Mel B’s cheeky charm a better homage to Marilyn than Kim’s Met gown

The jury is out on whether Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe’s happy Birthday Mr President gown to the Met Gala gave an antique dress a new lease of life or whether it was an act of cultural vandalism guaranteed to shorten the life of an extremely delicate garment.

Marilyn Monroe was sewn into that dress, totally nude, her pubic hair dyed to blend with the fabric that had been hand-dyed to match her skin tone before being sewn with 6,000 shimmering crystals.

Perhaps a better, and certainly much more straightforward homage to that sartorial feat, might be Mel B turning up to Buckingham Palace to collect a gong for her domestic violence work in a figure-hugging dress while braying that she wasn’t wearing any underwear.