Where do I even begin?
At its core, camp is almost undefinable. It is experiential and sprouts from lived experiences. It might raise an eyebrow or two from “normal” onlookers, but when evaluating camp, we have to throw that term away. “Normal” doesn’t exist in a campy world. Instead, camp is rooted in absurdity, exaggeration, irony, parody, playfulness, theatricality, a desire to “dethrone the serious,” a “love of the unnatural” and the idea of “things-being-what-they-are-not”. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is camp; Thierry Mugler’s Les Cowboys 1992 collection is camp; Lady Gaga’s iconic 2010 meat dress is camp; and sitting here typing this piece out in a fuzzy, leopard print robe, with sparkly five-inch stiletto heels and last night’s liquid liner on is camp. In the spirit of embracing camp as both a feeling and an essence, then, we have to address the elephant in the room — camp is so intrinsically linked to and rooted in Queerness that straight people attempting to partake in it will almost always fall flat. Point blank period.
With such a bold statement, it’s only fair for me to provide a bit of context. Allow me to take you to mid-1900s New York City. While it was undeniably a time of glitz and glamour, it also lacked an acceptance of and an embracing attitude toward Queer people, specifically Queer people of Color. In response, ballroom culture arose in the dark, seedy undergrounds of NYC’s booming metropolitan cityscape. The balls and performances that took place in these communities embodied camp to a tee. The outfits associated with these events took “normal” societal concepts and flipped them on their heads, creating theatrical and dramatic retellings of everyday “straight” life.
Queer people have lived and continue to live life being seen as absurd, weird and unnatural; even today as I walk down the street in my fuzzy pink yeti boots, I am guaranteed to receive at least ten sets of piercing eyes on my skin and the associated feelings of discomfort. I am a freak to them — all Queer people are. And you know what? So be it. Camp allows me to embrace this feeling, and gives me a space and a community to play around with the dramatic performative outfits that not everyone understands. With this in mind, I ask you: How can camp, an idea dependent on absurdity and exaggeration, be achieved by straight people whose lives reflect the very normality that camp is designed to make fun of?
Now, with some camp history and context out of the way, come with me to the 2019 Met Gala: “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” I found this an incredibly exciting theme, and there were definitely some celebrities and designers who executed incredible looks. Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Zendaya (Law Roach never misses of course), Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke were definitive standouts with this deceptively complex theme. I specifically remember Lady Gaga and Billy Porter’s outfits due to both figures’ theatrical, exaggerated performances that added another element of camp to their extravagant garments.
Lady Gaga’s four-part shutdown of the Met Gala carpet through a massacre of hot pink and black is exactly what camp is all about. Her first look was a hot pink gown and matching bow — cute, right? Gaga delivered an acceptable presentation and could have stopped there — but didn’t. Camp demands more; it demands extravagance and a borderline strange interpretation of this simple pink bow and dress. Instead, Gaga and her designer Brandon Maxwell added a 25-foot train, huge white lashes and a gigantic, floppy, misshapen variation of a traditional bow. Camp to a T.
Yet, as we have come to learn, camp demands performance. Gaga and Maxwell peeled the pink away to reveal a black dress. Another classic, yet the simplicity of an Audrey Hepburn little black dress doesn’t belong in the world of camp. Instead, Gaga delivered us an asymmetrical corset-style top connected to a structured hoop skirt draped all the way to the ground. Next came a hot pink, strappy bodycon dress complete with oversized, crystal-encrusted black sunnies. Gaga kept us engaged in the performative world of camp, as she dramatically applied lipstick before stripping it away a final time. Her last look was another crystal-encrusted example of camp perfection, as she donned a matching bra and panty over sexy fishnets and stripper heels. The masterful execution and performance of a glamorous, burlesque-style strip show is exactly what I needed and expected from “Camp: Notes on Fashion.”
Another flawlessly executed display of camp came in the form of chain fringe and glittering gold, as Billy Porter entered the carpet hoisted by six shirtless hunky men. Working with his stylist, Sam Ratelle, Porter took something rooted in reality — a look inspired by the Egyptian sun god Ra — and created a production adorned with glitter, a cast of characters and a splash of editorial high fashion. In doing so, not only did they craft something dramatic and over-the-top, but they also delivered a performance that pushed an already glamorous look to the next level, directly into the world of camp.
Unfortunately, a prime example of a straight man’s fashion flop when it comes to camp excellence comes in the form of America’s heartthrob, Harry Styles. I love One Direction as much as the next person, but, regardless of what some might say, wearing a lace sheer top instead of a traditional men’s suit doesn’t make you camp. Styles and his designer Alessandro Michele paired this lace top with a simple black slack and a “heeled” black shoe. The use of a feminine, delicate textile (such as lace) on a very masculine presenting celebrity had camp potential, if styled correctly. Yet the choice to dress that down with an overdone black trouser ruined it for me. Additionally, the audacity to call Styles’ shoe a heel during a camp theme is insulting. What he wore was a standard black patent leather boot that gave him maybe an inch of lift.
Acknowledging the constricting idea of men needing to look strictly masculine by dressing Styles in an over-the-top hyperfeminine outfit could have been camp. Similarly, writing “men’s heel” on Styles’ shoe to acknowledge the idea of a small-heeled platform boot being seen as a crazy high heel in men’s fashion could also be seen as camp. A man dressing more effeminate can definitely be camp, then, but there is a level of drama and absurdity that needs to be reached for a look to truly embody that theme — Porter’s look being a great example. In contrast, this look felt lazy and disappointing. In general, I think an intoxicating fear of looking “silly” and the lack of knowledge regarding the ridiculous nature of camp and its roots held not just Styles but many of the night’s guests back from dressing truly on theme.
A pink shirt on a straight man isn’t quite camp, and I’m sad to say that “Camp: Notes on Fashion” had far too much of that. Camp cannot be truly understood and lived in unless one can comprehend the idea of living as a performance. Camp fashion is rooted in experience, understanding and — in many ways — culture. I needed more performance, theatricality and drama from all the attendees, and I needed it to come from a more prominently Queer lens, specifically when it came to designers and stylists. As the clack of my red chrome acrylics type the grand finale of this piece, I encourage all readers to do their research on the history and significance of being campy before dressing up in something you assume is “different” and calling it camp.
Daily Arts Writer Bobby Curie can be reached at bobcur@umich.edu.
