The figure-hugging dress Hollywood siren Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ to John F Kennedy is a piece of fashion history. Worn by Kim Kardashian at Met Gala 2022, the world’s most expensive gown is now ‘damaged’
US socialite Kim Kardashian arrives at the Met Gala wearing the famous Marilyn Monroe dress with comedian Pete Davidson. To fit into the gown, Kardashian had to lose 7.5 kilogrammes in three weeks. AFP
It’s a fashion disaster! Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy birthday” dress, which American celebrity Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala 2022, has been reportedly damaged. It is the world’s most expensive gown.
An Instagram account The Marilyn Monroe Collection, which claims to be the world’s largest private collection of Monroe’s personal property and archives, posted pictures of the 60-year-old dress, saying it had missing crystals and loose threads after it was worn by Kardashian at the Met Gala red carpet on 2 May.
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Kardashian was slammed then for wearing the historic skin-coloured gown and now that it has been damaged she’s once again at the receiving end of the fashion world and Twitter.
Kardashian’s tryst with the gown
Kardashian loaned the dress from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise to wear it to the Met Gala, where the theme this year was “Gilded Glamour”, representing the latter half of the 19th century, a time of the peak progress in industrialisation and prosperity across America.
To fit into the gown, Kardashian had to lose 7.5 kilogrammes in three weeks, which involved a month-long diet with no sugar and carbs and a fitness programme.
Kardashian, who attended the event with boyfriend Pete Davidson, told US Vogue that when she first tried on the dress, it had to be “transported by guards” and she “had to wear gloves” to handle the fragile material.
“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,” she had said.
The reality star wore the dress for a few minutes on the red carpet and then changed into a replica for the remainder of the event.
However, that did not stop critics from slamming her for wearing a historical dress. And now it has been damaged, Kardashian is at the receiving end again.
However, she also received her share of praise back then. Vanessa Friedman wrote in The New York Times, “(W)hen it came to channeling history, Kim Kardashian, making the final entrance of the evening, … topped them all.”
The Ripley’s Believe It or Not! connection
The gown was acquired by Ripley’s Believe Or Not Museum in 2016 for US$ 4.8 million. It is usually kept in a darkened temperature-controlled vault at 40 to 50 per cent humidity to preserve it, according to a report in Independent. It has rarely been separated from its muslin-covered dress form and has been worn by none other than Monroe until this year’s Met Gala.
The museum loaned the dress to Kardashian along with the replica that she wore for most of the Met Gala.
Monroe, the gown, and the sensation it created
Marilyn Monroe wore the dress on 19 May 1962 for then-American president John F Kennedy’s 45th birthday celebration which doubled up as a fundraising event from the Democratic party at Madison Square.
The Hollywood sensation stepped onto the stage wearing a white fur coat over the gown. When she shrugged it off, the 15,000-odd audience gasped, unsure if Monroe was wearing anything at all. The gown was said to be so tight that Monroe could not wear anything underneath it.
The figure-hugging dress was designed deliberately to appear as if the actress was naked, covered in nothing but 2,500 sparkling rhinestones that adorned it. She then went on to sing the now-famous sensuous rendition of “Happy Birthday Mr President”.
The singing and the dress created quite a stir, even fuelling rumours that Kennedy was having an affair with Monroe.
This was one of the actress’ last appearances before her death three months later at the age of 36 because of a drug overdose.
The provocative dress and the song Marilyn Monroe sang for JFK triggered rumours that the two were having an affair. Image Courtesy: JFK Library Archives
The men behind the piece
The garment was designed by French designer Jean Louis and went down in fashion history as the “original naked dress”. It was based on a design by a young American Bob Mackie, who was working with Louis. Just out of college, this was the first-ever post-grad project for Mackie, who continues to make notable pieces even today.
The design was inspired by stage costumes Louis had made for German-American actress Marlene Dietrich for her Las Vegas cabaret acts in the 1950s and ’60s.
Breaking records
Monroe paid $1,440 for the outfit back in the day. It sold for $1,267,500 in 1999 at an auction, breaking an earlier record set by an ink-blue gown worn by Princess Diana. The garment was bought by Manhattan-based Gotta Have It! Collectibles and then by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, setting the record for the most expensive dress in history.
The naked dress was way ahead of its time. It was a bold move in the 1960s and there could have been no better ambassador for it that the sensational and provocative Marilyn Monroe.
With inputs from agencies
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