If Charles Ludlam thought Susan Sontag did a number on camp, I can’t imagine what he would have thought witnessing the camp tragedy that occurred on the pink carpet (pink being, apparently, the color of camp) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday. Whew! Mary! It was a camp catastrophe, a camp calamity, a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Fashion
“Little Ladies: Victorian Fashion Dolls and the Feminine Ideal” Needs More Than Just Beautiful Objects
Little Ladies: Victorian Fashion Dolls and the Feminine Ideal, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until March, is a curious show that seems to be trying to navigate between two opposing poles. On the one hand, Little Ladies is clearly meant to delight, drawing on the museum’s permanent collection to showcase the incredible … Continue reading
What The Hell Is The Met’s Costume Institute Going To Do To Our Beloved Camp?: A Filthy Dreams Plea
On Tuesday, I received a promotional email in my inbox (one of many I tend to ignore) announcing the theme of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute 2019 exhibition. To my shock (and horror), it was a theme familiar and close to my black little heart: camp! As a long-time denizen of camp, I … Continue reading
Filthy Dreams GIF Review: “Pink: The History Of A Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color” At The Museum at FIT
“I glow pink in the night in my room,” opens Mitski’s dreamily atmospheric song “Pink in the Night” off her new album Be The Cowboy. Crooning her obsessive yearning, Mitski uses the color pink as a symbol for a type of solitary blossoming. Of course, this is not the only understanding of the wildly overdetermined … Continue reading
Gay Shame Is In Fashion At Bjarne Melgaard’s “The Casual Pleasure Of Disappointment”
You can’t argue with the immediate shock of a video depicting a burning rainbow flag. Or, for that matter, a sign that reads “Never Trust A Gay Man” and “Every Gay Man Is A Disappointment,” which echoes a self-loathing but (at least I read) tongue-in-cheek sentiment aired by Milo Yiannopoulos on Real Time With Bill Maher … Continue reading
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real): Warhol, Halston and the Importance of Queer Friendship
Examining the interconnected lives of these two creative forces, the Andy Warhol Museum’s current exhibition Halston and Warhol: Silver and Suede makes the unquestionably important argument that Warhol and Halston’s close friendship, similar artistic sensibilities, and collaborations drove their respective art. Continue reading
Out Of The Closet Into The Basement: A Conversation On FIT’s ‘A Queer History Of Fashion’
Why, hello there! We just came back from the Museum at FIT’s basement (or is it debasement?) exhibition A Queer History of Fashion: From The Closet to the Catwalk. And, Mary, we just mounted all those stairs so you better believe we are winded and ready for a chat over cocktails. Now I know what … Continue reading