This iconic Met Gala moment still has the gays talking

The year was 2019. The Met Gala theme was right up the gays’ alley: camp. Celebrities were tasked to bring their most outlandish, humorous, out-of-the-box fashions. One celeb in particular got the crowd excited with a viral post before hitting the runway, but her prophecy came true for all the wrong reasons.

Five years ago today, May 6, Karlie Kloss infamously posted the phrase, “Looking camp right in the eye,” along with a selfie showing her eye in makeup compact’s mirror.

But when Kloss actually made it to the red carpet, her outfit was anything but. She wore a gold mini-dress with black puff sleeves, made by designer Dapper Dan. Was it cute? Kinda. Was it camp? Absolutely not.

Kloss’ egregious failure to deliver in the camp department quickly became a meme, and even five years later, the gays can’t shut up about it.

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Even the guy in the back was disappointed 😩😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/4qcidDZHgc

— Txti🤍💮 (@prvncesstxti) May 6, 2024

Author's note; she had never met camp, much less looked it in the eye.

— James Fluker | Neither here nor there (@JamesFluker) May 6, 2024

Kloss herself has admitted the look (or rather, the post preceding it) was a misstep.

“I broke the internet, but not in a good way,” she reflected in a video for Vogue late last year. “I still get, rightfully, get trolled. I’ll accept it. Honestly, I deserved that one.”

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But now, as the internet prepares to judge the looks at tonight’s Met Gala, it may have changed its tune on Kloss’ fashion fail. Journalist and influencer David Mack commented on the look with a viral post on X.

“Thing is… this was the campest thing to happen that night,” Mack wrote. “She won.”

Folks couldn’t help but agree with Mack. What is camp, if not something that defies expectations? Kloss “was playing the long game,” as some commenters put it.

she played the long game

— grant👨🏻‍🦱 (@urdadssidepiece) May 6, 2024

no bc she understood the assignment
one of the highest forms of camp is subversion of expectations. when she was "looking camp straight in the eye" she was looking AT US. our expectations of camp were merely myopic against her greater vision

— mary kate & ashley take the capitol (@steeww_) May 6, 2024

Creating successful camp requires an audience’s distain for said fashion piece. Why do you think leopard print is camp? It’s gouache, people would judge you if you wore it. This is camp, honey. I will forever defend this https://t.co/t7pb28DFsD

— Oedie (@oedipusmene) May 6, 2024

if you think about it, it is kinda camp 😭

— gagcityresident (@pinkbirthdayjza) May 6, 2024

She was playing the long game bc years later this is the most camp thing ever

— chernobyl (@Lalalostinyouu) May 6, 2024

Will tonight’s Met Gala deliver any Kloss-caliber meme material? Only time will tell. This year’s theme is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and the dress code is “The Garden of Time.” Zendaya is one of the hosts, so the event is in good hands. The red carpet starts at 6 p.m. ET, so get ready to judge.

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