2013 was the year the world decided it was done with Kim Kardashian. At least, that’s what the internet wanted us to think. If you were scrolling through Twitter—back when we actually called it Twitter—you couldn't escape the memes. She was everywhere. Not just as a reality star, but as a polarizing figure caught between two lives. One foot was still stuck in a messy, litigious divorce from Kris Humphries, and the other was stepping onto the red carpet of the Met Gala as Kanye West’s plus-one.
It was chaotic. Honestly, it was a mess.
But looking back, Kim Kardashian 2013 wasn't just a year of bad fashion and tabloid drama. It was the exact moment the "famous for being famous" girl broke the glass ceiling of high fashion. She didn't just walk into the Met; she crashed it. And yeah, she cried about it later. But that year changed everything for the Kardashian brand.
The Divorce That Wouldn't Die and a New Beginning
People forget that for the first half of 2013, Kim was legally still married to Kris Humphries. That 72-day marriage felt like it lasted a decade because of the court battle. Humphries wanted an annulment based on fraud; Kim just wanted out. It wasn't until April 19, 2013, that they finally reached a settlement. The timing was tight. Like, really tight. She was already heavily pregnant with North West.
Imagine the stress. You’re expecting your first child with one of the most famous rappers on earth, but you're technically still the wife of a New Jersey Nets player. It was peak 2010s gossip fodder.
The divorce was finalized in early June, just days before North arrived on June 15 at Cedars-Sinai. That little window of "legal freedom" before motherhood was small, but for Kim, it was a massive relief. She’d spent months being mocked for her pregnancy weight and her legal status. People were mean. Truly mean.
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That Floral Dress: The 2013 Met Gala Moment
We have to talk about the dress. You know the one. The Givenchy floral print designed by Riccardo Tisci.
It had built-in gloves. It had a thigh-high slit. It looked, according to the entire internet at the time, like a grandmother’s couch. Robin Williams famously tweeted a side-by-side of Kim and his character from Mrs. Doubtfire, saying he wore it better.
Kim wasn't even technically invited to the Met Gala in 2013. She was Kanye’s guest. She has since admitted in Vogue interviews that she felt like nobody wanted her there. She was "puffy and bloated" and insecure. Tisci had offered her a black version of the dress, but he pushed for the floral. His logic? "What do you give a woman who is pregnant? You send her flowers."
Why the Memes Left a Mark
- The Emotional Toll: Kim confessed she cried the entire way home.
- The Approval: Even though the public hated it, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen told her they loved it. That was the only validation she cared about.
- The Shift: It was her first time at the Met. Now, she’s a staple. You don't get the 2022 Marilyn Monroe dress moment without the 2013 "couch dress" struggle.
It’s weird how time works. Now, fashion historians (and Kim herself) call that look "iconic" or "sick." At the time, it was a disaster. It shows how much she was willing to suffer for a "look," even when it backfired.
The Kanye Effect: A Total Brand Rebrand
Before 2013, Kim was a "DASH" girl. She liked leopard print, bandage dresses, and big hair. Kanye changed that.
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He literally cleaned out her closet on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. He brought in stylists. He introduced her to Carine Roitfeld and Riccardo Tisci. In 2013, we saw the birth of "High Fashion Kim." It was the year she started wearing neutral tones and long coats. The "Bound 2" music video dropped in November 2013, featuring a topless Kim on a motorcycle with Kanye. It was surreal. It was art-house meets tabloid.
The world was confused, but they couldn't stop watching.
North West and the Birth of a Dynasty
On June 15, 2013, North West was born. The name alone caused a week-long internet meltdown. People thought it was a joke. "North West? Like the direction?"
But the birth marked a shift in Kim’s privacy. For the first time, she went underground. She didn't sell the first photos to a magazine for millions. Instead, Kanye revealed the first picture of North on Kris Jenner’s short-lived talk show in August. It was a calculated move. It showed they were playing by their own rules, not the traditional celebrity playbook.
What Kim Kardashian 2013 Teaches Us About Fame
If you want to understand how Kim became a billionaire, look at 2013. It was a masterclass in "pivoting." She took the mockery of her pregnancy and the "couch dress" and turned it into a narrative of resilience. She didn't hide. She stayed the course.
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She also learned the power of the "No." In 2013, she started being more selective. She wasn't just doing every club appearance in Vegas anymore. She was aiming for the cover of Vogue (which she eventually got in 2014).
Practical takeaway for your own personal brand:
Don't fear the "flop" moment. If Kim had quit after the Mrs. Doubtfire memes, she’d just be a footnote in reality TV history. Instead, she used the gatekeepers of fashion to bypass the critics.
If you're looking to dive deeper into this era, go back and watch the Season 8 finale of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. It captures the raw anxiety of that year better than any tabloid ever could. Look at the shift in her wardrobe from the first episode to the last. It’s a completely different person.
Check out the original Tisci sketches for the Met Gala if you can find them online; they show a much more architectural vision than the "couch" memes suggested. It reminds us that sometimes, being "badly dressed" is just being ahead of the curve.
Next Steps for You:
If you're researching this for a project or just a nostalgia trip, look up the "Bound 2" parodies by Seth Rogen and James Franco. It perfectly captures the cultural "WTF" moment of late 2013. You should also compare her 2013 Met Gala look to her 2021 Balenciaga "blackout" look to see the full evolution of her "silhouette-only" branding strategy.