Marilyn Monroe

The reality show mogul allegedly wore the dress for just 15 minutes, but new photos reveal serious damage. Look, here's Pete Davidson!!!

But around the same time the photos of the ruined dress began circulating, Kardashian deployed one of her go-to dupes as a distraction: posting something salacious on Instagram. This time, it’s bikini shots taken by—and with—Pete Davidson on a private island that they traveled to on her cashmere-lined super jet. The pictures in question, posted by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, reveal a number of missing crystals and some hanging by an aging thread. It’s been pawed at by a philandering president and his brother; its home is a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum in Orlando, Florida; it was recently forced onto the body of one of the world’s wealthiest elites to be worn at a convergence of other insufferable elites; and now, the resulting trauma from the latter is back on display in Hollywood to be gawked at by tourists.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic dress has reportedly been damaged after being worn by Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala. The dress now shows signs of tearing, and several ...

Everything had to be specifically timed and I had to practice walking up the stairs.” Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!” Especially since we know the fitting process was a little complicated:

Scott Fortner posted to The Marilyn Monroe Collection website that the sequined dress, the most expensive Monroe dress ever sold at an auction at $4.8 ...

Advertisement It was always with a Ripley’s representative.” Ripley’s vice president of licensing and publishing, Amanda Joiner, told the Daily Beast in May that the museum “had to make some decisions as far as whether or not we were willing to let Kim borrow the dress. Advertisement Fortner said a friend of his noticed the damage while visiting Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum in Hollywood on June 12. Advertisement

Kim Kardashian and Ripley's Believe It or Not! are facing backlash after images of torn Marilyn Monroe dress surface.

Instagram content Fortner also notes that crystals appear to be missing from the 60-year-old gown, while others hang by a thread. Instagram content

A few weeks ago, Andy Warhol's portrait of screen legend Marilyn Monroe, called “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,” was sold at Christie's for $195 million.

But everyone of us can afford to be entertained by the incomparable Marilyn Monroe onscreen at home. But comparing the subjects of Marilyn Monroe and a Campbell’s soup can is ridiculous. Another highly entertaining Monroe feature is Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch from 1955, in which she places a character simply known as “The Girl,” a sex object who fills the imagination of her neighbor, played by sadly forgotten comic actor Tom Ewell, after his wife and children leave the city for the summer. No, but in the few scenes in which Monroe appears, she provides the needed comic relief. In the band is Monroe as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, vocalist and ukulele player. According to artsy.net, the auction record to date for the silk screen series of soup cans is $11.8 million.

"Kim, you will always go down in history for destroying Marilyn Monroe's birthday dress. That is what your legacy will be."

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The gown was worn by Monroe during her famous 1962 performance of Happy Birthday to US president John F Kennedy.

It's a Hollywood icon. It's a political icon. It was "irresponsible" to loan an iconic gown once worn by Marilyn Monroe to Kim Kardashian for the Met Gala, a collector has said.

Kim Kardashian had loaned the dress, which was worn by Marilyn Monroe, from Ripley's Believe It or Not! franchise for the Met Gala.

Kardashian also added that since the dress was not allowed to be altered, she had to lose weight to fit into it. In an interview with Vogue, Kardashian had said, “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. Kim should’ve never worn that dress to begin with. — Caity (@CaityTrina)June 13, 2022 She literally wore Marilyn’s dress only on the red carpet with the white coat cause she couldn’t fasten it. — Christina (@murphystina)June 13, 2022

"This is not just a dress. This is a cultural icon. It's a political icon. It's a Hollywood icon," said Scott Fortner of The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

Silk gets brittle as it ages and thread decays and a preservationist should have prepared the dress to be worn." So my worry is that colleagues in historic costume collections are now going to be pressured by important people to let them wear garments." This was the destruction of an irreplaceable historical artifact, all for a walk down a red carpet. It was always with a Ripley's representative. It's a Hollywood icon. Fortnerof The Marilyn Monroe Collection asked on

The outfit previously sparked debate over body image issues after Kim Kardashian revealed that she lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into the dress.

The outfit previously sparked debate on the Internet after Kim Kardashian revealed that she lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into the dress. She also participated as a celebrity contestant in the dance reality show Dancing With The Stars. Well, several pictures of the damaged outfit is doing the rounds on the Internet and Twitter is not impressed with the condition of the outfit at all, given it's historical significance. Another furious Twitter user wrote: "Why am I not surprised? Kim Kardashian's infamous Met Gala outfit for this year has once again put the TV star on the list of trends and not quite for the right reasons. The outfit that Kim Kardashian wore to the grand Met Gala was no ordinary piece of clothing, it was Marilyn Monroe's vintage outfit designed by Jean-Louis. At US President John F Kennedy's 45th birthday in 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe wore a sheer dress, which became the talk of the town instantly.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic Happy Birthday Mr President dress appears to have suffered some wear and tear after Kim Kardashian wore it.

It was always with a Ripley’s representative. ‘The dress was never with Kim alone. Missing crystals, and some left hanging by a thread.’

Scott Fortner, a collector who assists in authenticating and verifying memorabilia related to the 1950s screen legend, shared photographs in a blog post that ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. It was always with a Ripley’s representative. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. It’s a Hollywood icon. It’s a political icon.

Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian has denied returning Marilyn Monroe's iconic gold gown in 'poor condition' following her 2022 Met Gala ...

"With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority. This was a piece of history and now it's ruined," moaned another social media user. Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet." “I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do.” It comes after Kim wore the dress for a mere 15 minutes in May and Ripley's museum released a statement insisting that the dress was in 'great' condition following the red carpet run. Kim had been loaned the gown by officials at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, where the 60-year-old dress has been stored in a temperature-controlled environment since it was bought for a staggering $5 million back in 2016.

The Marilyn Monroe Collection shared a series of photos on Instagram to claim the dress Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala is damaged.

The spokesperson added: "The fabric used to make the dress is no longer made. I thought to myself, what would I have done for the American theme if it had not been the Balenciaga look? Ripley's released a statement on 2 May regarding the efforts to protect the dress as Kardashian walked the carpet. Another post features a side-by-side image of the dress said to be taken before and after Kardashian wore it. "Great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history," the statement reads. Without question, the damage is significant.

Images surfaced of apparent damage done to the Marilyn Monroe dress Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala, garnering new criticism.

It was designed for her. And it was done for her. It was designed specifically and ONLY for her. “This dress, it was hers. It was always with a Ripley’s representative. Kardashian struck a deal with Ripley’s Believe It or Not to wear the gold “Happy Birthday” dress, which has been valued at nearly $5 million, to the star-studded fashion event.

Marilyn Monroe's 1962 “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress appears to have sustained damage after Kim Kardashian wore it to the Met Gala in May.

“It is significant that the dress was worn at all,” Pontillo added. Weeks later, the industry group International Council of Museums joined the cohort of critics, issuing a statement condemning Ripley Entertainment for potentially endangering a cultural artifact. Last month, when the Jean Louis–designed dress was worn by Kardashian, fashion conservators and museum professionals raised concerns.

After Kim Kardashian wore it to the 2022 Met Gala, Marilyn Monroe's 1962 dress went on display and the visible damage is upsetting historians anew.

“That era is gone and yet that is the dress that survives to remind us of that time and to take us back,” Jones said. “I saw this all as a sign the way that all of the stars aligned. Aside from fittings, the Skims founder and Monroe superfan wore the gown only for the red-carpet portion of the gala. Despite the outcry over the Jean Louis gown, Kardashian — apparently styling herself as a modern-day Monroe who will go to great lengths to preserve her own appearance — proudly wore another historic Monroe dress days later. After she lost about 16 pounds, Ripley’s conceded and said, “Great care was taken to preserve this piece of history.” It was meant to be cheeky. Even after all the platitudes of being careful and [Kardashian] not wearing body makeup — damage was going to happen,” Jones said. It was meant to be provocative. The before photos appear to show the dress while it was on display in 2016. Textile conservators and fashion historians said that the dress, which hadn’t been worn since Monroe slipped into it, was too fragile to sustain being worn again. “There was no way ever that the dress could have been worn by anybody and not damaged. The dress also is embroidered with heavy beadwork that pulls down on the fabric as time passes.

A man intimately familiar with the “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress saw it Sunday, weeks after Kim wore it on the red carpet.

He first saw the shimmering frock in 1999, he said, when he “pilgrimaged” to the Christie’s New York auction house for a closer look. “I went in and I saw the visible damage–unbelievable damage from what it was before,” Morrissette went on to say. Meanwhile, in an email to The Daily Beast, Kardashian’s camp noted that the original dress already exhibited some amount of wear before Kardashian donned it for her brief stint at the Met Gala. “To see what [Kim Kardashian] did at the Met Gala was such a disgusting gut punch that I have been waiting to see this dress show back up on Hollywood Boulevard,” Morrisette told The Daily Beast by phone Monday, not long after his photos of the dress went viral on social media. For Kardashian to wear the famous dress out for a night on the town raised more than a few red flags among spectators: Monroe first wore it 60 years ago, when she sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy, Jr., thus cementing the outfit’s place in history. Morrisette, a mannequin collector and self-proclaimed “die-hard Marilyn Monroe fan,” took the incriminating photos on Sunday at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Hollywood, where the glittery gown is now on display.

Reports from multiple Marilyn Monroe fans indicate that Kim Kardashian broke Marilyn Monroe's famous Happy Birthday Mr. President dress.

Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale. In Kris Jenner…And All Things Kardashians, Kris reveals how she balanced six children (not to mention four stepchildren and numerous grandchildren) while building a business for her family. The dress couldn’t zip up from her butt and a white fur coat draped over the zipper was the solution for wearing the dress. However, Scott Fortner, who runs the Instagram account for the Marilyn Monroe Collection, posted photos of the dress on Instagram on June 13, 2022, where the dress appears to be damaged. For more about the Kardashians, check out Kris Jenner’s 2011 memoir, Kris Jenner…And All Things Kardashians, in which the momager tells her never-before-told story about how she led her six children—Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Rob, Kendall and Kylie—to international stardom and built their multi-million dollar empire. With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority … no alterations were to be made to the dress.” The Skims founder revealed in a Vogue interview that she lost 16 pounds to fit into the dress.

Kim Kardashian attends "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," the 2022 Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York ...

“There was a bit of relief that a company — that was a public company that did exhibitions and displays — had purchased the dress. Other images and videos taken of the dress by Ripley’s visitors appear to show several crystals missing, with some guests acknowledging there was damage prior to Fortner posting Sunday’s high-res images. “So my worry is that colleagues in historic costume collections are now going to be pressured by important people to let them wear garments.” “The fear of the Monroe fanbase at the time was [that] someone would buy it and just hide it away in their personal collection and it would never be seen,” Fortner says. Fortner tells Rolling Stone that he was initially excited when Ripley’s purchased the dress. Monroe reportedly had to be sewn into the bedazzled, figure-hugging number before surprising President John F. Kennedy with her infamous rendition of “Happy Birthday” in 1962. She later decided the safest solution was to wear a white shrug to cover her backside. Inside, Kardashian wore a replica of the sheer, 6,000 hand-sewn crystal dress. “She stole that moment of history and I’m so mad about it.” (Representatives for Kardashian and Ripley’s did not return requests for comment.) But Sunday’s photos show even more beading had fallen off, some jewels hanging by a thread and damage to one of the straps. There is also noticeable tearing in the delicate silk souffle fabric near the zipper and clasp enclosures. (Rolling Stone has confirmed the legitimacy of the recent photos, reviewing metadata of when and where the images were taken.)

Kim Kardashian permanently damaged a historic Marilyn Monroe dress after wearing it to the Met Gala, an expert closely familiar with the dress says.

"This is the dress we have to look at now for the rest of our history," he adds. "When someone has the audacity to put it on and walk in it up the stairs, you're so ignorant to the history of that piece of fabric that it makes me so angry." “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. "My heart is broken. "When you're dealing with 60-year-old material and fabric and thread and sequins... It was like skin on her body," says Morrissette.