The Theory of Camp

Many things in the world have not been named; and many things, even if they have been named, have never been described. One of these is the sensibility unmistakably modern, a variant of sophistication but hardly identical with it that goes by the cult name of “Camp.” - Susan Sontag

We throw the word camp around as an adjective that stands for something outrageous, flamboyant, or even intriguing, but to whom do we owe this? Who paved the way for camp?

The first mentions of camp appeared in the mid-17th century when it was first used as a verb linked to theatre and the performing arts. When American writer Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp was published in 1964, definitions concerning the term were few to none. Susan was one of the most pertinent if not the most important figure to publicly define and discuss camp and bring it to the masses. Although the term had been used before by the likes of Oscar Wilde, it was Sontag who established the definition of what we know today as camp.  

In her 1964 essay, which she dedicated to Wilde, she goes on to describe camp as a certain mode of aestheticism, a different way of seeing the world, as an aesthetic phenomenon. But camp is not only a different view on a subject but also a quality that can be attributed to a lot of different subjects; clothes can be camp, but also books, people, and furniture. It was through this essay consisting of 55 notes, that the notion of camp became known. 

She goes on to specify that not everything can be camp, the designation is not solely determined by the eye of the beholder. However, when you look at fashion through a camp lens, I would argue it is in the eye of the beholder. There is thus a very fine line between what is and what isn’t camp, it’s the blurred line between the good and the awful. 

According to Sontag’s example, camp includes Tiffany lamps, early Flash Gordon comics, Swan lake, Bellini operas, and women’s clothes of the twenties. 

“Camp taste has an affinity for certain arts rather than others. Clothes, furniture, all the elements of visual décor, for instance, make up a large part of Camp.”

The Impact of the Queer Community

The first use of camp in connotation with the queer community, be it in a very negative way, was in the late 19th century. Frederick Park, also known as Fanny, a young Londoner, got in trouble for his involvement in devious behavior which included him being found in the women’s bathroom of a London theatre in full drag engaging in relations with his friend Stella, also known as Ernest. During the court procedures, there were letters between Fanny and the lover of Stella, where he described how his “campish behavior” might eventually get him in trouble someday, which it indeed did. 

Being camp has thus often meant being an outcast, out of the norm, and definitely not swimming in the mainstream, it categorized anyone who was too extravagant and out of the norm to fit into mainstream tastes and was therefore ostracised. It became a badge of honor that a lot of members of small urban groups, like drag queens, night performers, and other members of queer communities wore on their sleeves. These pioneers were so used to being rejected for their differences, that they created their own world and a whole new way of identifying themselves.

But like all good things, it didn’t stay secret for long, through Susan Sontag’s essays, camp went mainstream, it became more and more accepted along with the groups of people that assimilated with the idea of camp. As members of the queer community became more and more accepted into mainstream society, so did camp. However there are periods where camp makes itself of use more than others, it’s a political tool through and through, a reflection of contemporary society and as much as it may come and go, camp never goes out of fashion. 

Camp Fashion Today

Bjork’s Swan dress designed by Marjan Pejoski, worn at the 2001 Oscars. 

How does this translate to what camp came to be today, who are the important actors of camp in the 21st century and most precisely in the modern-day fashion industry?

We have now learned the true sense of camp, but in contemporary society, camp is often most described as considering something that’s appealing because of its trashy yet aesthetically pleasing capabilities. It has somewhat been stripped of its former significance, becoming an adjective linked to extravagant and out-of-the-ordinary fashion. 

A lot of designers made their impact on camp fashion, from Yves Saint Laurent with his Mondrian dresses and Moschino under Jeremy Scott To Maison Martin Margiela under both, Margiela as well as Galliano. Fashion shows became extravagant representations of our banal day-to-day lives. 

And although camp became mainstream, and the uncool became cool, it is important to remind ourselves where it all came from. 

The history of camp is a testament to how our queer forefathers fought for our rights, not only the right to be who we want and to love who we love but also to wear and exhibit ourselves the way we wish to. Without Fanny, Stella, Oscar, Susan, and many others, it’s questionable whether camp would be what it is today. 

“To understand camp you have to see the absurdity of life from the outside, and then you can laugh at that situation, It’s about not taking life too seriously and analyzing its absurdity.” -Rupaul