Kim Kardashian wore the exact dress that Monroe did when she sang “Happy Birthday” to John F Kennedy for his 45th birthday in 1962. However, The iconic Marilyn Monroe gown is so fragile it has to be stored in a temperature controlled vault and is typically handled with gloves.
Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe Met Gala moment was a marathon to pull off. And it almost didn’t happen!
Before Kardashian, 41, tried on the original Jean Louis-designed gown, which Monroe wore for her sultry “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” serenade to John F. Kennedy in New York City just months before her death in 1962. She tried on a replica for size which fit perfectly. Then, the real thing was flown via private plane from Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in Orlando, Florida, to Kardashian’s California home — and it didn’t fit.
“The dress was transported by guards and I had to wear gloves to try it on,” she said. “I always thought she was extremely curvy. I imagined I might be smaller in some places where she was bigger and bigger in places where she was smaller. So when it didn’t fit me I wanted to cry because it can’t be altered at all.”
Enter her crash diet. (Kardashian said on the Met Gala red carpet that she lost 16 lbs in three weeks to fit into the gown.)
“I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs, and just eat the cleanest veggies and protein,” she told Vogue of her strict workout routine. “I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict.”
