Kim Kardashian’s appearance at the 2022 Met Gala in Marilyn Monroe’s famed “Happy Birthday Mr. President” gown drew various reactions, including one from legendary fashion designer Bob Mackie.
Monroe wore the glittering neutral-toned Jean dress made by Jean Louis to sing happy birthday to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and the original concept for the dress was done by Mackie, who was employed as an assistant to Louis at the age of 23.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his opinions on Kardashian donning the legendary gown to this year’s Met Gala, he said it was a “huge mistake.”
“[Marilyn] was a divine being. A strange goddess, but a goddess nonetheless “he added. “She was incredible. Nobody takes pictures like that. It was also done for her. It was made specifically for her. Nobody else should wear that outfit.”
In an Instagram post, Kardashian stated that she was “proud” to wear the dress, in contrast to Mackie’s feelings. “It’s a gorgeous skintight gown by costumier Jean Louis with over 6,000 hand-sewn crystals,” she stated.
Kardashian continued, ” “Ripley’s Believe It or Not, thank you! for allowing me to wear this emotive piece of fashion history for the first time since it was worn by the late Marilyn Monroe. I will be eternally grateful for this opportunity.”
In addition to receiving condemnation for wearing Monroe’s dress, many people, including actress Lili Reinhart, chastised her for exposing a crash diet she went on to shed 16 pounds in three weeks in order to fit into the gown.
In a series of Instagram stories, Reinhart called the Kardashians’ crash diet behaviour “very terrible” on “100s of levels.”
“To acknowledge that you’ve been starving yourself for the Met Gala. When you know that millions of young men and women are watching you and listening to everything you say. The ignorance is unimaginably revolting “Reinhart, Reinhart, Reinhart, Reinhart, Reinhart,
Kardashian wore the famous gown to pose on the Met Gala red carpet steps this year, but subsequently changed into a duplicate. Most celebrities wear one-of-a-kind costumes that are designed and worn for the first time at the yearly event, thus her choice of dress came as a surprise to many. No one has ever worn a dress as big as Marilyn Monroe’s again.
According to Guinness World Records, Monroe’s dress sold for $4.8 million at an auction in 2016 to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, making it the most expensive dress ever sold at an auction.