Marilyn Monroe dress designer weighs in on Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala outfit
The designer who sketched Marilyn Monroe’s original ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ dress has weighed in on Kim Kardashion’s choice to re-wear the dress at the Met Gala awards - and his opinion of it is less than glowing.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, 82-year-old costume designer Bob Mackie described Kardashian’s controversial outfit choice as a “big mistake”.
“[Monroe] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess,” he told the publication.
"She was just fabulous. Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress."
Mackie, whose claim to fame includes dressing Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Cher, sketched the design for Monroe’s gown in 1962.
He then sent the sketch to his boss, French fashion designer Jean Louis, who made the gown a reality.
Kardashian caused a stir after she reached out to Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ museum in Orlando - which famously bought Monroe’s gown for $6.7 million in 2016 - and was allowed to try it in a private fitting.
They then workshopped how she could “fake” fitting into the dress for the 2022 Met Gala, in a move that has caused concern among fashion historians and collectors.
Scott Fortner, a Marilyn Monroe artefact collector, told People that, since the dress was exclusively designed for Monroe and involved her being nude while it was sewn to her body, it can be deduced that some “stress” was done to the dress when Kardashian gave it a try.
“The gown worn by anyone else will not be a precise fit,” Fortner said. “In this case, Kim Kardashian's measurements are somewhat different than Marilyn's. It's logically assumed the fabric and seams were stressed."
Alicia Malone, the Aussie TV host of Turner Classic Movies and the network’s new fashion series Follow the Thread, also told Entertainment Weekly that there’s an issue with Kardashian wearing an item so intrinsically tied to Monroe.
"I don't know what Kim Kardashian sees in Marilyn herself, or how much she knows about her history, but definitely now, Kim will be tied to that dress as Marilyn is," she said.
"So it'll be the Marilyn Monroe dress that Kim Kardashian also wore to the Met Gala."
Images: Getty Images