The influencer wore the design that Jean-Louis designed for the actress for John Kennedy's birthday in 1962. The dress made of fabric the color of the actress's skin and with hundreds of small embroidered diamonds, is one of the most iconic pieces worn by Monroe.
Kim Kardashian was the sensation of the MET Gala wearing one of Marilyn Monroe's most iconic dresses, but what few know is the true story behind the design that is today considered one of the most expensive in history.
It was March 1962 and Marilyn Monroe visited the designer Jean-Louis with a very specific order, a dress for the gala that the Democratic Party was organizing at Madison Square Garden for May 19, a few days before John Fitzgerald Kennedy turned 45. .
The Frenchman had a very clear idea in mind: a dress that would highlight the figure of the actress. Together they designed the dress, made of a fabric the color of the actress's skin and with hundreds of small embroidered stones. A simple design at first glance, but sophisticated for those who appreciate the art of good dressing.
With a total cost of 1,440 dollars (a little more than 12 thousand dollars today), paid by the actress herself, Jean-Louis and his team worked for months to make the dress ready for the gala and for the actress to wear it. No problem.
This is how the dress that turned Marilyn Monroe into a myth and its sensual version of “Happy Birthday” to Kennedy, who at that time was her lover, was born.
The famous design, which went around the world, was worn by the actress only on that occasion, but it was enough to make it one of the most replicated dresses in history. Until 1999 it remained kept under lock and key. On the eve of the new century, the auction house Christie's sold it for more than a million dollars, well above the value that Monroe had paid for its manufacture.
In 2016 it was auctioned again by Julien's Auctions but achieved a value of 4.8 million dollars. Today it is part of the relics of Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, which has arranged permission so that Kim Kardashian could wear it at the gala, even if only for a while; since the influencer wore the original design only for her entry into the Met, later changing it for an exact replica made to measure for her.
Since Monroe's dress couldn't fit, Kardashian had to lose seven kilos in three weeks to be able to wear it.
“I had the idea of wearing this dress, but when I tried it on it didn't fit. So I told them: 'I need three weeks and it will do for me.' And I lost seven kilos. I am a very determined person. I truly believe that no one believed I could do it, but I did it,” she said.
Without carbohydrates or sugars, Kim followed a diet based on vegetables and fruits, in addition to running on a treadmill daily and wearing, twice a week, the so-called "sauna suit", a suit to exercise and promote weight loss. through heat and perspiration. It was not an easy task but it was well worth it to see, even for a few minutes, that iconic piece again on the Red Carpet.
