Conservatives are ‘silent’ that Kim Kardashian wore a Monroe dress

Textile regulators and fashion curators are stunned that beauty mogul Kim Kardashian wore Jean-Louis’ iconic Marilyn Monroe gown to the 2022 Met Gala. Monroe’s stunning outfit became famous 60 years ago when the Hollywood legend wore it to sing “Happy Birthday” to then-President John F. Kennedy.

Kardashian, a pop culture phenomenon in her own right, became the only other person to slip into the historic gown at Monday’s Met Gala, A “gilded luster” relationship At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The “The Kardashians” star joined hundreds at the opening of the Fashion Institute’s latest exhibition, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” which celebrates historical context and tells the stories of unknown heroes in the early days of American fashion design.

“I’m frustrated that it gets in the way of what’s considered a professional treatment of historical costumes,” says Sarah Scatero, chief conservation officer at the Cleveland Museum of Art and former president of the Met’s Costume Institute. “In the 1980s, a group of fashion professionals came together to make a decision not to wear historical costumes. So my concern is that colleagues in historical costume groups will now be pressured by important people to allow them to wear the clothes.”

“We don’t wear archived historical pieces,” said Kara Farnell, a longtime independent art restoration expert who specializes in historical dress. “Obviously, if you have a Charles James hanging in your grandmother’s closet and you want to wear it, that’s fine. But the thing that is archived means that it has enough cultural significance that we value it and want to preserve it. The dress is something very important – it’s part of our collective cultural heritage. I speechless. “

The reality TV star took on the theme of sports nights and the demands of historical context by choosing Monroe’s bejeweled gown, which she described as “the original nude dress.” The “Some Like It Hot” star herself had to be sewn into the piece prior to her 1962 voluptuous performance at the Madison Square Garden fundraiser that took place a few months earlier. her sudden death.

“The idea really came to me after the ceremony in September of last year. I thought to myself, What would I have done for the American subject if it wasn’t for that?” Balenciaga look? What’s the most American thing you can think of? And this is Marilyn Monroe,” Kardashian, 41, said Vogue magazine. “For me, Marilyn Monroe’s most memorable moment was when she sang Happy Birthday, by JFK, that was the look.”

The Monroe dress, the most expensive dress ever sold at auction, is made of a thin fabric called a soufflé. It is stretchy and flexible when new, but becomes weaker and more brittle with age. Moreover, it is embroidered with heavy beads – thousands of beads sewn by hand. “Gravity can do a lot of damage,” says Kevin Jones, FIDM curator at the Fashion Institute of Design and Commerce. “As you move, something is fading, even if you can’t see it. Under the microscope all these little cleavages will appear. Over time this will be a huge problem.”

What’s at stake, Jones adds, is more than just dress. The dress is a vehicle for passing on history – “it speaks” – and the damage it does has cultural consequences for future generations.

“Our mission is to pass the clothing on to the next generation with as little damage as possible until 500 years from now, these things are there to speak for our collective history and history as people, design, technology, arts and culture,” Jones says. “It is all blended into one thing, in this case a dress. It represents a moment in time.”

Ripley’s believe it or not! In Orlando, he loaned the dress – now believed to be valued at more than $10 million – to Kardashian after acquiring it in 2016 for nearly $5 million. In a statement, Ripley’s said she “strongly feels that this dress, with its political and pop culture significance, is the most famous element of clothing in 20th century culture.” (The dress and some of Monroe and Kardashian’s accessories will be shown at Ripley’s believe it or not! Hollywood For a limited time starting on Memorial Day weekend.)

“We are truly proud to be the curators of such an iconic artifact and are excited to be able to add to its cultural significance with Kim Kardashian, who shares Marilyn Monroe’s story and career with a whole new generation,” said Amanda Joyner, Vice President of Publishing and Licensing, at Her statement on Monday.

It’s worth noting that Ripley’s believe it or not! Not a museum. It’s part of a for-profit, privately owned “attractions company,” as it refers to itself, with themed locations around the world. While Kardashian didn’t pay the company a fee to wear the dress, she donated the money — Ripley didn’t reveal the amount — to two organizations on Ripley’s behalf.

“She will be donating to two Florida-based organizations — a goodwill gesture in appreciation of us for letting her wear the dress,” Joyner adds in an interview. “We do not reveal their names, but they are institutions we have worked with in the past and are youth oriented towards the arts and underserved communities.”

Kardashian, the Skims shapewear founder, who went blonde for the event and boarded the Met’s Grand Staircase with boyfriend Pete Davidson, said she didn’t initially fit the dress. She shed 16 pounds for the occasion as she was not allowed to change a dress, and reportedly had to drape a fur stole over the partially fastened zipper. After taking pictures in the dress, Kardashian switched to a matching dress for the party itself, Ripley’s said, noting that “great care has been taken to preserve this piece of history.”

Kardashian also said that armed guards and gloves were required when fitted.

‘With entries from clothes [conservators]To appraisers, conservatives and insurers, the condition of the dress was a top priority,” Ripley said. “No alterations were made to the dress.”

John Corcoran, Director of Galleries and Archives at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! — and the individual in charge of conservation there — added that Kardashian can only wear the dress after adhering to several guidelines. This included no body makeup, no alterations, and dressing only for the red carpet portion of the evening. “No damage was done to last night’s event,” Corcoran said in a statement, adding that Kardashian “became a host – and added to – her history.”

But Scaturo says there are still inevitable risks: Sweat, sunlight, and oxygen, as well as changes in temperature and humidity, pose threats to such a fragile garment. “Putting it on the human body will harm it no matter how careful you are,” she says.

Corcoran notes that the dress will return on Wednesday to Ripley’s Vault in Orlando. He describes a space as a dark room, whose temperature and humidity are controlled. In order to maintain the integrity of the fabric, the dress will not be washed. It will be placed in a tray, shaped flat and covered with acid-free cotton gauze.

“The shape helps prevent folds and pressure on the dress, while muslin protects it from light, moisture, and environmental pollutants,” Corcoran says.

How will the dress make it to Orlando? On Kardashian’s private jet, Ripley said.

Fashion historian Kimberly Chrisman Campbell, author of Wearing This Day: The Clothes That Made History, says the whole incident was a bit dead.

“The Met Gala is now part of clothing history – and it didn’t need to be,” she says. “I was kind of baffled by the decision to wear it at all because it didn’t really fit into the theme of the night – and they made a complete replica, so why not wear the replica?”

Some curators and conservatives said that if there was a positive side to the incident, there would be a debate about keeping fashion. But Jones says the risks outweigh the rewards.

“If you’re wearing something, there’s stress and tension,” he says. “Once it’s damaged, it’s always damaged. You can’t go back.