The annual Met Gala took place in New York City on Monday night, and as usual, there were numerous celebrity fashion statements that made headlines.
But in what might be a first for the event, the most talked about look of the evening was also one of the most understated.
As you’ve likely heard by now, Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn Monroe’s dress from the night that she famously crooned “Happy Birthday” to JFK.
Obviously, that’s taking commitment to fashion history to a whole new level.
In other words, it’s the sort of sartorial stunt that’s certain to impress Anna Wintour and the rest of the Met Gala crowd.
As usual, Kim knew her audience and “understood the assignment,” as the kids say.
But on social media, the reaction to her bold fashion statement wasn’t as rapturous as Kim likely expected.
Some critics felt that Kim was being insensitive by wearing the dress.
These people pointed out that the Kennedy birthday gala was one of Marilyn’s final public appearances.
She passed away less than three months later, and there’s new evidence that the Kennedys might have been involved in covering up the circumstances of Monroe’s death.
Needless to say, the circumstances surrounding the dress make it sort of a weird choice for a glitzy night of celebrity fashion.
No one is denying that Kim looked great, but maybe a garment with that kind of history is best left in a museum.
And it wasn’t just the amateur historians who took issue with Kim’s Met Gala look.
In an interview with Vogue, the mother of four boasted that she lost 16 pounds ahead of the event, as the folks at the Ripley’s museum — where the dress was being held — were concerned that she might damage the fabric.
“I tried it on and it didn’t fit me,” Kim told the magazine.
“I said, ‘Give me three weeks’ … It was such a challenge. It was like a [film] role. I was determined to fit [in] it.”
Now, if Kim boasted of losing weight for health reasons, after months of diet and healthy eating, then perhaps her comments would have been received quite differently.
But telling the world that you crash-dieted in order to fit into a dress?
Yeah, she probably should’ve known that wouldn’t go over well.
One critic of Kim’s bad example was Riverdale star Lili Reinhart.
“To walk on a red carpet and do an interview where you say how starving you are… because you haven’t eaten carbs in the last month…all to fit in a f—— dress? “So wrong. So f—– on 100s of levels,” the actress wrote on her Instagram Story on Tuesday.
“To openly admit to starving yourself for the sake of the Met Gala. When you know very well that millions of young men and women are looking up to you and listening to your every word,” Lili continued.
“The ignorance is other-worldly disgusting. Please stop supporting these stupid, harmful celebrities whose entire image revolves around their bodies,” Reinhart added.
“I am not generally an angry person but I swear to God, the toxicity of this industry sometimes really gets to me and I have to do my little Instagram-story rants to release my rage.”
Needless to say, Lili’s not mincing words here, but everyone seems to agree that she speaks the truth.
After all, Kim was wearing a dress made famous by a woman who was tortured by internalized misogyny and societal expectations.
The best way to honor Marilyn’s legacy would be to condemn the unrealistic standards that tormented her all her life, rather than glamorizing toxic diet culture.
Source: HollyWood Gossip
