Kim Kardashian might have worn that Marilyn Monroe dress to the Met Gala over a month ago. But, predictably, it’s still dominating headlines. This time, the headlines aren’t about her losing weight to fit into the dress, or that she was gifted a lock of Marilyn’s hair by the museum, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not… Rather that Kim might have, apparently, caused some damage to the iconic outfit, which was originally worn by Monroe to sing Happy Birthday, Mr President to John F Kennedy in 1963.
Shots of the dress were shared by @marilynmonroecollection on Instagram, with side by side pictures of the dress, before and after, showing some damage, such as ‘missing crystals, and some left hanging by a thread’. The account then asked the museum: ‘@ripleysbelieveitornot , Was it worth it?’
There have also been pictures shared by Diet Prada, which appear to show even more damage to the dress, including torn fabric on the edge of the right strap of the dress.
The museum, Ripley’s, had earlier said in a statement that ‘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,’ they added, ‘Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!’
Since the new allegations, Ripley's have issued a further statement - and they have strongly defended Kim, saying she didn't damage the outfit. 'Kim Kardashian wearing the Happy Birthday dress has been hotly contested, but the fact remains that she did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala,' the statement says. The museum then explains that a report in 2017 listed that the dress had pulls and damage already.
The debated damage isn't the first time Kim has angered those in the fashion world for wearing the dress. In fact, the original designer of the dress, Bob Mackie, said that the social media superstar wearing it was a mistake. (The designer, now 82, designed the dress when he was 23, not originally knowing what Marilyn was going to wear it for.)
'I thought it was a big mistake,' the designer said, speaking to EW. '[Marilyn] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess. She was just fabulous. Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress.'
And Kim caused uproar when she previously revealed that - in order to fit into the dress - she lost 16 pounds in just three weeks. For those who need the context, that’s 7.25kg - around the same weight as a 5-month-old baby.