Bob Mackie, the designer who sketched a crystal-covered dress once worn by Marilyn Monroe, said “it was a big mistake” for Kim Kardashian to wear the dress at this year’s Met Gala.
Early in his career, Mackie worked as a designer for Paramount costume designer Edith Head and Jean Louis, for whom he illustrated the tight dress worn by Monroe when she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to John F. Kennedy in 1962.
“I thought it was a big mistake,” Mackie said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, published monday. “(Marilyn) was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess. She was just fabulous.”
“Nobody shoots like that. And it was made for her. It was made for her. No one else should be seen in that dress,” he added, according to Entertainment Weekly.
CNN has reached out to reps for Mackie and Kardashian for comment.
Kardashian wore the sparkly dress in honor of the 2022 Met Gala Theme, which was based on America’s Golden Age, a 30-year period in the 19th century when industrialization widened the country’s wealth gap. She had the dress just for a few minutes on the red carpet, before transforming into a replica for the rest of the event.
She styled the dress with slicked back blonde hair – possibly a Monroe reference signature platinum locks — and a white stole.
The museum and event franchise Ripley’s Believe It or Not! lent the dress to Kardashian, have bought at an auction in 2016 for $4.8 million. No adjustments were allowed to be made to the original dress, per her agreement with Ripley’s.
“I’m so honored to wear the iconic dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in 1962 to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to President John F. Kennedy,” Kardashian said in a post. published on his verified Instagram account at the time.
“Thank you Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for giving me the opportunity to present this evocative piece of fashion history for the first time since the late Marilyn Monroe wore it. I am forever grateful for this moment” , she added.
Kardashian’s decision to wear the dress sparked criticism heritage industry bodies, including the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
“Historical clothing should not be worn by anyone, public or private figures,” ICOM, an international governing body for heritage organizations, said in a statement earlier this month.
“Although the dress belongs to a private collection, the heritage must be understood as belonging to humanity, regardless of the institution that has custody of it,” ICOM added.
“As museum professionals, we strongly recommend that all museums avoid lending historical clothing for wear, as these are artefacts of the material culture of its time, and they should be preserved for future generations,” said ICOM.
After working with Head and Louis, Mackie became an internationally renowned costume designer whose clientele included stars such as Cher, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton.
He was nominated for three Oscars and won nine Emmys, and was honored with a retrospective at the FIT Museum in 1999 for his contribution to fashion and costume design, according to his website.
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