9 Red Carpet Looks That Are Actually Camp, According to Gabriel Held Vintage

If your on Instagram and you love fashion, chances are you’ve come across Gabriel Held Vintage’s instagram page, which is a hub for Gabriel’s styling resume, his iconic vintage finds, and a series called “#unsungherooffashion” where he breaks down celebrity style. So, who better to go to to chat about this year’s Met Gala theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion” since celebrities will be walking the carpet in their best camp looks, or rather, their idea of camp.

Gabriel first learned about the idea of camp in a gender studies class in college, though he still thinks ‘camp’ defies categorization. But, he tries to explain,“I could use an analogy from back then [in college] that put things into terms I could understand.”

“With the studio system and the Hollywood darlings, and everything in the 30's, 40's and 50's, celebrities were presented as a very superhuman deities, that were just very produced and presented as perfect,” he tells Teen Vogue. “Then when the 70's rolled around and you could see reruns of a Joan Crawford movie and then see Joan Crawford in real time, side by side. They proved themselves to be human by aging, and doing other human things, so people felt scorned for having elevated these figures to a super human level. That joy became, you know, let's say a drag queen dressing up as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, as opposed to Joan Crawford in one of her more glamorous roles, was more fun.”

He continued, “To highlight the fantasy and constructed nature, and that it's all make believe.”

Some of his favorite camp icons (both those who know they are portraying camp and don’t) are: Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Mary J Blige, Paris Hilton and Lil’ Kim. (Same.) For Teen Vogue, Gabriel breaks down 10 of his favorite camp red carpet looks: