Kim Kardashian stunned audiences when she made her appearance on the Met Gala red carpet. The reality star based her look on the celebrated film star Marilyn Monroe, but Kardashian decided to take it a step further. She wore not a replica but the actual dress that Monroe donned when she attended John F. Kennedy’s birthday celebration in 1962 and famously sang “Happy Birthday Mr. President.” Kardashian spoke with Vogue about the idea.

“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.”

While fans and photographers ate up Kardashian’s look, complete with bleached hair that took 14 hours to do, historians have since spoken up to oppose the look. One of the main concerns is that wearing the original dress could cause priceless damage. Dr. Justine De Young, professor of fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology, spoke with People Magazine on the outfit choice, calling the decision to wear the original dress “irresponsible and unnecessary.”

"She can –– and did –– commission a replica which would be indistinguishable from the original. Such an iconic piece of American history should not be put at risk of damage just for an ego-boost and photo-op."

Where is the line drawn?

A well-known fact about this particular dress was that Monroe commissioned it to fit her body exactly. The dress was created by Jean Louis, who also designed Marilyn’s costumes for her final two films, The Misfits and Something’s Got to Give. Scott Fortner, a Monroe historian, talked to People about how the dress was specifically made for Monroe’s body alone.

"Marilyn stood nude as the fabric for the dress was literally sculpted to her body to precisely match every curve. The fabric, which is a flesh-colored soufflé gauze imported from France, was layered strategically so she wouldn't need to wear undergarments."

Another element of concern is the age of the dress. Monroe wore it in May 1962, which would make the gown 60 years old. Despite Kardashian reportedly losing 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the gown, Fortner claims that due to the dress being made to fit Monroe’s body so precisely, anybody else trying it on would not be a precise fit. This means that the fabric and the seams would be stressed. Dr. Young also commented on the harmful message behind Kardashian’s weight loss program.

"Crash-dieting to fit into the original dress is also an unfortunate message to be sending one more in keeping with ideals of the 1960s than today."

While there is a message on the ethics of treating an original dress made with such intimacy, it must also be shared that Kardashian did not wear the dress for the entire night. Vogue explains Kardashian’s process read like “a highly sophisticated military operation,” which involved leaving her hotel to a small dressing room at the Met Gala, where a conservationist was on hand to assist her in putting on the dress with gloves. The dress was worn up until the reality star ascended the staircase; afterward she hurried to another dressing room and swapped into a replica of the dress. Kardashian told Vogue how seriously she took the whole operation.

“I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do. Everything had to be specifically timed and I had to practice walking up the stairs.”