farmgirl goes to camp

Scribbles and stuffed animals on these creations show the playful side of "camp". Designers are Moschino (Spring 2019) and Jean Charles De Castelbajac (F/W 1988-89)

    ​Give this ole Farmgirl a tent, some firewood, fixins for s’mores, and a flat spot in the woods and I’m a happy camper.  As art so often does, my pre-conceptions were turned upside on a recent visit to the CAMP: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There were no tents, no trees, and while there were some beloved flames, there were no campfires.  This camp was different. Here was a collection of fashion that broke barriers of what was considered the norm, representing a long historic line of fashion forward creative minds.
     Walking through the exhibit it was as though I was in an adult version of Disney’s It’s A Small World ride. My eyes danced from Liberace’s diamond studded suit to a dress made entirely of toy stuffed animals.  I marveled at how fun we as a people can be when we give ourselves a little creative slack.
     The CAMP theme for the Met Gala fundraiser and resulting exhibit this year was derived from a 1964 essay by Susan Sontag who was a writer and social commentator. She described “camp” as a joining of high art and pop culture. The exhibit features clothes that are over the top or as my kids say “extra”.  They challenge the status quo often with a dash (or heap) of humor, and meet the fine art requirement in how exquisitely they are constructed with numerous hours of skillful handiwork going into each garment.
     After lingering for quite some time, often standing in silent awe in front of a display window, we had to leave the garments and all they stood for to go face the real world, which somehow seemed a little sweeter because of the exhibit.  I floated out on a sugar high like a kid who had feasted in a confectionery store.  Then, just like icing on the cake, we met the CAMP curator, Andrew Bolton! It was merely a few seconds when he came out a side door in a random part of the museum but we got to shake his hand and tell him how much we enjoyed the show.
     So what’s my Farmgirl “camping” experience take-away?  Simply put, the exhibit validates crazy outfits and gives designers freedom to have fun.   It sets the stage for my daughter and her generation of fellow fashion designers, encouraging them to not hold back. I’m grateful she’ll have that kind of artistic license. It also gives all of us creatives who have ever felt out of place, a place.
     I might have always been a tank-top and cut-offs wearing country girl, but I grew up imagining I could be the exotic Cher Barbie doll I played with…and a trip to the Big Apple (make that the Big Candy Apple) and specifically the CAMP exhibit told me sometimes dreams and fantasies to come true.

​                                                        Visual notes on "...Notes..."

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"Camping" is not a new concept as the wealthy have always enjoyed showing off. We could say King Louis XIV of France was “camp” in his flowing robes of lavish fabric, heels, tights, and big hair accessorized with a fierce sword. Portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud.

“Sorbet”, the evening dress on the right, encompasses exotic oriental influence and was designed by French designer Paul Poiret in 1912. It is silk satin, embroidered with glass beads and trimmed with fur.

This puff dress made of purple ostrich feathers and butterflies seems to hypnotize the young man passing by as he contemplates everything he thought he knew about women. The dress was created by Jeremy Scott for the House of Moschino (S/S 2018).

Once through the more intimate halls of the CAMP exhibit, Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow lures guests into a two-story courtyard of colorful window displays representing major fashion icons.

An enormous Viktor & Rolf couture creation is tongue in cheek reading “Less is More”. You could say it really makes a statement!

In a portrait of Marie Antoinette Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, one can see the extraordinary opulence of the elite royalty. Her dress is undoubtedly fabulous (but it’s not worth losing one’s head over).

Tiffany lamps and intricate beaded dresses from the 1920’s economic prosperity in our country could also be considered showy or “extra” as described in Sontag’s original 1964 Camp essay.

Originating in colorful LGBTQ Harlem ballrooms of the 1960’s, voguing became mainstream with Madonna’s 1990 song and video “Vogue”. The dancers just strike a pose like you’d see in the pages of Vogue fashion magazine, and change it repeatedly to the beat of music. The CAMP exhibit featured a video of the dance and Gianni Versace created this S/S 1991 glass-beaded jumpsuit featuring Vogue covers. (It’s important to note the editor of Vogue, Anna Wintour, presides over the most prestigious fashion event of the year, the Met Gala, which is a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

This decadent tulle creation (2018-2019) by Italian designer Giambattista Valli is displayed in a yellow window box with the appropriate label “Outrageous Aesthetics” describing another facet of CAMP.

This magnificent Karl Lagerfeld piece welcomes guests to the exhibit. Made of silk, satin, embroidery, gold and white beads, sewen with gold silk and metal thread, it exemplifies Lagerfeld's successful career. He was the creative director for Chanel and Fendi, passing February 2019 at the age of 85.

Rapper Cardi B caused quite a stir when she showed up to the 2019 Grammys in this vintage 1995 Thierry Mugler gown. She took to social media and thanked the French designer publicly for loaning her the dress, which is called Birth of Venus (like the Botticelli painting).

A rotating carousel dress by Indian designer Manish Arora (2009) encompasses over-the-top shock factor and playfulness of the camp movement.

CAMP wouldn’t have been complete for me if it didn’t feature my fashion idol, Cher. She told Bob Mackie, her personal designer, she didn’t want to ever appear ordinary, and this 2008 nude illusion gown dripping with diamonds and sequins certainly delivered!

Anyone who watched the Oscars in 2001 remembers the infamous swan dress worn by musician Bjork. (second from the left) Designed by Marjan Pejoski (fall 2000), the dress was crazy then, but has been elevated to crazy-cool now when the world seeks to lighten the mood.

Sporting his most famous icon, the Campbell Soup can, this dress proves Andy Warhol could be the modern poster child for “Camp”. He took the ordinary and convinced us it was art.

Flanking the entry into the large exhibit room and across from Cher’s gown is a crystal and pearl encrusted suit worn by Liberace, who was “camp” even before camp was mainstream cool.

The exhibit featured accessories with high octane punch. This Gucci (Pre-Fall 2019) ensemble is a crowd favorite as are the mules below by Ada Kokosar (A/W 2018-19) called Midnight 00. Talk about some eye-candy!

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Remember: Sometimes you just have to "vogue" like nobody's watching or you don't care even if they are...like my daughter and I on the steps of the Met!  


CAMP: Notes on Fashion is showing at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in Manhattan, NYC until September 8, 2019.

#metmuseum #metgala #fashion #nyny #travel #manhattan #andrewbolton #vogue #CAMP 

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