Is it camp to be Joan Collins? We have a winner. Of course it is, and “of course” the theme resonated with her, said Ms. Collins, wafting through the Met’s Petrie sculpture court in white feathers and radzimir by Valentino. Ms. Collins, especially in her incarnation as Alexis Carrington of “Dynasty,” is a camp legend, invoked by other guests as a North Star — “These are some Alexis Carrington shoulders,” Samantha Barry, the editor of Glamour, said of her outfit — and Ms. Collins accepted such tributes with the grace of a once and future queen. “I was called camp so many times,” she said. “The camp bitch .” In the courtyard, the crowd swelled to elbow-knocking fullness, a hum of giddiness and a traffic jam of gown trains. “It’s out of this world,” said Max Hollein, the new director of the Met, celebrating his first gala, “ and very different, of course.” Even in the world of high-stakes fund-raisers, it’s unusual to see Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, kibitzing with Awkwafina, a breakout star of “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” (In a life-imitating-art twist, “Ocean’s 8” was a caper comedy about robbing the Met Gala.) “You’re hard to miss!” Mr. Bezos told her merrily. Everywhere one looked, unlikely wires were crossing. Over here, Shawn Mendes, the pop star, chatting with James Charles, a YouTube beauty vlogger, attired for the occasion in a shirt of chain-mail safety pins. Over there, Tiffany Haddish, the comedian, was offering around fried chicken out of her purse; the designer Gabriela Hearst eagerly accepted a piece. “I stay ready, baby,” Ms. Haddish said, black-tie gala or no black-tie gala. “I got your back. That’s from my kitchen, baby.”<doc-sep>NEW YORK -- The cocktail bar was shutting down, and guests were being encouraged to commence the elegant trek to dinner through the majestic halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But Joan Collins had just swept in, channeling her famous "Dynasty" character, Alexis, in a tiered gown of fluffy white feathers and gobs of blinding diamonds. And Alexis wanted a glass of wine. "I'm having a great time," Collins said of her first Met Gala. "I'd be even better if I had a drink." The sartorial theme of this year's gala was "camp"-- not summer camp, but the esthetic of camp and its influence on fashion, as explored in the museum's new exhibit, "Camp: Notes on Fashion." It wasn't an easy theme to grasp; the instructions for guests were to dress with "studied triviality." But while the results varied hugely -- from Katy Perry dressing as an elaborate candlelit chandelier (and later, a cheeseburger) to Kanye West wearing a simple black jacket that cost about $40 -- there were indeed some slam-dunk "camp" moments, and one was Collins. "I'm a Met Ball virgin," she said, "so I thought I would come as my character, Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan, and embrace it," she said. "Everybody ALWAYS said she was camp." But even Collins, in her glistening diamond tiara, could not out-camp perhaps the champion camp-er of all time, Lady Gaga. The pop star and actress, a co-chair of the gala, put on a virtual burlesque show on the red carpet, slowly shedding a series of three outfits until she was left vamping in black lingerie. Celine Dion was a different kind of show girl, dressed in a supremely crafted creation by Oscar de la Renta's Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, inspired by the 1941 movie "Ziegfeld Girl" starring Judy Garland (a camp heroine, of course.) Inside, Dion explored the exhibit along with her designers, and confessed that "even now, I honestly don't really understand what camp is." No matter: Garcia and Kim had done their research, resulting in a Vegas showgirl ensemble made of countless strands of silver-gold glass beads that took many thousands of man hours to construct, paired with a spiky feathered headpiece. "I'm just honoured that they wanted me to be a part of this whole process," Dion said. After walking the red carpet -- actually, a pink-carpeted staircase -- guests entered the Met's vast Great Hall, where they were greeted by a sky-high centerpiece of pink roses, topped by pink flamingoes. Some toured the exhibit, while others headed straight to the museum's airy Petrie Court to sip cocktails and munch on crispy sea bass hors d'oeuvres, bits of foie gras, or mini-BLT towers. Model Ashley Graham, attending her third Met Gala, laughingly confessed that she heard this year's theme and thought: "Girl Scouts!" But she liked what she learned about camp. "It's extra," she said. "Exaggerated -- happily and proudly." That was the spirit, she said, of her outfit, a short blazer dress by Dapper Dan for Gucci, with sparkly leggings by Destiny Blue, and a Judith Leiber purse in the shape of a huge, golden retro cellphone. "It's the exaggerated version of myself," she said of the outfit. "Big, bold, but still you." Laverne Cox had no trouble understanding the camp theme; in college at Marymount Manhattan, she'd been "obsessed with Susan Sontag," the author of the 58-point essay, "Notes on 'Camp,"' on which the Met exhibit is built. In fact, Cox, a star of "Orange is the New Black" and the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy, was able to reel off competing definitions of camp. "It's of course artificial, but also parody," said Cox, wearing a striking sculptural gown by Christian Siriano, along with turquoise hair. "It's a comment on culture. Also, there's high camp vs. low camp. And there's an invisible wink of camp." She pondered whether Garland and daughter Liza Minnelli were the same type of campness. Billy Porter, too, had done some thinking about camp. The "Pose" star solidified his growing reputation as a red-carpet star with a dramatic entrance as an Egyptian king on a litter carried by six shirtless men. His golden ensemble -- we're talking gold on the head and the face, too, as well as huge golden wings -- was designed by the Blonds. "The kids today call it being 'extra,"' Porter said inside, of the camp esthetic. "It's about taking a thing and exploding it to the biggest degree. It has in the past been used as a pejorative, but this evening reclaims it." Porter was also carrying a purse with a written message that demanded, using an expletive, to be paid fairly. "It means," he said with a grin, "that you can't pay me scale no more! Get the prices right." Attending his first gala was Max Hollein, who took over as the museum's director last year. Hollein said that since work on the exhibit began, he and museum colleagues have been finding "camp" in familiar works all over the museum. "Camp is a lens, a way of seeing the world," he said, adding that camp existed "long before we knew what it was." For Broadway actor Patrick Vaill, examining the fashions at the exhibit, the adjective that seemed most apt was "joyful." Vaill was joined by his "Oklahoma!" co-star Damon Daunno, who's nominated for a Tony for his role as Curly. Daunno, dressed in a pink Prabal Gurung suit, noted how Anna Wintour, a known theatre fan, likes to welcome members of the Broadway community to the Met Gala, along with better-known megastars of TV, movies, music and sports. "How generous and hip that she does that," he said. Other Broadway actors at the gala included the five lead actors from the Temptations musical "Ain't Too Proud," in black-and-white Thom Browne suits, and Santino Fontana, starring now in "Tootsie." Fontana and his wife, Jessica, attending their first Met gala, professed -- like many -- to some lingering confusion over the meaning of camp, without much help from "studied triviality." But they seemed to know it when they saw it.<doc-sep>1 / 31 Chevron Chevron Photo: Courtesy of BFA / Gucci Dakota Johnson, Alessandro Michele, and Jared Leto Unless you happened to matriculate from the school, Hunter College is a place you’d never find yourself, let alone find yourself in a ball gown after the Met Gala. But renting out a cocktail bar would be far too obvious for Gucci. No, the perfect locale would be one that smacks of irony and winks at camp. And so, we all found ourselves climbing down the bleachers (with uncomfortably handsome men there to help the high-heeled guests) to the basketball court. Hosted by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, the event, given its proximity to the museum, was the first stop for many Met Gala attendees who had ample after-party offerings. Harry Styles did a quick change for the occasion, Jared Leto’s replica head was never far from his person, and Katy Perry should be commended for committing to her hamburger look. Also in attendance were Adwoa Aboah, Alexander Skarsgård, Ashley Graham, Bette Midler, Dev Hynes, Sienna Miller, Henry Golding, Huma Abedin, and the list goes on. Everyone was there, and everyone was tickled pink by their gymnasium surroundings. The evening was set up like a fictional game between teams Gucci vs. Guccy. Concession-stand food like onion rings and corn dogs circulated the room on cafeteria-style lunch trays, and cocktails were served in collegiate-themed Gucci monogrammed cups. The whole affair had the crowd reminiscing on their own college days and back even further to their gymnasium-set middle school dances. Only, chances are, Mark Ronson didn’t deejay their homecoming dance. If there’s anyone who knows how to get the party started, it’s Ronson. He had the crowd dancing atop the lacquered gym floor. As for who ultimately prevailed in the Gucci-Guccy standoff? Let’s call it a tie. See All of the Celebrity Looks From the Met Gala 2019 Red Carpet: 1 / 100 Chevron Chevron Photo: Getty Images Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell Met Gala 2019: See Every Celebrity Arrival, Read the Latest Stories, and Get Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Here<doc-sep>The biggest and best looks of the red carpet of the Met Gala The biggest and best looks of the red carpet of the Met Gala... The Met Gala is one of the most glamorous nights of the year, but it’s not exactly a raucous time. The party is as famed for its draconian rules, militant sense of order and social and political minefields as for its over-the-top red carpet, with celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Amy Schumer bashing the bash as “unfun” and “punishment,” respectively, reports the New York Post. But such grousing apparently hasn’t inspired Met Gala impresario Anna Wintour from relaxing the rules. Here are some of the laws that attendees must follow. IT’S A SELFIE-FREE ZONE What happens at the Met Gala stays at the Met Gala. (Or lives on Vogue.com.) The event is so exclusive that guests have been forbidden to take photos or videos with their phone, for fear they would post them on social media. Of course, every year some celeb decides to flaunt the rules and post a bathroom selfie or Instagram story, a la Kylie Jenner. NO MOBILE PHONES In fact, looking at your phone at all — whether for picture-taking or texting purposes — seems to be verboten. Former Met Gala planner Sylvana Durrett admitted in 2016 that staffers even check on guests’ mobile phone usage. “We aren’t sitting over people’s shoulders,” she said at the time, “but if it’s an obvious thing we might gently remind them.” “Anna is sort of an old-school traditionalist,” she explained. “She likes a dinner party where people are actually speaking to each other.” THERE’S AN AGE LIMIT Sia’s favourite dancer Maddie Ziegler surprised some fashionistas last year when she was not invited to the Met Gala because she wasn’t old enough. (The event had boasted underage attendees before, such as Jaden and Willow Smith.) But party planners told the Hollywood Reporter that children would no longer be admitted to the bash, saying “it was not an appropriate event for people under 18”. Sorry, Millie Bobby Brown — see you in 2021! NO SMOKING New York City bans smoking indoors, and the Met Gala is no exception. However, that didn’t stop a bevy of celebs — from Marc Jacobs to Bella Hadid to Dakota Jackson — from lighting up in the bathroom at 2017’s event, sparking outrage among museum board members. “Mostly, it’s disrespectful to the art collection, which needs to be kept 100 per cent smoke-free,” one donor told the New York Post at the time. “I would honestly like to see these people fined by the city.” Now, the invites specify there’s no smoking at the event, and last year there were reportedly staffers sniffing for fumes outside the loo. MINGLE, EVEN IF YOU AREN’T SINGLE Apparently, Anna Wintour frowns on famous people bringing their spouses, and at the very least sits them far apart from one another, to encourage mingling. In the documentary about the Met Gala, The First Monday in May, she complained about someone asking to bring her hubby, and relented on the condition he didn’t spend the whole evening on his phone again. (The New York Post later reported that the guest was former Girls star Allison Williams’ husband, Ricky Van Veen.) As Ms Durrett explained in the doc, “The whole point of these things is to meet new people, and to be interested in what others are doing. What’s the point if you come here to hang out with your husband?” NO UNATTRACTIVE FOOD There are certain ingredients and dishes that the gala’s caterer is instructed to avoid, such as parsley (“you don’t want that stuck in your teeth,” a former Vogue staffer told the New York Post in 2016), onion and garlic (bad breath) and messy entrees like bruschetta. Last year’s special guest New York’s Cardinal Dolan found the food so paltry that he sent out for street hot dogs during the event, which was definitely not kosher. YOU DON’T REFUSE AN INVITATION Sure, you can decline an invitation to the Met Gala — if you never want to be invited again. Apparently, Wintour doesn’t take no for an answer. “I know people who decided not to go one year because they weren’t around or didn’t like the theme,” one socialite told the New York Post in 2017. “Once you do that, you’re not invited back unless you’re triple A-list.” NO PUBLICISTS ALLOWED The Met Gala is so elite it doesn’t allow celebrities to bring their own publicists — either out on the red carpet or inside the venue. That means that these stars, who are used to having their handlers with them at all times, have to navigate the press, photographers and any wardrobe malfunctions all alone. Quelle horreur!’ This story was originally published in the New York Post and is reprinted with permission.<doc-sep>
The former exes were spotted leaving an after-party not far apart from one another early Tuesday morning Kendall Jenner, Harry Styles and More Party Together After Met Gala The Met Gala may have been on Monday night, but Kendall Jenner, Harry Styles and numerous other attendees kept the party going well into Tuesday morning. Following the lavish event in New York City, friendly exes Jenner, 23, and Styles, 25, were captured leaving an after-party at around 6 a.m. the next day. In footage obtained by Instagram account Exclusive Talker, the duo was photographed departing a building not far apart from one another early Tuesday morning. Still, a source tells PEOPLE that they aren’t an item. “Kendall and Ben are still seeing each other,” the source says of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star and Philadelphia 76ers player Ben Simmons. “Harry was her first real relationship, so there is a lot of history there,” says the source, who assures, “but they’re just friends.” Still, the former flames appeared to have a pleasant reunion while inside the gala. In a candid photo snapped inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fête, they appeared to enjoy an intimate moment with one another. They gazed at each other with huge smiles in the flirty snap and appeared to be laughing at something. Kendall Jenner, Harry Styles Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG19/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty The gala celebrates the opening of the Met’s new exhibit, which will showcase more than 250 pieces (some dating back to the 17th century) that embody camp’s satirical elements expressed through fashion, with designs from Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Cristóbal Balenciaga and more. The event was hosted by Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, along with this year’s co-hosts Lady Gaga, Styles and Serena Williams. Jenner had a lot of fun with this year’s camp theme. The supermodel wore a bright orange, feathered Atelier Versace gown, accessorizing with Tiffany & Co. jewels. The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes On Fashion - Arrivals Credit: John Shearer/Getty Styles freed the nipple on the red carpet in a sheer Gucci blouse and high-waisted trousers. Styles and Jenner were first linked in January 2014, and reignited rumors nearly two years later after vacationing together in Anguilla in December 2015. Jenner’s sister Khloé Kardashian said the pair were “dating” at the time, but they weren’t spotted again together until April of 2016, when they went out shopping in Los Angeles. At the time, a source told PEOPLE: “Harry has always been ‘that guy’ for Kendall. She would love to be in a real relationship with him, but he’s always had issues settling down in the past with her because he has that rock star mentality.” The insider added: “Even though she’s dated and hooked up with other guys, she could never really get serious with someone because she never got over her feelings for Harry.” But even after rekindling their romance in 2016, the couple’s relationship soon fizzled out. In February, Jenner confirmed her relationship with NBA star Simmons on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. “See there you are, but there’s a guy in front of you, I can hardly see you,” DeGeneres jokingly remarked, referring to Simmons. “Who’s that guy in the way?” kendall-jenner Credit: Getty (2) “I’m not so sure,” Jenner said with a laugh. “So obviously you’re dating this guy who’s on the 76ers,” DeGeneres said. “How long have you been dating him?”