The Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum has shared behind-the-scenes footage of Kim Kardashian trying on Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr President” dress for the first time.
On Monday evening, the 41-year-old billionaire walked the Met Gala red carpet in Marilyn Monroe’s sleeveless bedazzled gown, which was worn by the actress when she serenaded President John F Kennedy on his 45th birthday in 1962.
In the clip shared by the museum, Kardashian is seen visiting Ripley’s Believe It or Not, where the dress has been on display since 2016 after it sold for $4.8m at auction.
“I’m just so grateful even for the opportunity,” Kardashian said in the video. In order to preserve the dress, its caretakers wore white gloves as they shimmied it onto the reality star. Kardashian agreed with museum officials that no alterations were to be made to the dress. While walking the Met Gala red carpet, Kardashian told livestream co-host La La Anthony that she “lost 16 pounds in three weeks” for the occasion.
The “most expensive dress ever sold at auction” was originally sketched by a young Bob Mackie and designed by French Hollywood costumer, Jean Louis. The skin-tight gown, which Marylin Monroe was reportedly sewn into, was adorned with more than 6,000 hand-sewn crystals.
The actress wore the unlined, sheer dress to the president’s 45th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden, where she performed her now famous rendition of “Happy Birthday”. It was to be one of her final public appearances before her death less than three months later.
Stored in a darkened, temperature-controlled vault at 40 to 50 per cent humidity, the dress was transported from Orlando, Florida to Kardashian’s home in Calabasas, California along with guards. Their second fitting didn’t go as planned, and Kardashian committed to a strict diet in order to wear the dress to the Met Gala.
“It was this or nothing,” Kardashian said in an interview with 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.”
The final fitting, which Ripley’s captured in the Instagram video, took place in Orlando just weeks before the Met Gala.
“I wanted to cry tears of joy when it went up,” Kardashian said.
Read about the events from the Met Gala here.
