OpinionAfter the Met Gala’s mishmash of camp and corny, the politics of dressing for a costume party
While ‘camp’ might be an ambiguous theme, there are certain rules to fancy dress – don’t use it as an excuse to wear very little, and by all means, commit
There are the Diamonds and Denim school fundraisers, Under the Sea charity galas, and Nuit Blanche parties, not to mention costume commitments such as Halloween and the Rugby Sevens. I was surprised by my extreme reaction, which got me thinking about the politics of dressing for a theme party.
Not everyone loves to dress up. An invitation to a theme party sets my pulse racing – oh, the possibilities! – while it sends my husband scrambling for any excuse to avoid it. Still, if you accept an invitation, I believe you are agreeing to its terms and it would be disrespectful to your host to ignore them. You wouldn’t turn up at someone’s wedding in your yoga clothes, much as you wouldn’t dare come dressed as a bride. At least I hope not.
Admittedly, this year’s theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion”, was rather nebulous for anyone who hasn’t bothered to read Susan Sontag’s seminal 1964 essay, “Notes on ‘Camp’”. In it she wrote, “The essence of camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Where were the homages to Magritte, Dalí, Schiaparelli? Only Janelle Monae in a blinking Christian Siriano came close.
However, design inspiration seemed to be more recent and more vacuous, with many references to Cher, Elton John and drag queens. The need to look pretty resulted in many a sparkly but blah look (you know who you are). As expected, co-chair Lady Gaga, she of the 2010 meat dress, embodied the theme with a performance piece that saw her strip off three dresses down to lingerie.