The Met Gala was kind of a wreck. I mean, there were some great looks, but most of them didn’t scream: “The Gilded Age,” which was the theme of this year’s Met Gala. Leslie Baker ‘24 plainly stated: “It was an absolute fail. None of the dresses lived up to expectations except for Blake Lively’s, but everything else? Absolute flop.” Even though I could go in depth into each look, I just feel like there needs to be an article solely on Kim Kardashian’s, which by the way, didn’t fit the theme either. 

To put it plainly, I was high-key disappointed. For those who don’t know, Kim Kardashian (unfortunately) donned Marilyn Monroe’s iconic ‘Happy Birthday’ dress for this year’s Met. While some loved it, many, including myself, cringed and cried over seeing this look.

The dress. The Happy Birthday Dress, to me, summarizes the definition of Marilyn Monroe, one of the most iconic figures in American pop culture. Monroe wore this dress for President John F. Kennedy’s birthday party in 1962. It was a huge bash commemorating the president’s birthday with thousands of people at Madison Square Garden. After introducing her as the “late Marilyn Monroe,” a running gag at the time for how the star was always late, Monroe took the stage to breathily sing “Happy Birthday” to the president as she took off her coat to reveal a sheer, nude, sparkling dress to showcase her figure. The dress, being see-through, caused the audience to gasp at how scandalous it was for the time; she wore nothing underneath, as usual. At the time, it was also rumored that Marilyn Monroe was having an affair with President Kennedy. On top of that, First Lady Jackie Kennedy was not in attendance at the event, causing a media uproar. 

This dress, with its scandal, fame, and appeal, basically epitomizes who Marilyn Monroe was to the public eye and what her legacy is to this day. She is an icon of a woman in American pop culture, and this dress showcases exactly that. Not to mention she was the only one to ever wear this dress, as it was specially designed by Jean Louis for her, her body, and her character. No one else. It was meant to dazzle and surprise audiences for this fundraising event especially. Shortly after, the running gag of “the late Marilyn Monroe” became true when she died in August of the same year. If you want more detail on this dress, you can find more out here.

The dress’s legacy lived on with the icon who wore it, as it became a defining moment, if not the defining moment of her career. The dress was recently bid at auction and sold for a whopping $5 million, where it became the most expensive dress in the world. Ripley’s became the owner of the dress and is still in possession of it. Although Ripley’s claims to be a museum, it does not follow the mainstream protocols of costumes and textiles that most museums do, contrasting with the Museum Galleries Commission’s admonition: “It is physical forces such as twisting, shaking, pulling, snagging and rubbing that cause materials, already weakened by age and wear; to suffer catastrophic damage. Costumes in museum collections should never be tried on,”(Museum Galleries Commission: An Illustrated Guide to the Care of Costume and Textile Collections).

Not only did Kim try on the dress, but she also wore this dress for an extended period of time. Although she changed into a ‘replica’ shortly after walking the carpet, the damage was done. The blaring lights of the Met glaring down on a 60-year-old dress is just one factor. Her sweat and all of her personal “cooties,” if you will, ruined that dress. Any fragrance or body oils released did similar damage. If you have ever seen curators restoring and preparing a dress for a museum, you would see they BARELY even touch the dress, even with gloves. To put on Marilyn’s dress, they had to yank it onto Kim, destroying the already thin and sheer material. Every step Kim walked added to possible destruction. The dress, fit for Marilyn Monroe, was not made to fit Kim Kardashian. (This by no means is a body-shaming comment, but an honest fact that their bodies are different, which is perfectly normal.) Kim’s hips are just slightly larger than Monroe’s, so forcing the dress onto her further damaged it. I also was not a big fan of the appearance of the dress on Kim. My first thought, legitimately, was: “It looks like she bought it off Shein.” It just didn’t suit her like many other dresses have. I also felt she looked washed out in the dress and platinum hair because it was made to complement Marilyn’s skin tone.

In my eyes, Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress totally tarnishes the iconic American pop culture object. Now when I see the dress, I will think of it as: “Marilyn Monroe’s iconic dress that was ruined.” Monroe’s personally-made dress now does not only have Marilyn’s name on it, but also Kim’s. Marilyn’s odor and chemical makeup are now not the only ones to adorn the dress. The reputation of what that dress symbolized will forever be ruined. In my opinion, the dress should be in the Smithsonian, but of course, Ripley’s “Museum,” which does not follow textile and costume protocol, owns it and can do whatever they please. Chloe Stefani ‘24 said: “I think that there was no need to risk damaging this priceless piece of history for a look that didn’t even fit the Gilded Age theme. Furthermore, Kim proudly stating that she starved herself for weeks before the gala in order to fit into the dress was insensitive and tone-deaf to her audience which mainly consists of impressionable young girls.”

And if you think that’s all I have to say, no. It isn’t. But to spice things up, I will pass the mic to Lovey Moore ‘24: “The dress was made for Marilyn specifically, and several critics of the dress said that it should not have been worn by anybody except for her because it was made for her, fitted to her body type, but current ‘pop star’ Kim Kardashian comes along and is allowed to wear the dress. Because she is a curvier woman, she expects it to fit her body type, but when she tries it on three weeks before the Met Gala, she’s really, really upset because it doesn’t fit her. It wasn’t made for her, so it wasn’t meant to fit her. In those three weeks, she decides she needs to lose 16 pounds in order to fit into the dress. Not to buy a new dress, not cause she’s like, oh, a millionaire, so she could totally do it herself, no. She starves herself for three weeks. Loses 16 pounds in three weeks, 21 days. She essentially starved herself and then talked publicly about it. She’s promoting disordered eating, and she’s super popular. Younger children listen to her. She has an audience of so many people, so she should understand that when she says things like this out loud, it’s not okay. It should not be normalized. Also, because Marilyn Monroe is well known for being a body-positive model for her time period, for Kim Kardashian to starve herself to fit into a dress of a woman who claimed to be body positive feels a little ironic and not in the funny, cute way.” 

Reminder: clothes are made to fit your body. Your body is not made to fit into clothes. Every body is beautiful and perfect; there is no one model for perfection<3 

Kim Kardashian’s look at the Met Gala was a controversial one. Let’s hope the backlash will set a precedent for others to not wear iconic pieces of history just because they feel entitled. I hope the Met Gala will ban wearing historical pieces onto their carpet in the future. I’m also praying that the looks of next year’s Met Gala will fit the theme… 

by Abbie Lindblad ’24, Arts and Entertainment Editor and Copy Editor

24alindblad@montroseschool.org