“I have never felt pain like that in my life,” the entrepreneur shared.
As a beauty entrepreneur, law student, reality TV star and mother-of-four, Kim Kardashian West, has never been one to shy away from any type of challenge, particularly in the name of beauty or fashion.
Often that daring, entrepreneurial attitude has worked out, such as when the 38-year-old decided to launch a beauty brand despite not having any on-the-ground experience in the cosmetics industry. Kardashian West’s beauty brand, KKW Beauty, launched to huge success, quickly earning its place in the beauty hall of fame as one of the most sought-after beauty brands in the world.
But, other times that same attitude hasn’t resulted in quite the same successful outcome and a recent fashion choice left the mother-of-four in physical pain and reminded us all why this outdated piece of clothing is best left in the fashion archives.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal about her upcoming as-yet-unnamed shapewear line — which has been shrouded in controversy after Kardashian West announced the line would be called Kimono and then had to retract the name — the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star revealed the anatomy-defying waist-cinching Thierry Mugler dress she wore to this year’s Met Gala took a very painful physical toll on her.
“I never felt pain like that my life,” the 38-year-old told the Wall Street Journal of wearing the Mugler dress to the Met Gala. “I’ll have to show you pictures of the aftermath when I took it off — the indentations on my back and my stomach.”
The beauty entrepreneur further made a point of saying that although there was talk that she had had ribs removed to fit into the dress, this was not the case. “I don’t even know if that’s possible [to remove ribs],” Kardashian West noted. Instead, her impossibly tiny waist was reportedly achieved through a Mister Pearl corset worn under the dress.
Not only did the corset and dress cause external physical marks, it also reportedly required her to take “breathing lessons” so she wouldn’t pass out from lack of oxygen while wearing such a tight garment. The Cut reports the reality star shared the detail about the breathing lessons in an Instagram post from May, reportedly saying Mister Pearl, the corset-maker, schooled her in breathing while wearing a corset.
Kardashian West’s confession is a timely reminder why the corset is no longer in fashion. Wearing something that restricts lung capacity and causes pain is taking the old adage of “suffering for fashion” to an extreme, unhealthy place that has no currency in the current fashion conversation; pairing comfort and style is the new order of the day.
