This is true devotion to the theme. Janelle Monae has always honoured this carpet, in the most literal, personal ways. She is, more than almost anyone else, an artist whose clothing is an extension of her personality, and of the vibe she’s embodying. Right? Like it’s never a joke for her, even though it’s full of fun and humour, somewhere Janelle Monae is one breast-sized blinking eye, and that may seem like a drug-induced musing but I am stone-cold sober and I’m pretty sure she is too.
Let’s take stock here. Literally a hat on a hat on a hat, an expression we use in TV writing that means you’ve got one element too many, but here it’s the point. Her arms are stiff and posed – I wrote earlier about people like Sophie Turner and Lupita Nyong’o looking preternaturally relaxed, but Janelle is the exact opposite of relaxed. She is staunch and firm in her performance, she is presenting her idea to you …
…and her Christian Siriano gown was programmed to blink in a random sequence.Wearable tech.
You know what’s best about this look? As many people tonight pointed out, Camp has its roots in drag communities, in fringe cultures, and those cultures, even when they’re having fun, are dead-ass serious about how much they love what they do, and how they look and how they perform – and there are tons of people who had fun with the look and who were humourous about the theme…
But Janelle Monae manages to have a blinking eye and a Picasso bodice and FOUR hats look absolutely suitable, because she’s clearly not playing around.
