The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Ball is a party with an international reputation, and it got me thinking: Why does this event stand so far apart from the museum’s other events? The obvious answer is the number of celebrities and designers in attendance, and the array of beautifully designed clothes on display – both in the exhibit and on the guests.

But it’s fair to ask how those elements, not to mention the rain last night, influenced this year’s party for good or naught. Start with what should be the simple task of arriving. The paparazzi mobbed the museum’s grand staircase, snapping Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Jake Gyllenhaal, Liam Neeson, Elijah Wood, Tom Ford, Sean Combs, Usher: a parade of stars as long as the red carpet at the Oscars. Anyone attending had to endure – or bask in – the light of the flashbulbs as they climbed the stairs. That group included non-celebrities – though they’re famous to some New Yorkers – such as Bill Keller, Donald and Susan Newhouse, Lily Safra, Brooke and Daniel Neidich, Heather and Steven Mnuchin, and Metropolitan Museum of Art trustees Carroll Petrie and Renee Belfer.

How fortunate for the museum to have this attention, thanks to the muscle and genius of their trustee Anna Wintour. It’s nice to think that people around the world will be reminded of the museum whenever a photo from the event is printed.

But the costs are worth noting.

For one thing, how important should celebrity and fashion be to an institution like the Metropolitan Museum of Art? The museum is in the business of preserving and presenting the world’s finest art, not its ephemeral stars. The museum is by definition a public resource, and the $2,500-a-ticket benefit for the Costume Institute, with all the publicity it generates, may paint the museum as some sort of glitzy club reserved for the likes of Jessica Simpson and the Olsen twins. That would be a shame.

The truth is, celebrities aren’t regulars at the museum. The museum’s fund-raising events are usually of a quieter nature, soirees that raise millions of dollars without the help of celebrities. Those are the evenings when the lights are dim and the stairs are quiet, except for an idling town car or two. Inside, the old-guard trustees and their old-guard friends toast and dine and congratulate themselves yet again. Folks like David Schiff, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, and Brooke Astor have been enacting the ritual for decades. And it can be hoped that people like them will continue the tradition.

So the lesson here is this: Celebrities aren’t a requirement for a successful fund-raising event. They may get attention, but, almost every night, unrecognizable, no name New Yorkers, bank vice presidents or book editors, are going out to benefits and raising money. They may not be able to say, “I saw Claire Danes,” but sometimes, good conversation, paired with donating money to a charity, is satisfaction enough.