Kim Kardashian at Met Gala 2022: did star wear real Marilyn Monroe dress - what did she say about weight loss?

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has been criticised for her choice of dress for this year’s Met Gala, both for the dress itself and what Kardashian has said about losing weight to fit into the garment.

Kardashian is known for her appearances at the Met Gala, and this year is no different.

This is what you need to know.

What dress did Kim Kardashian wear to the Met Gala?

Kardashian took to the red carpet at the Met Gala this year in the original crystal encrusted dress worn by Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe when she famously sang Happy Birthday to US President John F Kennedy in 1962.

The gown is the most expensive dress ever sold at auction and in 2016 was acquired by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It’s stored in a darkened vault under very specific conditions - 68 degrees and 40-50% humidity - to ensure that the fragile garment is kept in pristine condition.

Speaking to Vogue, Kardashian said: “The idea really came to me after the gala in September last year. I thought to myself, what would I have done for the American theme if it had not been the Balenciaga look?

“What’s the most American thing you can think of? And that’s Marilyn Monroe.

“For me the most Marilyn Monroe moment is when she sang “Happy Birthday” to JFK, it was that look.”

Her profile for Vogue states that “Kardashian only actually wore the original dress for a matter of minutes” due to the “fragile nature and historical value” of the garment.

After climbing the stairs at the Met Gala, Kardashian changed into a replica of the famous dress.

What has the reaction been like?

Reaction to Kardashian wearing the real dress to the Met Gala has drawn much criticism from fashion curators and costume conservators alike.

Sarah Scaturro, chief conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art and formerly a conservator at the Met’s Costume Institute, told LA Times: “I’m frustrated because it sets back what is considered professional treatment for historic costume.

“In the 80s, a bunch of costume professionals came together to state a resolution that historic costume should not be worn.

“So my worry is that colleagues in historic costume collections are now going to be pressured by important people to let them wear garments.”

Cara Varnell, longtime independent art conservator specialising in historic dress, added: “We just don’t wear archived historic pieces.

“Obviously, if you have a Charles James hanging in your grandmother’s closet and you want to wear it, fine. But something that’s archived means it has enough cultural importance that we value it and want to save it.

“The dress represents something very important - it’s part of our collective cultural heritage. I’m speechless over it.”

What did she say about her diet to fit into the dress?

Kardashian said that in three weeks, in a bid to fit into the dress, she lost 1st 2lb (7.3kg).

Before Ripley’s agreed to loan Kardashian the dress, she was invited to try on a replica for size. The first fitting went smoothly, however after the original dress was making its way to Kardashian’s home in Calabasas, the second fitting didn’t go as planned.

She said: “The dress was transported by guards and I had to wear gloves to try it on.

“I always thought she was extremely curvy. I imagined I might be smaller in some places where she was bigger and bigger in places she was smaller.

“So when it didn’t fit me I wanted to cry because it can’t be altered at all.”

With only a few months to go before the Met Gala, Kardashian said that “it was this or nothing” and decided to embark on a mission to lose enough weight to fit into the dress.

Of her diet and fitness regime, Kardashian told Vogue: “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.

“I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict.”

She said that when she attended her final fitting for the dress, she wanted to “cry tears of joy when it went up”.

What’s been said about her crash diet?

Experts have spoken out against Kardashian’s methods for fitting into the dress, with dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine, of the British Dietetic Association, telling the BBC that her comments are “irresponsible”.

Ludlam-Raine said: “It’s really irresponsible because a lot of people will be reading and watching her, especially people with eating disorders, or young women, thinking that is possible, or it is needed, to lose such a dramatic amount of weight in a relatively short amount of time, when most health experts recommend losing around 1-2lb a week.

“It’s not a sustainable way of living. When you cut out sugars, research shows that we end up psychologically craving it more - and what that can lead to is a binge-restrict cycle.

“She said afterwards she was going to have a doughnut or something like that. We want to pull people away from this binge-restrict cycle, and actually show people that they can have the food that you love in moderation whilst achieving whatever health or weight goals you have in mind.”

Fashion journalist Amy Odell tweeted: “The big #MetGala fashion moment, I guess, was Kim Kardashian wearing the Marilyn Monroe dress, which she said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into. If that’s not the regressive messaging this industry has desperately tried to distance itself from, what is?”

Writer Stephanie Yeboah also tweeted: “Kim Kardashian proudly saying she went on an extreme diet to lose a stone in three weeks to fit into a dress she was only allowed to wear for less than 10 minutes is frankly disgusting and irresponsible and unhinged but hey what do I know.”