Kim K criticized for wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress in Met Gala

Kim Kardashian receives backlash from experts for wearing Marilyn Monroe’s historical beige, bedazzled  dress in the Met Gala with a theme “In America: An Anthology of Fashion“ on Monday, May 2, 2022.

 

The Instagram queen showed up at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York wearing Marilyn’s iconic "Happy Birthday Mr. President'' dress channeling her inner Marilyn Monroe by dyeing her hair platinum blonde and putting on a pair of diamond earrings. 

 

Marilyn wore the same gown at John F. Kennedy's advance birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden on May 20, 1962, where she sang him "Happy Birthday."

 

According to Vogue, Kim wanted to wear the $4.8 million dress because Marilyn Monroe was the "most American" thing she could think of. But the American designer Bob Mackie, who actually sketched the dress, thought that it was a big mistake, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Mackie rants that the dress was specifically designed and made for Marilyn and it should not be seen on anyone else.

 

Through courtesy of ArtNews, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) also shared comments regarding the matter and said, “Historic garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures’’. ICOM justified their claim by citing examples that could damage the dress and flash photography is one of them. 

 

Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum currently owns the gown, which was auctioned at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles in 2016.