It’s the first Monday in May AKA fashion’s biggest night- The Met Gala, a yearly gathering where celebrities and cultural influencers meet at the Met in New York City dressed to the nines according to the theme of the Met Costume Institute’s exhibit that year. This year brought us “Camp: Notes On Fashion” along with a metric ton of feathers and an army of unforgettably-creative looks that made me gasp in reverie and laugh at just how refreshingly comical it all is.
What is camp? -you might be asking. The exhibit aims to help answer that question, but still falls short. It’s failed seriousness and attempted sarcasm. It’s overindulgence and performance. Think: the extravagant lifestyle of Marie Antoinette, a mile-high fruit hat worn by a samba dancer, or the over-the-top persona of a drag queen. According to Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on ‘Camp,'” from which this year’s Met exhibit gleaned much of its inspiration: “The essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.”
So, as you can imagine, this would make for a ton of really wacky and equally whimsical red carpet looks from our favorite celebrities. I waited in eager anticipation for tonight, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!
I’ve gone through all of the red carpet photos and chose a few of my favorites to report on. While everyone looked really amazing, I only chose the looks that felt really creative to me, and weren’t just over-the-top for the sake of being over-the-top, with feathers and ruffles and tulle and all that good, campy stuff. I was looking for something I hadn’t ever really seen before, and was pleasantly surprised by how many truly amazing looks there were to choose from! Check out my picks below:
Absolute Top Favorite Looks of the 2019 Met Gala:
Lily Collins as Lisa Marie Presley
EXCUSE ME. Who gave Lily Collins the right to slay us all with this perfect look? It is by far my favorite look of the night in part because I’ve always loved the over-the-top beauty aesthetic of Priscilla Presley (the poofed hair, the winged eyeliner, the eternal youth- UGH!) and in part because Lily Collins just pulls it off so dang well. The headband, over the top hair, and ruffled dress all pair perfectly to create a look I’ll never forget!
Lady Gaga’s Metamorphosis
Camp is Lady Gaga’s specialty- one she’s been dishing out for years, ever since she hit it big in 2009, serving us looks like dresses made from a range of odd materials like Kermit plushes and meat, and creating spectacles, like when she showed up to an awards show in an egg. The fact that Lady Gaga is actually a persona is the essence of camp. All of this to say, I was expecting the Queen of Camp to outdo everyone on the red carpet- and she did, by serving not one, but four looks that she slowly revealed as she made her entrance alongside an entourage of backup dancers and makeup artists. When asked how anyone could follow Gaga’s surprising arrival, Anna Wintour replied that you simply couldn’t, and you should just go home.
Zendaya is Our Very Own Disney Princess
Zendaya has always been one of my favorite celebrities just because of how wholesome she is. Although she’s been a Disney channel star for pretty much her whole career, she never ended up falling off the deep end like many child stars do after missing out on having a normal childhood- which is why this recreation of Cinderella’s iconic blue dress is so endearing! Plus, the dress lights up, creating an even cooler look and an unforgettable moment of magic where her longtime stylist, dressed as the fairy godmother, lit the dress up with his wand.
Diane Von Furstenberg x Lady Liberty
Iconic designer Diane Von Furstenberg looked positively radiant in her look inspired by Lady Liberty that featured an oversized print of a painting of herself done by Andy Warhol. You can’t get much more camp than wearing art of yourself, especially when it’s done by Warhol, a king of Pop Art and campy culture.
Barbie: Kacey Musgraves Edition
Kacey Musgraves charmed us all in her monochrome, hot pink outfit inspired by Barbie- complete with shiny, silver pumps, a handbag shaped like a hairdryer, and long, blonde waves. Box her up and she would be any girl’s dream doll!
Katy Perry Lights Up the Red Carpet
How could I make this list without mentioning Katy Perry’s extremely extra chandelier costume? I mean, it’s so delightfully unexpected that I couldn’t help but smile, then appreciate the insane craftsmanship that went into making this incredibly intricate dress that actually lit up. Mad props, Katy Perry, this looks was fire (literally)!
Honorable Mentions
Cover photo from The New York Times. All other photos from Getty Images.
6 Comments
Sincerely I think that this isn’t gala anymore but masquerade,
xx
https://theonethattravels.wordpress.com/
This year’s theme was “camp”, which means everyone created an outrageous, over-the-top look that was so bad it was good.
All of these looks were so cool!
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
I know! Everyone looked great!
Yes!! So many great out of the box over the top looks for sure!! Thanks for the round up it is great seeing everything all in one place.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
I know! This year’s theme was so much fun! Thanks for reading!