Since its inception in 1948, The Met Gala has become an institution hosted by Vogue, dedicated to showcasing fantastical looks you could only dream of. It’s a place where the most stylish go to live out our Cinderella daydreams, if only we had a fairy godmother like Anna Wintour in sunglasses and Valentino. While it is most publicly known for which celebrity wore what on the red carpet, it’s actually a yearly gala to welcome the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newest costume institute exhibition, which this year was Camp: Notes on Fashion. Before this year’s gala, we had little idea what “camp” actually meant or its history.
“To talk about camp is to betray it.”
Camp, in its essence, it difficult to define. “To talk about camp is to betray it” wrote Susan Sontag in her 1964 essay, Notes on Camp. Like Fight Club, of which the first rule is to not to talk about Fight Club. Of course, camp now has entered common vernacular and culture, but in some ways still holds true that to look it directly in the eye spoils the fun a bit.
History is filled with examples of camp. First mentioned with Louis XIV and later Oscar Wilde, both exploring different aspects of the camp aesthetic. Easier to spot in film and pop culture in the 20th century in films like Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975 or Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion in 1997 (which, from experience I can say makes for a great Halloween costume). It has deep roots in drag culture and is often displayed on shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. In music you can see Cher, Elton John, or Katy Perry exemplifying the genre.
This is the perfect year for camp style to regain its footing with upcoming films like Rocketman, and also across superheroes movie trends (check out the 1966 Batman for some classic camp). It is evident in the masses of people flooding Comic-Con annually to pageant their theatrical and fun-loving costumes dedicated to their favorite characters. Camp is all around us and only sparks more joy with each added feather boa.
Ever hard to define with a flair for the dramatics, we have collected some of our favorite camp-inspired pieces from sustainable designers. While these pieces are great to bring a little camp into your everyday wardrobe, one of the best ways to find unique and dramatic pieces is to thrift for them!
I’ll see you all on the couch watching the Met Gala red carpet in my disco ball dress and floor length cape. What have been your favorite Met Gala themes? Share in the comments below!
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Sarah Spoljaric is a California girl through and through. She has a BA in World History from one of the top 10 greenest campuses in the world; The University of California, Merced and is a Content Curator for the visual travel app Trepic. She has a background in museum curating, loves reading women’s travel journals and is in search of the perfect IPA. She’s passionate about exploring this beautiful world that ethically-produced goods help to protect. Say hi onInstagram!
On social media, the term "camp" can refer to a particular aesthetic or style characterized by being deliberately exaggerated, theatrical, ironic, and often kitschy/over-the-top.
CAMP: A sensibility that revels in artifice, stylization, theatricalization, irony, playfulness, and exaggeration rather than content, as Susan Sontag famously defined the term in her short essay, "Notes on 'Camp.
For example, drag shows, the gay "accent," and cult films popular within the LGBT community such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show are examples of camp.
A good example of the camp aesthetic in LGBTQIA+ culture is the drag scene. The origin of the term "drag" is debated, however, the most accepted theory is the expression "dressed as a girl", which comes from the world of theater.
In 1964, Sontag tried to make sense of the notoriously hard-to-define aesthetic in her bullet-pointed treatise by saying camp is the “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.”
The Princess Diaries meets Harriet the Spy when Abby—the most ordinary girl in the world—finds herself undercover at a summer camp for famous kids. From acclaimed author Jennifer Blecher, Camp Famous is an accessible and fun summertime adventure about fitting in, being brave, and letting others see who you truly are.
"Camp" can be defined as an aesthetic style that involves extravagance, irony, humor, and a love for the artificial and exaggerated. It is a way of looking at the world through a lens of over-the-top theatricality, often with a sense of parody or kitsch.
Camp helps children grow by providing a supervised, positive environment that has safety as a primary commitment. Camp professionals have enormous power in conveying simple teachable moments . . . special moments of passing experiences touched by the human spirit.
The most literal Camp example is a Trompe L'Oeil, which means “Trick of the Eye” in French. Examples include those Prada bags with illustrated (but not real) buckles, Moschino's necklace-but-not sweatshirt dress, and Gucci's famous “drawn on” capes and bows…
The first English definition of the term, which appeared in a 1909 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, conformed to popular, contemporary notions of camp: “ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical; effeminate or hom*osexual; pertaining to, characteristic of, hom*osexuals…” If not synonymous with ...
Camp means different things to different people. Generally, it is fashion that makes fun of fashion if that makes sense. Exaggerated lines, oversized pieces, very bright colors.Fashion with a sense of humor.
“Campy” drag is a traditional type of drag (the opposite of a female/male impersonator, who attempts to look as womanly/manly as possible) where everything is exaggerated and over the top. When people hear “camp queen”, they think of comedy queens like Nina West, Bianca Del Rio, and Bob the Drag Queen.
adjective. If you describe someone's behavior, performance, or style of dress as camp, you mean that it is exaggerated and amusing, often in a way that is thought to be typical of some male hom*osexuals.
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate is a small, hydrophilic molecule commonly known as cyclic AMP or cAMP, which is an important intracellular second messenger molecule regulated in many physiological processes.
The first English definition of the term, which appeared in a 1909 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, conformed to popular, contemporary notions of camp: “ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical; effeminate or hom*osexual; pertaining to, characteristic of, hom*osexuals…” If not synonymous with ...
: a place usually away from urban areas where tents or simple buildings (such as cabins) are erected for shelter or for temporary residence (as for laborers, prisoners, or vacationers) migrant labor camp. b. : a group of tents, cabins, or huts.
Camp in film refers to a style that embraces exaggerated, theatrical, and often intentionally absurd elements, creating a sense of irony or humor. A campy movie is characterized by its deliberate embrace of over-the-top aesthetics, performances, and storytelling.
The name is sometimes a variant spelling of "Kemp", which comes from the Old West Germanic "kampo-z", meaning "a contest, or fight", which in turn became the Old English "kemp", for a "fighter" or "soldier." However, the name usually denotes a family whose house was on an open field, or "camp", rather than in the woods ...
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Introduction: My name is Maia Crooks Jr, I am a homely, joyous, shiny, successful, hilarious, thoughtful, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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