Though there was stiff,expertly tailored competition at the Met Gala this week,it was Kim Kardashian who drew the most intrigue – and not because her boyfriend,Pete Davidson was joining her on the red carpet for the second time in a week. Let us attempt to decode exactly why a seemingly plain dress would attract so much attention.
It wasn’t really on theme,why all the fuss?
The theme for this year’s Met Gala,wasAmerica:an Anthology of Fashion and the dress code was “The Gilded Age”. Many guests took this quite literally and wore fashion of the late 1800s.
But when Kardashian,41,turned up in the skin-tight,crystal-adorned dress,it looked,at first,as if she had not read her invite properly. Originally worn by Marilyn Monroe when she breathily sang “Happy Birthday Mr President” to John F. Kennedy,her rumoured lover,at his 45th birthday party at Madison Square Garden in 1962,it’s over half a century outside the Gilded Age.
She probably didn’t read the invite! Oh I know – Kanye intercepted it!
Well,hang on. That dress is an inarguable part of American fashion anthology. It stands at the very nexus of American fashion,politics and popular culture. It is controversial and sexy and kind of sad,too. It is canon.
Designed by Jean Louis,the sparkly,sheer dress has been on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum in Florida since its purchase in 2016 for US $4.81 million,($A6.75 million) making it one of the most expensive dresses ever sold. Kardashian’s visit to the museum last week with Davidson ignited speculation that she could be wearing the dress to the Gala. She did not disappoint.
As for the dress code,“gilded” by definition,means something covered thinly with gold,which Kardashian nailed. But,to call something gilded is to imply that though it may appear glamorous and glittering,what’s underneath is of no real worth. Hence,the term,the Gilded Age,an era ofgreat income inequality,where the families who came from Old Money resented the nouveau riche for their ostentatious displays of wealth.