Though it still feels like we are in the dog days of summer, (note to self: which dogs? All dogs? Fluffy dogs?), and though we are thoroughly enjoying the Frosés, unicorn pool floats and carefree state-of-mind that accompanies it, the bittersweet reality is, is that August has just departed and we all know that August is the Sunday of summer. Nonetheless - at least in New York City - camp is in full swing.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume exhibit this year is "CAMP: Notes on Fashion" and is by far one of my favorite exhibits the Costume Institute has ever curated. I'm not going to fully peel back the layers of this subject, because to give Camp the full justice it deserves, would require me to write the longest camp letter home EVER. The exhibit is based on Susan Sontag's groundbreaking essay, "Notes on Camp" - 58 of them to be precise. The note that wraps Camp up in the best pink velvet bow is, "The whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious. Camp is playful, anti-serious. More precisely, Camp involves a new, more complex relation to "the serious." One can be serious about the frivolous, frivolous about the serious". (Susan Sontag). When you know how to spot Camp, while out and about, you'll never unsee it.
In an ode to Camp/ summer sendoff/ ringing in the new school year, I'm sharing some of my favorite pieces from recent Shenkar graduates, that embody campiness perfectly.
