Kim Kardashian accused of damaging iconic Marilyn Monroe dress worn at Met Gala
Wednesday, 15 June 2022 (13:15 IST)
Washington: Kim Kardashian famous 'Marilyn Monroe' Met Gala dress is again into controversy but this time she has been accused of damaging the gold gown.
The iconic outfit worn by Kim to the grand Met Gala was Marilyn Monroe's outfit designed by Jean-Louis, which Monroe wore on May 19, 1962, during a fundraiser event in which she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President”, to then US president John F. Kennedy.
The Guardian quoted a Marilyn Monroe collector as claiming that “permanent damage” has been inflicted by Kim Kardashian on the iconic dress Monroe wore to serenade John F Kennedy on his 45th birthday, shortly before the actor’s death.
Kardashian donned the $4.8m crystal-covered nude silk gown to walk down the red carpet at the Met Gala event in early May. She accessorised the garment with a white fur stole as she was unable to do the zipper up at the back.
The photographs taken last month by Scott Fortner, a collector who works to authenticate and verify Monroe memorabilia, showed stretched and buckled fabric and missing crystals on the back of the dress.
In the photos that went viral, rips, stretches and substantial wear and tear could be seen on the dress. Besides, some crystals were also missing with others “left hanging by a thread”.
The post quotes the dress’s owner, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, who at the time claimed “great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history. With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority … no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!”
During a fitting more than a month before the gala, Kardashian realised her assumption that the gown would slip on was optimistic. “When it didn’t fit me I wanted to cry because it can’t be altered at all,” she said.
She then undertook an extreme weight-loss regime to try and squeeze into the dress, which involved a vegetable-centric diet, lots of time on the treadmill and wearing a sauna suit twice a day. “It was such a challenge,” she said. “It was like a role, I was determined to fit it.”
If you’re wondering how Marilyn Monroe’s dress got damaged. Rubbing and stretching it onto Kim Kardashian probably didn’t help.
This doesn’t look gentle. pic.twitter.com/zRq7fI4Kla
The International Council of Museums commented that “historic garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures”. While the dress was the property of a private collector its heritage, they continued, “must be understood as belonging to humanity” and the artefact “kept preserved for future generations”, the Guardian reported.
Dress has been kept in a temperature-controlled environment since the tourist attraction bought it in 2016. It had not been worn by anyone between Monroe and Kardashian.
Ahead of her appearance, Kardashian defended her sartorial decision. “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history,” she said. “I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it, and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do.”
Fashion enthusiasts and Marilyn Monroe fans around the world expressed their disappointment on social media after photographs showing damages to Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday” dress, which was worn by Kim Kardashian for Met Gala, were posted online.
The before and after photos posted on Instagram by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, which claims to be the world’s largest private collection of Monroe’s personal property and archives, show that the 60-year-old dress has missing crystals and loose threads after it was worn by American celebrity Kim Kardashian on the Met Gala red carpet on May 2.
