It's less surprising that a Kardashian-Jenner would once again dress as Marilyn Monroe and more surprising that Kendall Jenner would wear a Marilyn Monroe Halloween costume barely a year after Kim Kardashian wore Monroe's dress to Met Gala 2022. What, Kendall couldn't think of anyone else to go as for Halloween 2023?

Kendall's costume is actually pretty ordinary — when the most interesting thing about a Halloween get-up is the blonde dye-job, you have to wonder whether you're dealing with a last-minute look — but comparisons to Kim's headline-smashing outfit are quite intriguing.

Here we have two entirely different stabs at a Marilyn Monroe tribute, landing with not-so different results. Who did the inimitable bombshell best? Or, more saliently, who did Monroe less dirty?

To quote the Alien Vs. Predator poster: whoever wins, we lose.

The answer really depends on how you feel about Kim's impressively controversial Met Gala look, the moment where 2022's sudden Marilyn resurgence peaked.

Personally, I didn't find Kim's look all that offensive. Like, it's a dress with history — Monroe wore it when singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK in 1962 — but it's also just a dress. Just clothes. And clothes are given purpose by being worn.

It's also not like Kim wearing the dress takes away from its history, it merely adds a new chapter. Now, you can debate the quality of that chapter all you want but there it is. Otherwise, we wouldn't be talking about the dress at all, would we?

Now, all that being said, Kim's outing in the Marilyn Monroe dress was a big nothing.

For such a divisive, internet-dominating outfit, Kim's Met Gala look was so bland as to be entirely forgettable, blonde hair and all.

Plus, no one remembers that Kim actually wore a second Marilyn Monroe dress after the red carpet, demonstrating just how prosaic the moment really was.

Kendall's Halloween costume isn't any more impressive, you know, but at least it's entirely inoffensive. So, to that end, I'll give it to her (with a shrug).

That's the most impressive thing from this whole affair is that two of the world's most famous women — two of the most expensive, well-known, and in-demand models on the planet! — both cosplayed as Marilyn Monroe without making much a splash, fashion-wise.

I'm sure there's some deeper meaning you could extrapolate about Monroe's historic beauty or charisma or influence or yadda yadda but the main takeaway for me is that, for once in their lives, the Kardashian-Jenners didn't go big enough.

This is the family that rents islands for birthday parties! And they're making the 20th century's most famous American woman a relative snooze. If there was ever a time to go big...