It has been a few days since the magical and surreal Pink Carpet of the Met Gala Fashion Exhibition, but social media and the press have been posting, writing and commenting continuously. The Met Gala carpet experience is fashion’s biggest night of the year; forget about the Oscars or the Golden Globes. It’s the annual “First Monday in May” which brings out the coolest and chicest in fashion.
This year’s exhibit focused on “camp,” not camping outdoors but the ideology of being extreme (over the top) in a tongue n’ cheek kinda way with a dose of humor. Many of the attendees (despite being in showbizness did not understand the term); Camp deserves its own blog post, and more importantly, it’s great research and history for anyone in the beauty or fashion industry. I recommend reading Susan Sontag’s “Notes on Camp.” This would be a great introduction into camp, but Sontag’s book gives you a condensed, whiter perspective. Camp goes back to queer subcultures dating back to the 17th century. It was then in the late 19th century, the black subculture personified Camp and brought all of its glory to the masses.
Don’t worry… even Andrew Bolton, the Met’s Curator of the Fashion Exhibit, states, the term “is nearly impossible to define or summarize.” The attendees of the big night are asked to dress in theme, but it seemed like even the artists were confused. We aren’t going to highlight the “best dressed” of the night, but rather, those who truly embraced camp vibes.
Images: vogue.com
- NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 06: Ezra Miller attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
- NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 06: Ezra Miller attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)