Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn Monroe’s dress: what’s the problem?

We all saw the video of Kim Kardashian trying to squeeze her derriere into Marylin Monroe’s iconic Happy Birthday dress. And now the dress has gone back on display at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not attraction and we can finally see for certain the damage that has been done. Straps torn, seams ripped, rhinestones missing. The process of the Happy Birthday dress’s degradation has been quickened unnecessarily.

It might seem like just a dress – a piece of clothing that was designed to be worn. But it’s just one example of the big issues surrounding museum acquisition and artefact preservation. From museums struggling to get their hands on essential items for their collections to dodgy conservation practices to the privileged not giving a toss about preserving heritage for everyone, here is what happens behind the exhibition glass.

More about the Brontës’ little books:

Catherine Angerson, ‘Charlotte Brontë’s miniature books’, British Library, 15 June 2021, https://blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2021/06/charlotte-bront%C3%ABs-miniature-books.html

The Brontë Society, ‘Help us bring Charlotte Brontë’s little book home to Haworth’, Vimeo, November 2019, https://vimeo.com/363766482?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=37328726

Ripley’s statements:

‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Debunks Allegations of Kim Kardashian Damaging Marilyn Monroe Dress’, Ripley’s’s Believe It or Not?, 16 Jun 2022, https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/debunking-dress-damage/

News report about President Kennedy’s birthday:

‘The Presidency: Happy Birthday’, 1 Jun 1962, https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,938361,00.html

Bob Mackie’s statement:

Maureen Lee Lenker, ‘Bob Mackie says Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe’s gown to Met Gala was a ‘big mistake’, Entertainment Weekly, 16 May 2022, https://ew.com/celebrity/bob-mackie-kim-kardashian-wearing-marilyn-monroe-dress-big-mistake/

Clips:

Channel 4, ‘World’s Most Expensive Dress Ever Sold – Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ Gown’, YouTube, 9 Apr 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaCGSGekmWg&list=LL&index=7

extratv, ‘Met Gala 2022: Kim Kardashian Wears Marilyn Monroe’s Dress as She Arrives with Pete Davidson’, YouTube, 3 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFj_q_tem1k&list=LL&index=6

‘The Seven Year Itch’, directed by Billy Wilder (20th Century Fox, 1955)

‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, directed by Howard Hawks (20th Century Fox, 1953)