Photo collected.
A collector claims that Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn Monroe’s renowned Happy Birthday Mr. President gown for the 2022 Met Gala, causing permanent damage.
Kardashian wore the gown to the Met Gala last month, and images taken in the previous week by Scott Fortner, a collector who works to identify and verify Monroe artifacts, looked to reveal stretched and buckled fabric, as well as missing crystals on the back of the gown.
Kim Kardashian, who boasted about losing 16 pounds in 21 days through a stringent diet and training regimen in order to wear the crystal-encrusted gown for only 15 minutes at the Met Gala, is facing backlash after fresh photos of the now-damaged gown went online.
The photos in question, which were shared by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, show a number of lost crystals as well as several that are hanging by an old thread.
Rips, strains, and significant wear and tear can be seen in the photographs, which were shared on Instagram on Monday. Some crystals appear to be missing, with others hanging by a thread.
Kardashian walked on the red carpet in the $4.8 million crystal-covered nude silk gown during the event in early May. She accessorized the outfit with a white fur stole because she couldn’t zip up the back.
Since the tourist attraction purchased it in 2016, the outfit has been preserved in a temperature-controlled atmosphere. Nobody has worn it between Monroe and Kardashian.
Kim Kardashian defended her fashion choice ahead of her visit. I’m really sensitive of the outfit and what it represents in American history, she remarked. I would never sit in it, eat in it, or risk damaging it in any way, and I will not be wearing the sort of body cosmetics.