Some people didn’t get the assignment for Monday’s Met Gala 2019. And some people did extra credit. But that’s always how these things go, right?
As someone who took a whole class on capital-C Camp, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a hard concept to understand. No, it isn’t wearing Patagonia and roughing it in the wilderness, although if one were to wear Patagonia and cover it with sequins and maybe wear menstrual cup earrings, then it would be. Camp is extravagent subversion of the expected, the appropriate, the subtle. It is eshewing gender roles, but it is also embracing gender roles to such an extent that it is unacceptable. I found a wonderful video on Twitter that essentializes Camp, and I highly recommend you watch it.
You might not be able to explain Camp, but you can definitely recognize it when you see it. I thought, overall, everyone did a good job, but some people didn’t get the essential Camp symbolism. And, unsurprisingly, it was the people with marginalized identities that excelled, overall. Because camp is so intrinsically tied to ball culture, the queer experience, and subversion of the norm, it wasn’t really surprising that Hailey Baldwin/Bieber and none of the Kardashians hit the nail on the head.
Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my personal top picks from the Met Gala.
- Billy Porter
- Lena Waithe
- Ezra Miller
- Hailee Steinfeld
- Janelle Monae
- Elle Fanning
- Katy Perry
- Lupita Nyong’o
- Michael Urie
- Cara Delevingne
- Hamish Bowles
- Lizzo
Happy capital-C Camping, everyone!