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When Kim Kardashian wore the iconic rhinestone-studded Marilyn Monroe gown to the 2022 Met Gala, people on the internet were extremely upset with her. Mainly because pictures were circulated later, showing how Kim damaged the back of the historical outfit when it clearly didn't fit properly.
But is the Marilyn Monroe dress the only historical gown Kim Kardashian has ruined? Some people on the internet believe there is another iconic outfit that Kardashian ruined forever.
Fashion Fans Are Furious At Kim Kardashian For Altering A Rare Alexander McQueen Dress
Twitter user Sarah McGonagall was the first one to report Kim's apparent ruining of another garment.
In her tweet, she wrote, “finding out that Kim Kardashian not only destroyed Marilyn Monroe's gown (the most important dress of the 20th century) but also permanently altered one of the only two “oyster gowns” that [McQueen] ever made (the most important dress of the 21st century) is my villain origin story.”
Kim wore the McQueen 'Oyster' gown to the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscars after-party and was applauded by major fashion magazines for bringing such an iconic vintage piece to the red carpet. Kardashian has a history of showing up on red carpets in iconic dresses.
Apparently, it was gifted to Kim by her then-husband Kanye West who found the gown at Lily Et Cie, a Beverly Hills archival designer store. The store is a celebrity favorite for procuring vintage outfits for major red carpet events. Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Lopez are some of its clients.
But fashion fans were not having it! The dress was one of the only two McQueen Oyster dresses ever made, and, according to fans, Kardashian shouldn't have altered it.
Some people did point out that Kanye purchased the gown for Kim, as it was not rented. So they have owner's rights to alter the garment as much as they please.
But because the tweet was made not long after the Marilyn Monroe dress fiasco, people were quick to start calling out Kim again for 'ruining' another historical outfit.
The Historical Significance Of Alexander McQueen's Oyster Dress
The Alexander McQueen 'Oyster Dress' appeared first on the runway during their 2003 spring/summer collection show. It was designed by McQueen himself, and only two were ever made.
The other one is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which describes the dress as “a poetic rendering of a disaster at sea.”
“The hem of the skirt, like the wavy lip of a giant mollusk, further emphasizes the seashell quality of the gown,” says the description on the museum's website.
“But unlike Aphrodite, who was born in the foam of the sea and borne to shore on a scallop, McQueen's beauty is a bruised pearl encased in a deconstructing oyster, the tumbled survivor of the violent action of waves."
Andrew Bolton, the museum's head curator, even said that the dress was “arguably the most important dress of the 21st century.” This is probably what Sarah McGonagall was quoting in her original tweet.
But it appears the internet was quick to get upset once again.
Did Kim Kardashian Actually Ruin The Dress Or Is There More To The Story?
Apparently, Kim Kardashian found out about the archival McQueen piece from an Instagram curator of unique fashion outfits.
Kardashian originally followed the 24-year-old Australian's account @thekimbino when she came across a post featuring Kim's editorial shot for Love magazine. The reality star wore a Roberto Cavalli crocodile corset bustier for the piece.
The two eventually started a discussion via DMs about the McQueen dress. And Kanye later found the archival piece in Lily Et Cie, from where he purchased the dress as a Christmas gift for his then-wife. After all, it's no secret that Kim loves collecting rare, historically significant items.
According to Rita Watnick, the curator-shopowner of Lily Et Cie, which she describes as a “shoppable fashion museum,” clients of the store are well within their rights to alter the garments. After all, the pieces are purchased to be worn and are not rented.
The shop prides itself on its extensive collection of rare and unique archival pieces—over 500,000 of them! They even claim responsibility for the recent trend of wearing vintage fashion to Hollywood's red carpets.
Watnick established the store to introduce fashion connoisseurs to rare and outstanding pieces from long-gone eras to help them stand out from the crowd and make a personal statement.
She encourages people to “not follow the pack” and “alter with respect to the way the garment was originally made.”
“Look at eras and designers that others are not looking at and for what other people are currently not interested in and not wearing,” she says. This is something Kim Kardashian has done time and again on red carpets, from her Thierry Mugler wet dress, which was the first dress designed by Mugler in 20 years, to the Balenciaga full-body coverup dress, which sparked a lot of memes on the internet.
