Photos: Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto (And His Head), Others Go 'CAMP' At Met Gala

May 7, 2019, 12:26 a.m.

Is Camp a blinking eye on your left breast? Or going Victor/Victoria?

No, Rihanna did not appear to rule the Met Gala red carpet (as she has repeatedly done), but organizers didn't need to worry: There was fashion drama galore on Monday night with wild outfits; long, long trains; heads; and fabulous entrances, like those of Billy Porter and gala co-chair Lady's Gaga

Porter arrived on a sedan carried by devotees and showed off his wings, which are much more practical than Katy Perry's 2018 wings:

Lady Gaga revealed four different outfits when she appeared with designer Brandon Maxwell (she also brought his wine bags and carried a Zack Morris phone):

The Met Gala is ostensibly a fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, but it's really become the biggest red carpet fashion slide show this side of the Oscars: Fashion designers and celebrities alike get to push the envelope and show just how daring and interesting (or boring) they are. For instance, Janelle Monae wore a (perfect) Christian Siriano dress with a blinking eye over her left breast:

Jared Leto brought his head:

Okay, it was a cephalophore, as NY Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman explained, and it was a theme from a 2018 Gucci show by designer Alessandro Michele (Michele is one of the gala's co-chairs, too, along with Serena Williams and Harry Styles).

The Costume Institute's new exhibit, Camp: Notes on Fashion, was supposed to inspire what guests wore, but some celebrities were apparently upset. Page Six reported, “I know some A-listers who regularly attend were unhappy with the looks designers were pitching them. The idea of ‘camp’ is out of their grasp. One major hairstylist to an A-list actress told me, ‘She’s freaking out because she just wants to look pretty.’"

(The Met explains, "The Costume Institute's spring 2019 exhibition will explore the origins of camp's exuberant aesthetic. Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp'" provides the framework for the exhibition, which examines how the elements of irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, and exaggeration are expressed in fashion.")

Lena Waithe wanted to explain things a little more:

Ezra Miller went for it:

Katy Perry gave us what we wanted... singing "Chandelier" as a chandelier:

Zendaya had Law Roach give her a Cinderella moment:

Lizzo brought boa flare:

After saying she would never go to the Met Gala again, Gwyneth Paltrow made a second appearance but in her nightdress so...

Michael Urie went Blake Edwards:

Cardi B was bloody good:

Lupita Nyong'o was channeled a rainbow:

But obviously there's only one queen of Camp:

...and only one performer Camp enough to sing for the crowd: