Photo: Kevin Mazur/MG22/Getty
If there’s a Kris, there’s a way!
During the latest episode of Hulu’sThe Kardashians,Kim Kardashianopened up about how she attend the2022 Met Galain an iconicMarilyn Monroedress — the same one the movie star wore in 1962 when she wished President John F. Kennedy a happy birthday at Madison Square Garden. As Kim revealed, she only got to wear it because of her mother’s persuasiveness.
“I flew all the way to Florida to try on the Marilyn dress at Ripley’s,” Kardashian, 42, explained. “They were not gonna let me wear this dress, they were not even gonna let me try it on untilKris Jennercalls… And I was like, ‘Please mom, if you make this happen I’ll marry you.’ I would’ve done anything.”
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While the mother-daughter duo certainly didn’t wed, Jenner — who her daughters affectionately call their “momager” — made the Met Gala vision happen. She rarely reveals how she pulls off the near-impossible, and the story behind the Monroe dress is no different. “I cannot tell you my secrets,” Jenner, 67, said in a confessional. “But if somebody says no, you know what I say: ‘You’re talking to the wrong person.'”
Kim, in the episode, explained that she threw around a few offers to the folks at Ripley’s in Orlando, Florida — including money and exclusive appearances for the brand — but ultimately, it was her mom who sealed the deal. But that didn’t mean things were automatically set in stone. First, Kim had to fit in the dress, a fitting that she lost weight and even dyed her hair blonde for.
“So after my mom’s conversation, they agreed to let me try on the dress one last time,” Kardashian said. “And if it fits, I’m going to the Met. If it doesn’t fit, I’m not going to the Met… I have honestly been working my ass off to see my vision come to life. I will be crushed if this doesn’t pay off.”
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With the help of her friend and beauty expertChris Appleton, and of course a pair of SKIMS, the duo “lifted” Kim’s butt and repositioned her shapewear to make the dress fit. And as history show, it did, as sheattended the May event with then-boyfriend Pete Davidson.
Elsewhere in the episode, Kim revealed she knew that some people wouldn’t like her wearing the vintage dress, and that she was “a little nervous some people will hate, and just be like, ‘How dare she think she can step into Marilyn’s dress.'”
“All of this — this losing weight, dyeing the hair for 30 hours, leaving the hotel in a robe, getting there, changing on the red carpet, just walking to the red carpet, then changing again into a replica of the dress because we can’t risk sitting in it and eating dinner — is all for maybe 10 minutes of my life … like, that’s it,” she said.
Her predictions were true, as back in May, historians slammed Kardashian’s decision to attend the Met Gala’s carpet in the original dress. While Kardashian saidshe lost 16 pounds in three weeksand cut out sugar and carbs so she could fit into the gown, Dr. Justine De Young, professor of fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology,told PEOPLEthat it was “irresponsible and unnecessary” to do so.
“She can — and did — commission a replica which would be indistinguishable from the original. Such an iconic piece of American history should not be put at risk of damage just for an ego-boost and photo-op,” Dr. Young said at the time.
Monroe historian and collectorScott Fortneralso explained PEOPLE why he felt Kardashian’s look was a “cause for concern.”
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Still,TMZreported after the Met Gala that Nick Woodhouse, president and CMO of the Authentic Brands Group, which runs Monroe’s estate, said that his team believes Monroe would’ve approved ofKardashian wearing the dress.
As for Davidson and Kardashian, the pair have since parted ways, after first being romantically linked in October 2021. “Part of the reason they split was because of their busy schedules,” an insider told PEOPLE of their separation in August. “They both travel all the time and it was hard.”
The relationship marked the first forThe Kardashiansstar after her split fromKanye West, with whom she shares daughtersNorth, 9, andChicago, 4, as well as sonsSaint, 6, andPsalm, 3.
source: people.com
