More photographs apparently showing additional damage to Marilyn Monroe’s iconic 1962 dress after it was worn by Kim Kardashian at the 2022 Met Gala have emerged.
The nude-coloured dress, which was acquired by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum in 2016 for US$4.8 million (£3.8 million), appears to have suffered tearing on one of its straps.
It comes after collector Scott Fortner shared photographs via his blog and social media that appear to show damage to the back of the dress, including stretched fabric and missing crystals.
Kardashian wore the screen legend’s famous “Happy Birthday Mr President Dress” in early May, when she walked the red carpet at the 2022 Met Gala.
She later changed into a replica for the rest of the evening.
The new images, shared by fashion watchdog Instagram account, Diet Prada, purportedly showed the torn fabric on the edge of the right strap of the dress.
The museum and Kardashian have come under fire for the state of the dress following the reality star’s appearance in it.
Fortner, who assists in authenticating and verifying Monroe memorabilia, told the PA agency on Tuesday that Ripley’s Believe It Or Not had been “irresponsible” to loan the dress out.
He said: “It’s unclear to me what the motivation was other than publicity.
“Because the amount of publicity that’s come from this has been really priceless, you couldn’t pay for the amount of publicity they’d have gotten and that’s really the only thing that I can think of as a reason for them to do it.”
However, he said he did not intend for the online outrage to be directed at Kardashian and added that the “disappointment that I’m experiencing is Ripley has made multiple statements that they were doing everything that they could to protect and preserve the gown”.
“This is a cultural icon. It’s a political icon. It’s a Hollywood icon. It’s part of American history from an event that happened 60 years ago and… it should have been archived and preserved and taken care of.”
Fortner added: “I think a lot of people are really kind of coming down really hard on Kim Kardashian and that’s not my attempt here.
“It’s the most famous dress in the world.”
Kardashian famously said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the dress. She added that she did not “sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it”.
Monroe’s estate reportedly defended the SKIMS founder’s choice to wear the iconic dress and said the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star would have been “thrilled” about it.
Nick Woodhouse, president of the Authentic Brands Group that runs Monroe’s estate, told TMZ that Kardashian was the perfect person to wear the gown due to the similarities between the two stars.
