Kim Kardashian has long been known to push the boundaries of fashion, putting on many an eye-popping display at the season’s most glamorous events.
But for many, her latest outrageous ensemble, featuring an iconic cross necklace worn by Princess Diana, was a step too far – with fans ripping into the Hollywood star for the ‘vulgar’ decision.
It’s not the first time Kim has come under fire for lavishing vast amounts of cash on items worn by the rich and famous who are no longer with us.
It seems that Kim has a penchant for wearing items belonging to dead celebrities, and has in the past spent tens of thousands on clothes previously belonging to Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor.
The Skims founder has admitted in the past that she’s ‘obsessed’ with auctions and has got the rest of her family involved with her passion, buying daughter North the hat Jackson wore in his Smooth Criminal music video, and her brother Rob a set of Elvis Presley’s rings.
Kim Kardashian has divided opinion divided opinion by wearing Princess Diana’s necklace at the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday – as she’s been accused of being ‘obsessed’ with clothes worn by dead celebrities
Diana, Princess of Wales is pictured arriving at a Charity Gala Evening in 1987, wearing the Garrard necklace
Kim turned heads on Saturday at the 2024 LACMA Art + Film Gala as fans spotted the Attallah Cross pendant hanging around her neck.
The pricey item, set with amethysts and diamonds by Garrard, the former crown jeweller, was worn by Princess Diana on a number of occasions, including a charity event in 1987.
Named for its previous owner, Naim Attallah, the Palestinian-British businessman lent the amethyst and diamond piece to Diana throughout the 1980s.
Diana, Princess Of Wales, was pictured wearing the pendant on a string of pearls when she attended the 1987 Birthright charity gala, where she donned a purple velvet Catherine Walker gown.
The Attallah Cross was originally made by Garrand in the 1920s, and features square-cut amethysts surrounded by 5.25 carats of circular-cut diamonds.
Featuring 900 pearls, the late Princess Of Wales wore it at several events, including film and theatre premieres over the years before her death in 1997. It is one of the few jewels worn by the princess to have ever been sold at auction.
Kim purchased the Attallah Cross at a Sotheby’s auction for just under $200,000 in 2023 – but wore it for the first time over the weekend.
She paired the vintage item with a plunging white gown – as fans took to social media to brand the mother-of-four as ‘tone deaf’ for her stylistic choice.
In 2022, Kim came under fire after donning Marilyn Monroe’s $4.8million ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress to the Met Gala
The dress had been custom made for Monroe to wear in 1962 (pictured)
North later wore Michael Jackson’s hat in a video on the TikTok account she shares with her mother, as she dressed up as the Thriller singer
The iconic white fedora was famously worn by Jackson in his Smooth Criminal music video (pictured)
The pampering parents won the jacket worn by the Bad singer at auction for $65,625 that October
Kim – who has said she’s ‘obsessed’ with auctions, said Jackson’s hat still had his make-up on it
Others wrote: ‘She wants to be connected to the Royal Family so bad’;
‘Kim is so desperate to be remembered like that of other famous women ~ Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, etc.’
It’s far from the first time Kim has worn a piece of clothing once owned by an A-lister who later passed away.
In 2022, Kim came under fire after donning Marilyn Monroe’s $4.8million ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress to the Met Gala.
Soon after, she was accused of damaging the nude gown by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, who said the dress had ‘missing crystals’ while some were left ‘hanging by a thread.’
‘So much for keeping “the integrity of the dress and the preservation.” @ripleysbelieveitornot, was it worth it?’ read one caption mocking a statement Ripley’s had released about the reality star borrowing the dress.
In an episode of The Kardashians, Kim revealed she’d ‘begged’ the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum to allow her to wear the dress.
She was loaned the gown by officials at the museum, where the 60-year-old dress has been stored in a temperature-controlled environment since it was bought for a record-breaking $5 million in 2016.
Tricks: Kim couldn’t ZIP UP her Marilyn Monroe dress and was forced to leave it open on her backside which she covered up with a white fur at Monday’s Met Gala
Iconic: Marilyn is said to have paid $1,440 for the custom piece to the designer, and it holds the record for the for the most expensive dress sold at an auction, making it one of the most expensive dresses in the world
Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe moment! Reality star transforms into a blonde bombshell in iconic ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President’ dress from 1962 (pictured with her then-boyfriend Pete Davidson)
Social media users have noted Kim’s ‘penchant’ for wearing items belonging to dead celebrities
Monroe wore the custom Jean Louis gown to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to then-President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962
The offer had initially been withdrawn over concerns Kim’s hips would damage the original dress.
‘Great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history,’ Ripley’s said.
‘With input from garment conservationists, appraisers, and archivists, the garment’s condition was top priority. Believe It or Not! no alterations were to be made to the dress and Kim even changed into a replica after the red carpet!’
Hundreds of fans took to the comments to point out the alleged damage in the ‘before and after’ photos shared by the Marilyn Monroe Collection, though there was no way to confirm the validity of the images.
‘Missing so many crystals and those tears,’ one person wrote. ‘What a disaster!!’
Kardashian was the first person to don the gown since it was worn by Monroe in 1962. She admitted she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the dress, but she was still unable to zip it.
Speaking to Vogue about her iconic ensemble, the reality star insisted that she would never risk ‘any damage’ to the gown, and therefore took steps to ensure that she had a backup option before heading into the event itself.
‘I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history,’ she said. ‘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.’
Kim seems to have a knack for buying clothing and jewelry that were previously owned by famous figures. In 2017, she paid $379,500 for Jackie O’s watch (seen on Jackie in the 1970s)
Kim said she went on a ruthlessly strict diet in order to wear the dress to the Met Gala, admitting she hadn’t eaten ‘carbs and sugar in three weeks.’
‘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,’ she said. ‘I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict.’
At the time, social media users criticised Kim for ‘borrowing clothes from the dead’, drawing parallels between the Monroe dress and her penchant for purchasing items at auctions.
People wrote on social media: ‘I just find this so disrespectful. Not everything should be a costume or worn for entertainment. Leave them people clothes alone’;
‘Is that for real? If so, first Marilyn Monroe now MJ…@KimKardashian why are y’all so weird and disrespectful’;
‘Nobody else thinks its veryyyyy weird @KimKardashian keeps going around wearing or trying to wear dead people’s clothing?”
‘Kim should’ve gone as Tomb Raider for Halloween the way she’s been robbing all these dead folks’ possessions.’
During Christmas 2019, Kim revealed on Instagram that she and her then-husband Kanye West had gifted their daughter North a jacket that belonged to the 6-year-old’s music idol, Michael Jackson.
In 2011, she also scooped up a set of Elizabeth Taylor’s bangles for $65,000 (seen)
Kim has also outbid collectors at auctions of clothing and jewellery worn by Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis
Kim bought the hat and one of Jackson’s jackets at an auction in California in 2019, revealing it still had his make-up on it.
The pampering parents won the jacket worn by the Bad singer at auction for $65,625 that October.
The jacket was worn by the late pop-star for Elizabeth Taylor’s 65th birthday party in 1997.
‘We won this on an auction for Northie for Christmas and we had it tacked up so she could wear it,’ Kim said.
‘Kanye and I gave North this jacket, and, this was Michael Jackson’s jacket that he wore with Elizabeth Taylor,’ she shared with her millions of fans on social media.
‘North is a really big Michael Jackson fan and we knew she would love this.’
‘The sleeves are half tacked up so when she gets older we can untack the sleeve and it can grow with her and she can have this for her whole life.’
Kim added that the six-year-old was ‘grateful’ for her early Christmas present. ‘She’s so grateful and so excited,’ she said.
The cross pendant was made in 1920 by the jewelry company Garrard. According to Vogue, Diana was friends with the man who owned it, businessman Naim Attallah, who loaned it to her
The estimated selling price of the jacket had been between $10,000 and $20,000.
Kardashian also got her hands on the original white fedora worn by Jackson in the iconic music video for his hit song Smooth Criminal.
In a snap shared to her Instagram story, Kim wrote: ‘North also got Michael’s Smooth Criminal Hat. It still has his makeup on it.’
North later wore the hat in a video on the TikTok account she shares with her mother, as she dressed up as the Thriller singer.
Kim has also outbid collectors at auctions of clothing and jewellery worn by Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis.
She bought a set of Taylor’s bangles for $64,900, and bought her brother Rob some of Elvis’s rings as a Christmas present.
‘My brother is the biggest Elvis Presley fan so I got him two of Elvis’ rings for Christmas,’ Kim gushed at the time.
The first ring, featuring an awe-inspiring ruby, was won at auction by Kim for $7K.
The second Elvis-worn ring went for $8K and was decorated with a row of sparkling diamonds.
Kardashian tagged Julien’s Auctions, thanking them for her hefty purchases.
In 2017, she paid $379,500 for Jackie Kennedy’s watch.
And while she didn’t wear any of her actual clothes, Kim also caused controversy in 2017 when she dressed up as late singer Aaliyah.
The reality star adopted a similar outfit to the one the songstress wore in the music video for her single Try Again, which was released in 2000 as part of the soundtrack to the film Romeo Must Die, which she also acted in.
Halloween remains a battlefield for out-of-touch stars who risk being canceled over their offensive or tone-deaf costumes, like Kim Kardashian’s 2017 attempt to dress up as Aaliyah
The tune went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, but Aaliyah had little time to savor its success, as she died in 2001 in a tragic plane crash.
Although Kim’s Aaliyah costume showed off her stellar figure, it outraged fans due to her decision to dress up as a Black woman.
Due to Kim’s constant tan, it wasn’t clear if she had attempted to darken her skin beyond it’s normal shade, but fans were nonetheless outraged at the race-switching costume.
She later addressed the controversy with a mealy-mouthed apology on her website.
‘I saw online that some people thought my costume was in poor taste and I am truly sorry if that offended anyone. When I was creating the costume, I wasn’t dressing up as a race or culture but rather as a woman whom I will always admire,’ she wrote.
‘I play every kind of genre of music in my home and I like for my kids to be exposed to many different artists. For me, it’s always about love and respect,’ Kim continued, while pointing out her other family members’ costumes.
‘I loved that Kourtney [Kardashian] was Michael Jackson for one of her costumes,’ she said. ‘We don’t see color in my home. We were paying homage to people and artists we love and respect — it’s that simple!’
