Television star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian is under fire once again for the dress she wore at the Met Gala 2022 — a vintage sheer gown worn by Marilyn Monroe for late US President John F Kennedy’s 45th birthday in 1962. The dress has now reportedly been damaged, with crystals missing or hanging out, and visible loose threads after being overstretched.
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 Kim on the Met Gala red carpet on May 2.
The pictures were reportedly taken at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Hollywood location where the dress was on display.
Designed by Jean Louis, the dress was worn by Marilyn Monroe on May 19, 1962, during a fundraiser event in which Monroe sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President”, to then US president John F Kennedy. The delicate dress, embellished with over 2,000 hand-stitched crystals, was bought by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise in 2016 for $4.8 million.
After Kim Kardashian loaned the dress from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise, her move was criticised by fashion historians who raised the issue of the historical dress being damaged.
The outfit had sparked debate on the Internet earlier too when Kim shared that she had lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into the dress. Her drastic transformation was seen by the Internet as “pro-diet culture” and started a discussion over the standards of body image promoted by celebrities.
In a previous interview with media sources, Kardashian was quoted as saying, “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. 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 (sic).”
Kardashian added that since the dress was not allowed to be altered, she had to lose weight to fit into it. She had also reportedly changed into a replica of the dress after posing in the original at the Met Gala red carpet. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star had her hair coiffed in a shade of platinum blonde when she walked the Met Gala red carpet this year with her boyfriend, Pete Davidson.