Stylecurated: CAMP: NOTES ON FASHION @MET MUSEUM

[M] Pam Hogg's pink synthetic tulle headpiece and an installation view of the final area of "Camp: Notes on Fashion" at the MET Museum

Contrary to the thought of tents and wilderness culled by the word 'camp', the MET Museum's 2019 Spring fashion displayage focuses on aestheticism and the French phrase "se camper" or "to flaunt." Based on Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on Camp," Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton conceives an exhibit as expansive and enigmatic as the defining pieces. Fabio Cleto says "Camp is a question mark that won't let its line be straightened up into an exclamation mark" (1999). Mark Booth declares, "Camp is cultural slumming" (1983). Caryl Flinn states, "Camp is the rediscovery of history's waste." Susan Sontag illustrates "camp" in 58 bullets, including its characteristic as "the spirit of extravagance" (1964). Embodying elements of irony, ecstasy, parody, exaggeration and humor, what IS "camp?" Keep reading for a look inside Camp: Notes of Fashion...

Vivienne Westwood leggings w/mirrored olive leaves in the opening gallery

The experience begins with history and ultimately reveals itself in a reflection of pop culture. A portly pink passage, filled with the foundation of "camp" advertises its evolution over 4 eras--each with its own heroes (Oscar Wilde, Louis XIV, Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag). The history lesson with manuscripts and garments, complemented by statues and decorative arts, leads to a wall of nudes and homosexual references. A hallway of "Failed Seriousness" displays coupled garments, juxtaposing an unintentional application of "Camp" alongside a garment made with deliberate forethought.

Installation view, venturing into CAMP

A visually stunning "rainbow room" ends the exhibit, showcasing a broad-based sampling of "camp" with an inner circle of accessories that are equally as "camp" as the garments. Jeremy Scott / Moschino are in abundance, and joined by pieces by Anna Sui, Thom Browne, Marc Jacobs, Jean Paul Gaultier, Mugler, Molly Goddard, Karl Lagerfeld and more. Altogether, 250 objects and 18 headings define "Camp," yet what camp IS, may actually be less evident post-exhibit. To curator Bolton's point, "I want people to leave thinking, 'What is Camp?' That is the power and the poetry behind camp, constantly trying to define it." Overall, Camp: Notes on Fashion is a smaller scale production (compared to previous years), though the subject carries a much larger-scale connotation. The exhibit is on view at the MET Fifth Avenue until September 8th.