How a 60-year-old dress got its time in the spotlight once more

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson attend the Met Gala earlier this week.Credit: AP

Though there was stiff, expertly tailored competition at the Met Gala this week, it was Kim Kardashian who drew the most intrigue – and not because her boyfriend, Pete Davidson was joining her on the red carpet for the second time in a week. Let us attempt to decode exactly why a seemingly plain dress would attract so much attention.

It wasn’t really on theme, why all the fuss?

The theme for this year’s Met Gala, was America: an Anthology of Fashion and the dress code was “The Gilded Age”. Many guests took this quite literally and wore fashion of the late 1800s.

But when Kardashian, 41, turned up in the skin-tight, crystal-adorned dress, it looked, at first, as if she had not read her invite properly. Originally worn by Marilyn Monroe when she breathily sang “Happy Birthday Mr President” to John F. Kennedy, her rumoured lover, at his 45th birthday party at Madison Square Garden in 1962, it’s over half a century outside the Gilded Age.

She probably didn’t read the invite! Oh I know – Kanye intercepted it!

Well, hang on. That dress is an inarguable part of American fashion anthology. It stands at the very nexus of American fashion, politics and popular culture. It is controversial and sexy and kind of sad, too. It is canon.

Kim Kardashian at the 2022 Met Gala (left) and Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday” in 1962.Credit: Getty

Designed by Jean Louis, the sparkly, sheer dress has been on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum in Florida since its purchase in 2016 for US $4.81 million, ($A6.75 million) making it one of the most expensive dresses ever sold. Kardashian’s visit to the museum last week with Davidson ignited speculation that she could be wearing the dress to the Gala. She did not disappoint.

As for the dress code, “gilded” by definition, means something covered thinly with gold, which Kardashian nailed. But, to call something gilded is to imply that though it may appear glamorous and glittering, what’s underneath is of no real worth. Hence, the term, the Gilded Age, an era of great income inequality, where the families who came from Old Money resented the nouveau riche for their ostentatious displays of wealth.

Sound familiar? You know, how other famous people resent the Kardashians?

So then, Kardashian might well be saying, “Ha! You underestimated me, just like you did with Marylin”. Or, she might be saying, “Yes, I’m the celebrity equivalent of nouveau riche – jealous?” It’s entirely possible she is saying both.

OK. So does Kim think she’s a modern Marilyn?

Well, it’s an audacious comparison she’s making, especially with the bleached blond hair. It was Kanye West who first compared his then-wife to Monroe during a podcast interview in 2013, calling them both controversial.

And it’s true: both women have caused controversy for their provocative brand of sexuality. Both have been called stupid, too – Monroe by Lawrence Olivier and Kardashian, by everyone, but most notably, Daniel Craig.

Anything else?

When Monroe flung off her white fur coat to reveal the dress in all its glory at Kennedy’s 45th birthday party, it elicited literal gasps from the audience. Nobody had seen anything quite as risqué since…well, since Monroe stood over a New York subway grate in an ivory dress in 1955’s The Seven Year Itch. The woman born Norma Jean became Marilyn through a series of iconic moments, that were forever etched in our collective consciousness. This might be what Kardashian, who has previously “broken” the internet when she posed on the cover of Paper, might be going for here.

Yeah, but wasn’t Marilyn secretly sleeping with John F. Kennedy when she sang to him? Wait – is Kim secretly sleeping with someone?

Not that we know of. The seven-month romance with Davidson shows no sign of an itch.

Sadly, Monroe would die alone just months after serenading the president. The authorities ruled it suicide as drugs and alcohol were found in her system.

Kardashian, meanwhile, rarely drinks, never touches drugs and is part of a sprawling, ultra-rich family, marred by death, sure, and cover-ups, but with enough wealth and power to influence a President. (Kardashian did successfully lobby President Trump for prison reform in 2019).

And, if one were to compare the family to an iconic American name at all, it would be a surname – Kennedy. Listen, they both start with K. Maybe Kardashian is signalling to us one thing and one thing only: prepare for the second Kamelot.

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