Kim Kardashian criticized for wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress

Fashion experts say Kim Kardashian could ruin Marilyn Monroe’s cultural heritage dress.

At the 2022 Met Gala red carpet in New York on May 2, Kim Kardashian attracted attention when she wore a vintage dress designed by Jean Louis. The outfit was worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President at President John F. Kennedy’s birthday party on May 19, 1962. The design was originally priced at $12,000. In November 2016, Ripley’s Believe It or Not (Ripley’s) successfully hammered the price of $4.81 million at an auction organized by Julien’s Auctions, making it one of the most expensive iconic dresses in the world.

According to the Los Angeles Times, textile conservators and fashion curators were horrified to see Kim on the red carpet. “I was very disappointed that the dress was handled so unprofessionally,” said Sarah Scaturro, head of conservatorship at the Cleveland Museum of Art. “In the 1980s, a group of costume experts came together and decided that historical costumes should not be worn.” Scaturro also worried that Kim’s sweat and perfume could damage the dress.

Cara Varnell, a longtime independent art conservator specializing in historical costumes, said: “You have a vintage Charles James dress hanging in your closet and you want to wear it, that’s fine. But something that’s been archived, meaning it has some cultural significance, that’s not the case. Marilyn Monroe’s dress represents something very important – it’s part of our shared cultural heritage.”

“Gravity and movement can cause a lot of damage,” Kevin Jones, curator of the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, told the Los Angeles Times. “You might not see it with the naked eye, but under a microscope, you’ll see tiny splits and cracks in the dress. The design represents a moment in history. Our job is to bring garments like this to the next generation with as little damage as possible, so that 500 years from now, they can tell us about the history of design, technology, art and culture.”