The 2019 Met Gala was a benefit supporting the Costume Institute (within The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the latest exhibition, entitled CAMP: Notes on Fashion. Inspired by the seminal 1964 essay ‘Notes on Camp’ by Susan Sontag, the exhibition was a celebration of the Camp aesthetic, shown through a collection of over 250 objects. Nicknamed ‘The First Monday in May’, the Met Gala is an event held prior to the opening of said exhibition and attendees are encouraged to dress according to the themes that have been explored within. CAMP: Notes on Fashion inspired countless outfits honouring the profound influence that Camp has had on contemporary cultural phenomena.
This work seeks to discuss the values and debates within the Camp sensibility and expression, unpacking various analyses of the subject to understand further the polarising and diverse nature of Camp. As a concept, it continually maintains such subjectivity that the task of defining and categorising Camp only mystifies it further – and we find that it manifests and associates itself within many facets of socio-cultural discourse. Arguments from Sontag’s essay, among other compelling authors, are used in the application in the final portion of this dissertation to ascertain from a selection of attendees’ outfits whether these modern conceptualisations succeed in honouring and embodying the Camp vision.
“Camp aims to transform the ordinary into something more spectacular.” — Jack Babuscio, 1978
