By
Morgan
Sung
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Model and businesswoman Kim Kardashian wore the iconic dress that actress and singer Marylin Monroe wore to sing happy birthday to former President John F. Kennedy in 1962 at the MET GALA on Monday. would wear in one of the most important fashion events of the year.
The theme for this year's Met Gala was titled
In America: An Anthology of American Fashion
, which encouraged guests to emulate
gilded glamour
, referring to the time that extended approximately from 1870 to 1900 and where the United States experienced rapid economic growth.
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Kardashian, 41, explained to Vogue magazine that Monroe's dress was ahead of its time.
The idea came to her after last year's gala in September, when she wore a head-to-toe look by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga's signature (and inspired Met Gala memes).
Kim Kardashian at the 2022 Met Gala celebrating 'In America: An Anthology of Fashion' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 2, 2022. John Shearer/Getty Images
“I thought to myself, what would I have done for the Americana theme if it hadn't been the Balenciaga look?
What's the most American thing you can think of?
And that's Marilyn Monroe," Kardashian explained.
Monroe's dress, which she wore to former President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday fundraiser, is one of the most recognizable outfits in American history.
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Designed by Jean Louis, the elegant backless gown features 2,500 hand-sewn crystals.
Monroe is said to have sewn the dress to make it fit her.
It was one of Monroe's last public appearances before she died less than three months later.
"Nowadays everyone wears see-through dresses, but then it wasn't like that," she recalled to Vogue.
“In a sense, it's the original nude dress.
That's why it was so shocking,” she added.
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Kardashian had been hinting for weeks that she would wear the vintage piece.
During the red carpet premiere of Hulu's series
The Kardashians
last month, she told Access Hollywood that her attendance at the Met Gala was contingent on her dress fitting.
"It really depends on whether the dress fits me, so I hope to go," said the businesswoman.
“I think it will be until the last minute because it can't be tailored, so I have to fit into it like exactly,” she added.
Kardashian and her boyfriend Pete Davidson were seen leaving the museum dedicated to the foreign object exhibit Ripley's Believe It or Not!
last month, as reported by the Sun media.
Ripley's bought the dress at auction in 2016 for $4.8 million, and it is on display at its headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
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That visit, Kardashian's legacy of wearing skin-tight dresses and her comments alluding to dress fittings gave fans clues as to what outfit she would wear to the Met Gala.
Kardashian first tried on a replica of the dress, which "fitted perfectly," she told Vogue.
The original dress was shipped to her home in Calabasas, California via private plane, where she had to wear gloves to try it on.
"So when it didn't fit, I wanted to cry because it can't be changed at all," she said.
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To show off the dress, Kardashian said she wore a "sauna suit twice a day," exercised daily and followed a strict no-sugar, no-carb diet.
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“I didn't starve myself, but I was very strict.
I wanted to cry with joy when I went up," Kardashian explained.
On the red carpet, she told Vogue that she lost 16 pounds (7.2 kilos) to get into the dress.
“It was quite a challenge, it was like a role.
She was determined to fit in with him,” she claimed.
Given the fragile nature of the dress and its historical importance, Kardashian clarified that she only plans to wear "the original dress for a matter of minutes."
She put on the dress in a special fitting room at the base of the Met Gala steps, with the help of a curator from Ripley.
"I am extremely respectful of the dress and what it means to American history," Kardashian said.
“Everything had to be specifically timed and I had to practice walking up the stairs,” she added.
The dress is "now valued at more than $10 million," according to Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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In a post on its website, Ripley's Believe It or Not!
said that “Marilyn Monroe's dress - now also Kim Kardashian's look at the 2022 Met Gala - will be on display at Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Hollywood for a limited time beginning Memorial Day weekend."