Kim Kardashian arrival at the Met Gala confirmed that, boy, is she really committing to her new pared-back, minimalist aesthetic.
Wearing a long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, bed-sheet-esque Vivienne Westwood sheath dress, Kardashian was the opposite of her flashy, slit-to-here, bedazzled former self.
(Side note: she was also one of the many celebrities to not get the Met Gala theme, which was a tribute to Commes de Garcons, the fashion label of avant garde Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo).
The aesthetic is a deliberate move for Kardashian.
![Kim Kardashian attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala.](/web/20170509000137im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/w/y/e/s/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvwz5c.png/1493690882746.jpg)
In a teary interview with Ellen Degeneres last week the reality TV star, wife of Kanye West, and mother-of-two opened up about how her harrowing experience of being robbed in Paris during fashion week last year had impacted her.
"I was being flashy, I was definitely materialistic before," Kardashian told Degeneres, adding that while there's nothing wrong with being proud of hard-earned wealth or belongings, "I just don't care about that stuff anymore."
"It's not worth it," Kardashian said. "I don't care to show off like the way that I used to ... it's just not who I am anymore."
"I truly don't know if I'd ever wear real jewellery again," she said.
The simple aesthetic kicked off when Kardashian returned to social media after a 3-month hiatus after the robbery. Instead of the uber-luxe posts of old, Kardashian posted bleached-out shots of herself with her family.
And in keeping with this, Kardashian's recent red carpet looks have tended to feature simple, clinging silhouettes and little jewellery or fuss.
It's an interesting shift, and the question is, will this new aesthetic sustain enough interest in Brand Kardashian? Or maybe, just maybe, this brand overhaul is the logical next step for someone who has always embodied excess, and yet has the ability to sniff the wind and know what people want - authenticity. And Kardashian is, cannily, putting her trademark on it.