball was the 20th-century Anglo-American couturier, Charles James.

Mr James was a man who made his name in the early half of the 20th century dressing women in the "taxi dress", the "figure-eight skirt" and the "Pavlovian waistband", which could discreetly expand after a large meal.

In short, Mr James was a man who made fabulous frocks for fabulous women, who occasionally dined on fabulous food.

Despite that, you'd be hard pushed to find someone outside the inner circle of fashion who knows who this great creative was.

Not a household name, but Charles James clothing was worn by a select group of wealthy, in-the-know women who spent their days attending posh soirées. The era's equivalent of high street this was not.

Yet the high society outfits created by Mr James do actually have some relevance today.

With their undulating hemlines and strapless bodices, they give us a glimpse into a bygone era, when glamour and sophistication took precedence over all else.

Granted, most women of that time weren't wearing Mr James's designs (few could afford such an extravagance) but his creations do reflect how women once aspired to look.

Nowadays, the notion that women (or men) would all want to look one certain way is, of course, outdated.

Individuality is key. We all dress how we please in the modern world.There is none of that clothing-by-numbers lark that hemmed in (in some cases quite literally) how women ought to look. We've moved on. We're better off now.

Except: are we? Flicking through pictures of Mr James's famous designs, it's easy to see why the Met in New York has chosen to celebrate his work.

These are museum-worthy frocks. Now think of how we all dress today (even cash-rich celebrities) and ask yourself this: would any of our gear be worth exhibiting in 50 years time? Probably not.

"That doesn't matter," you say. Fair enough. Still, I wonder whether our inevitable sartorial legacy is really preferable to that of Mr James's elegant frocks.

Maybe we're not so better off after all.