Met Gala: Kardashian as Monroe, a gilded Blake Lively
NEW YORK – Kim Kardashian shut down the Met Gala red carpet Monday in one of Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic dresses, a gold- beaded body hugger Monroe wore when she sexily sang happy birthday to President John F. Kennedy 60 years ago.
Kardashian had to lose 16 pounds to fit into the dress, designed by Jean Louis and purchased in 2016 by the Ripley’s Believe or Not! museum in Orlando, Florida, for a whopping $4.81 million.
“It was such a challenge,” she said. “I was determined to fit it.”
The dress originally cost $12,000. It was so tight Monroe had to be sewn into it when she purred “Happy birthday, Mr. president” on May 19, 1962, at a Madison Square Garden fundraiser. She died three months later. It has been known as the “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress ever since.
Kardashian, with boyfriend Pete Davidson at her side, paired the dress with Cartier white gold drop diamond earrings and a furry white jacket she kept strategically low to cover her backside. Her hair was platinum and pulled tightly into a bun. But she only wore the fragile original dress for her walk up the Grand Staircase at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, changing into a replica after that, according to Vogue.
Earlier, Blake Lively smiled for the cameras in a grand Atelier Versace gown, with husband Ryan Reynolds in brown velvet, Billie Eilish went with an upcycled green lace-trim dress from Gucci and Cynthia Erivo wore sheer white Louis Vuitton with a matching head piece as the Met Gala returned to its berth on the first Monday in May after years of
pandemic upheaval.
The celebration of American design was themed to gilded glamour, sprouting classic black tailed tuxedoes for many of the men and lots of dresses in black and white for the women. Others paid literal homage to New York City, home base for the Gilded Age, and still more shimmered in metallic golds and silver.
“Black and white are THE colors for the evening,” said Holly Katz, a stylist and host of the Fashion Crimes podcast.
Lively, one of the evening’s co- hosts, wore a bronze and rose gold look that transformed into a shimmery layer of baby blue as a large bow was pulled. Her look drew inspiration from the Statue of Liberty, the Empire
State Building and the blue ceiling of Grand Central Station.
“Instead of looking to fashion to influence the dress, I looked to New York City architecture,” Lively said.
Cardi B, accompanied by Donatella Versace, was an over- the- top golden goddess in a dress of mesh and chains, a fitting birthday for the designer.