Kim Kardashian's Met Gala Gown Features More than 50,000 Pearls and Took 1,000 Hours to Make

One year after wearing Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress, the SKIMS founder hit the 2023 Met Gala carpet in a custom Schiaparelli design by Daniel Roseberry

Kim Kardashian's Met Gala return did not disappoint!

The SKIMS founder, 42, attended the Met Gala for the 10th time Monday night.

This year Kardashian showed off her hourglass figure with a custom Schiaparelli haute couture design by Daniel Roseberry — a draped skirt and top made from more than 50,000 freshwater pearls and 16,000 crystal pearls. The gown took one-dozen artisans 1,000 hours to craft.

Given that this year's theme honors the late Karl Lagerfeld, she told Vogue, "I wanted pearls. I thought, 'What is more Karl?' You know, the iconic Chanel pearls is what I always thought of. So we wanted to just be dripping in pearls."

Unfortunately, though, the media mogul revealed that "some popped on the way, and I told my daughter to grab them all. They're real pearls and she was putting them all in her purse."

Kardashian's daughter North, 9, is in New York City with her mom, though didn't walk the red carpet on Monday night. She did join her for the car ride to the gala, wearing her own pearl pink tweed jacket and a conch shell clutch, per social media.

Kardashian's ensemble also featured a molded corset in blush satin; she accessorized with a choker, pearl drop earrings and a ring made from crystals and baroque pearls.

For her hair, she wore a messy updo with face-framing bangs.

Related:Kim Kardashian Teases Her 2023 Met Gala Look as She Hangs Out with Karl Lagerfeld's Cat Choupette

Earlier this week, Kardashian teased her Met Gala look while hanging out with the late Lagerfeld's cat, Choupette.

She told Vogue that meeting the fashionable feline was "a little scary." She elaborated, "It takes a little while to warm up to her. She wrote me a sweet note and left it in my room. We spent some time together before this."

As for whether she felt any pressure to outdo what she wore one year ago, Kardashian said, "This year, I just wanted to feel glamorous. I really didn't feel the pressure. I just wanted to have a good time."

RELATED VIDEO: Kim Kardashian's Most Iconic Met Gala Looks

Last year, Kardashian chose to wear Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress and seemed to break the Internet — again.

In 2022, for the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" themed event, the reality star walked the carpet with then-boyfriend Pete Davidson in one of Monroe's most iconic gowns that was on loan to Kardashian from Ripley's Believe It or Not!

She topped off the sparkling skin-tight gown with diamond drop earrings, a white fur jacket and her hair, dyed blonde, pulled back into a bun.

"Well this is Marilyn Monroe's dress and it is 60 years old and she wore this when she sang 'Happy Birthday' to President John F. Kennedy in 1962," Kardashian told Vogue correspondent La La Anthony on the red carpet.

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The dress, designed by Jean Louis, originally cost $12,000 and was reportedly so tight that Monroe had to be sewn into it ahead of her famous performance for President Kennedy on May 19, 1962, at a Madison Square Garden fundraiser. Ripley's purchased the dress from Julien's Auctions in November 2016 for a whopping $4.81 million.

After making her way up the carpet, Kardashian changed into a replica of the dress — also owned by Ripley's — for the rest of the night.

"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," Kardashian told Vogue. "Everything had to be specifically timed and I had to practice walking up the stairs."

Be sure to check out all of PEOPLE's Met Gala coverage to get the latest news on fashion's biggest night.

Conversations surrounding the fashion choice continued for days after the soirée, touching on everything from the drastic diet she admitted to following in order to fit into the gown to if her wearing the garment caused any damage to the historic piece (Ripley's denied that it did).

The year prior, Kardashian sported a black Balenciaga look that covered up her entire body complete with jersey boots, jersey gloves and a mask that covered her face and head.

The mom of four made her Met Gala debut back in 2013 alongside then-boyfriend Kanye West. For the milestone, she wore a custom floral Givenchy floral ensemble with matching gloves and shoes — at the time, she was pregnant with eldest child North.

Following Lagerfeld's death in 2019, Kardashian revealed that she and the designer shared a very special memory together. Lagerfeld shot her first major fashion spread with CR Fashion Book in 2013 while pregnant.

"We lost a true legend!!!! You were such an inspiration to the world! You shot my first fashion shoot and I was so nervous to work with such an icon!" she wrote on Instagram alongside a series of photos with Lagerfeld.

Related:Met Gala 2023 Theme Will Center Around Late Designer Karl Lagerfeld

"The world is so much chicer because you existed! I am beyond honored to have met you and had the opportunity to work with you. You are so loved and will be so missed 💔," she added.

This year's gala, "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty," encouraged a dress code of "In honor of Karl." The corresponding exhibit, according to a release from the Met, will showcase around 150 of Lagerfeld's greatest outfits across his prolific six-decade career — including designs he made while working for brands like Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his own eponymous label.

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