OPINION: Should celebrities be allowed to wear historic fashion pieces?

Kim Kardashian stole headlines in January after purchasing the Attallah Cross. An amethyst necklace that was previously worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. The late princess wore the necklace in October 1987 at the London charity gala for Birthright, which seeks to improve the health of women, girls and babies.

After hearing about Kim K’s recent purchase, several people took to social media to express their reactions.

One twitter user said: “Why are items like that up for sale? Shouldn't they be family heirlooms or memorabilia?"

While another twitter user took to the app to say: "Why are these special pieces of history so easily able to be bought/ used???"

Diana’s necklace isn’t the only historic fashion item that Kim has had her hands on. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum loaned Kim the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she performed Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in 1962. Kim Kardashian wore the iconic dress at the Met Gala last year.

At first, I thought it was odd that such items are not kept safely in the hands of a museum. Why risk damaging pieces which people will look to in future years to discover and learn more about the twentieth century? However, considering it thoroughly, the type of publicity that comes with celebrities wearing historic fashion items is exactly what the historical profession needs. Wearing Monroe’s dress at the Met Gala, Kim K highlighted a prominent moment in recent history and encouraged her followers to discover more about the life of a key figure in the twentieth-century United States. Regardless of how you feel about Kim Kardashian, you can’t deny the high level of attention that she brought to Marilyn Monroe by wearing her dress.

My only concern is that, as the tweet above points out, these items also carry a personal history. At what point should historic fashion pieces be returned to the families of these key figures? When does wearing an item of clothing once owned by someone a few decades ago become disrespectful?

If handled cautiously, I think it is okay for celebrities to flaunt these pieces at major events such as the Met Gala to bring attention to their previous owners and their stories. If kept exclusively to events, the risk of damage to the item is minimal, but the history is still given attention instead of being locked away in a museum that people rarely visit.

Edited by Madelynne Flack