Last month, Kim Kardashian left everyone in shock after her Met Gala appearance. In case you forgot about the reality star’s 2021 look, it was basically a full-body sweatsuit.
This year, Kim did a complete 180 and wore Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress and as we know, people had a lot of opinions about it. Of course, it was mostly very negative opinions.
Now, a month after the event, it has been reported that the historical dress has been damaged.
By now, we’ve all weighed in on Kim Kardashian’s 2022 Met Gala look.
Love it or hate it, it did exactly what she wanted it to do — spark controversy. Did she look beautiful? Of course! Was it problematic when she explained that she essentially starved herself for three weeks to fit into the iconic gown? Absolutely yes!
After receiving backlash, Kim claimed that she slipped into the gown the same way the iconic blonde bombshell did — very carefully.
It was reported that after walking the Met Gala red carpet, Kim changed into a replica dress for the dinner portion of the night, which begs the question of why she didn’t just wear that replica in the first place instead of damaging a piece of American history, but I digress.
One of the most scathing reviews of Kim wearing the gown came from the legendary designer Bob Mackie.
Bob, now 82, originally sketched Marilyn’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress and was not shy about his thoughts in an interview with Entertainment Weekly .
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“I thought it was a big mistake,” the fashion legend told the news outlet.
“[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,” he argued.
“Nobody else should be seen in that dress.”
Of course, Bob was far from the only professional to have something to say about the dress being worn again.
Dr. Justine De Young, professor of fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology, told People that the look was “irresponsible and unnecessary.”
“She can –– and did –– commission a replica which would be indistinguishable from the original,” Dr. Young argued.
“Such an iconic piece of American history should not be put at risk of damage just for an ego-boost and photo-op.”
Now, one month after the controversial event, fans of Marilyn aren’t happy to see that the iconic dress has seemingly endured some damage.
In a set of five Instagram posts shared from The Marilyn Monroe Collection, the account pointed out damage in the dress that includes rips along the clasps of the dress and a bunch of missing crystals.
It’s a well-known fact that Marilyn Monroe had to be sewn into her custom couture gown the night of President Kennedy’s birthday party, so it’s unsurprising that the gown would be damaged after someone else wore it.
“So much for keeping ‘the integrity of the dress and the preservation’ @ripleysbelieveitornot , was it worth it?” wrote the Marilyn Monroe collection on Instagram alongside photos of before and after the dress was worn by Kim.
Fans of Marilyn are deeply upset about the damage and have taken to social media to express their grief.
“I don’t understand who allow her to wear this dress , the magic is over!” wrote one fan.
“The whole thing is just so heartbreaking. I can’t believe they let her wear it!!!!!!! Her ego destroyed a piece of iconic history!!!! I just wish they would all get cancelled already!” said another.
Ugh, this is just heartbreaking!
