NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: Kim Kardashian attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/Getty Images)

Ahead of the 2022 Met Gala, there were already rumours circulating that Kim Kardashian could wear Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr President” dress on the red carpet.

There was her revealing during an interview that her look of choice couldn’t be altered, and then she was spotted at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, Florida, where the garment is housed. But even so, seeing her arrive glistening in gold, and with platinum blonde hair to match, resulted in yet another internet-breaking moment for the queen of internet-breaking moments. 

The dress, which is worth an estimated $5 million USD boasts $2,500 crystals and was inspired by a sketch by American fashion designer Bob Mackie. It was famously so tight that Monroe couldn’t wear anything under it and had to be sewn into the piece just moments before her performance. (Let’s not get into the problematic way Kardashian managed to fit into it herself). 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: Kim Kardashian attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)

Now, Mackie, the 82-year-old designer, who sketched the original dress in 1962, has revealed he wasn’t so keen on seeing Kardashian in his design. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Mackie said he thinks it was a “big mistake” for the reality star to borrow the piece and wear it on the Met Gala red carpet.

“[Marilyn] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess. She was just fabulous,” he said. “Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress.”

Mackie, who clearly isn’t much of a fan of the Kardashian family – he told Page Six last year they were “just famous for being famous” – originally drew the design for Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, who then created the piece ahead of her wearing it to the former president’s 45th birthday. 

Actress Marilyn Monroe sings “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, for his upcoming 45th birthday.

Kardashian, a huge Monroe fan, clearly understood the gravity of the garment, immediately changing into a replica of the dress to avoid damaging it after taking photos on the carpet.

However, Mackie probably wasn’t too pleased to hear that Kardashian also borrowed another piece from Monroe’s wardrobe that same night. On Instagram, a few days after the Met, Kardashian revealed she wore the green sequined Norman Norell–designed gown that Monroe wore to the 1962 Golden Globes to a Met Gala after-party.

“It will forever be one of the greatest privileges of my life to be able to channel my inner Marilyn in this way, on such a special night,” Kardashian wrote, alongside images of herself in the dress.

Mackie, avert your eyes!