“Was it worth it?”
This is the question Scott Fortner, a private collector of Marilyn Monroe’s personal property and archives, is asking fans after new images of Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress surfaced this week showing extensive damage after Kim Kardashian wore it to the 2022 Met Gala.
According to Fortner, who runs the Marilyn Monroe Collection Instagram account, the new images were sent to him from a visitor who saw the dress on display at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in Hollywood on June 12.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Small tears can be seen along the zipper, which, if you’ll remember, did not originally close when Kardashian tried on the garment. She later said she lost 16 pounds in just a few weeks to fit into the dress, which could not be altered.
Fortner also notes that crystals appear to be missing from the 60-year-old gown, while others hang by a thread. Compared with images of the gown pre-Met, which Fortner says were taken in 2016, the dress does appear to be damaged, despite the great care Ripley’s said it took to ensure the preservation of the piece.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
“With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority,” Ripley’s said in a press release in May. “Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress, and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!”
Several fans condemned Ripley’s for allowing Kardashian to wear the dress, noting that given its age and delicate nature, damage was inevitable. “Even a matching sized woman would have destroyed the fabric,” wrote one user.
The dress was created for Monroe by Jean Louis, who referenced a sketch by legendary Hollywood designer Bob Mackie. Monroe famously wore the piece in 1962 while serenading John F. Kennedy with a sexy rendition of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” In 2016, it sold at auction for $5 million, making it the most expensive dress in the world.
This renewed backlash toward both Kardashian and Ripley’s comes a month after several conservators condemned the rewearing of such an iconic piece. “I’m frustrated because it sets back what is considered professional treatment for historic costume,” Sarah Scaturro, chief conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art and formerly a conservator at the Met’s Costume Institute, told the L.A. Times in May. “In the ’80s, a bunch of costume professionals came together to state a resolution that historic costume should not 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.”
