Ah! The Met Gala: the first Monday night in May when Hollywood’s gilded elite gather at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City to flaunt their most outrageous costumes and mingle with the biggest names in fashion, art, and modern culture. This year’s theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” borrows from Susan Sontag’s seminal essay “Notes on Camp,” to examine the oft-undefinable sensibility of camp through decades of fashions that embody it. According to Sontag herself, “The essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” This theme is rife for enough extravagance to make even Cher clutch her sequins; however, only a handful of celebrities took full advantage of such a prompt. Below are my selections for the five people who best embodied this year’s theme.
Resident mind-bending superhero/ detective Benedict Cumberbatch was unexpectedly fantastic with this all-white Roksanda number. Does he look like Jay Gatsby after a month-long cruise through the Serengeti? Yes. Would he be amiss to look like anything else at such an event? Absolutely. Bonus points for the subtle homage to one of the earlier adopters of camp, Oscar Wilde a-la the black tassel cane.
Ryan Murphy, screenwriter and creator of American Horror Story, Glee, and Scream Queens, serves high-drama in his Christian Siriano coral Liberace fever dream. The gently bemused expression serves as a superb counterpoint to the glittery three-piece suit. One of the many capes that made their way down the carpet this night, the flamboyance and earnesty of this look stood out amongst the crowd.
Masters of None actress and writer Lena Waithe paid her due respects to the people who put the sensibility of camp on the map: black drag queens. Ballroom culture has long honored camp sensibilities, and Waithe’s homage serves to include these narratives on the carpet. Add in powder-blue silk pinstriped with printed disco lyrics and yellow cowboy boots and you have a Met Gala legend in the making.
What do you get when you cross Marlene Dietrich, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali? I assume something close to Perks of Being a Wallflower actor Ezra Miller’s impeccable getup. As someone who has been breaking down red-carpet gender roles for the better part of his career, Miller’s bespoke Burberry number should come as no surprise. Nonetheless, this look should go down as one of the greats in an already illustrious red-carpet rapport. All eyes on you, Ezra!
Only Lady Gaga herself could turn a pink carpet entrance into a twenty (yes twenty) minute performance art piece. She first appeared in an extravagant pink ball gown and fluttering tinsel eyelashes accompanied by several men with black umbrellas. Possibly nothing is campier than a true to form Ruveal, and Gaga’s four consecutive outfits — the first, a humongous cerise high-necked ball gown; the second, a playful black a-line; the third, a sleek magenta column dress and oversized analog phone; the fourth, a pair of black tights, lingerie, sky-high heels, and a velour wagon–leave nothing to be desired. Gaga, shantay you stay!
