Met Gala 2019 – Camp Is The Theme

The Met Gala is always my favourite night in fashion, the one where all the World’s leading fashionistas come out in force for Fashion’s most glorious occasion. The theme for 2019 was ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’. The theme is inspired by Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay ‘Notes on ‘Camp’, and so I had high hopes for the most fun and interesting red carpet events of all time.

Well, the carpet was pink and although there were lots of looks that most definitely fell into the category of camp, the usual problems I have with the Met Gala themes was there for all to see. Basically, there are those that adhere to the theme, and those that completely ignore it. And as with most themes, those that ignored it tended to look better, as sad as this might seem.

For most, camp seemed to mean lots of pink, showgirl feathers and sequins, coloured hair, and some frankly ugly dresses. Some did the theme and got it right – is Gaga ever anything less that camp? She wore four looks that went from hot pink ballgown to skimpy undies.The Jenner sisters were fun and colourful, but still looked beautiful, whilst Florence Welch went all ‘Game of Thrones’ to brilliant effect. I also loved the punchy yellow worn by Serena Williams and Charli XCX, again matching the theme and looking brilliant. But generally, the looks I loved were stylish and sparkling, but not really camp – think Kate Moss shimmering in silver, or Emma Stone cool and effortless in a metallic jumpsuit. Lucy Boynton looked like a beautiful flower fairy, but again you couldn’t really call it camp, whilst Sienna Miller was another who shimmered in metallics, but was far to stylish to be truly camp.

Got the theme and Won