by These days, celebrity stylists are almost as famous as the stars they dress; and rightly so, considering the spoils of being a top dresser. Without Law Roach – a man so tall that he hides the “s” word and refers to himself as an “image architect” – Zendaya might never have become a Louis Vuitton ambassador. Anne Hathaway might not have gotten a similar deal in the meantime with Versace, if she hadn’t cleaned up her look with the help of stylist Erin Walsh.
If A-listers and stylists go together like cats and cream, Blake Lively is a completely different animal. Long loved for her “girl next door” beauty, the 36-year-old actress is really as relaxed and low-maintenance as she seems. She doesn’t even use a stylist, which is very unusual for someone of her level of fame.
As a busy star, Vogue cover star (on no less than the popular September issue) and mother of four children under the age of 10, Lively has more reason to hire a stylist than many of her peers. A-lister or accountant, we’d all love a little help in the wardrobe department. Choosing an outfit for a late summer wedding is hard enough, let alone with the press tour and eyes of the world upon us, about to destroy us for the slightest sartorial slip.
But as her latest red carpet look shows, Blake Lively is having the time of her life. At the New York premiere of his new film It ends with Us, she wore a Versace dress with a rainbow bodice that would have less confident dressers looking OTT. But it could be argued that one of her biggest surprises is that she flies above the parapet of this season’s trends, rejecting catwalk editions about print, trouser shape and color. Minimalism? Lively doesn’t know her. Instead, she embraces sequins, frills and bows with the wild enthusiasm of a five-year-old.
But it would be a mistake to equate his childlike exuberance with any kind of naivety. Her choice of Versace dress was so prudent that it is tempting to imagine that there is a stylist in the wings, quietly issuing instructions from a walk-in closet. From the Donatella Spring/Summer 2003 collection, Britney Spears first wore the dress in 2002. Playing Lily Bloom, the resilient, romantic and much-loved heroine from Colleen Hoover’s popular novel (which It ends with Us based on), there can be no closer icon to the channel than Britney. As Lively wasted no time pointing out on Instagram, Spears is “the ultimate queen who made us all want to look up and write and share our stories.”
Stylist or not (she’s said to have briefly worked with Micaela Erlanger in the past), Lively has been sporting some “dressing styles” of her own lately. The profession of her character Lily Bloom? Florist: the perfect excuse to break out not just 10 different floral looks. Of course, she doesn’t care that flowers aren’t all fresh and have been considered “out” this season. If Blake likes it, she wears it. It is this same preference of personal choice over any strict consideration of the so-called fashion rulebook that led her to step out in a sugar-pink satin corset dress last week, well into the day. Barbie the ship sailed. When other actresses – and their stylists – avoided hot pink on the grounds that it peaked long before Barbie released last July, Lively covers it. Forget any well-worn fashion rules: the only issue on Lively’s mood board is: “Does it make me feel good?”
Still, it would be wrong to suggest that she has no help at all. Maybe there’s no stylist on their payroll, but you don’t get covered Vogue (or become one of Anna Wintour’s favorite actresses) without building a Rolodex to rival Kate Moss. Judging by her recent looks, Lively certainly has a strong working relationship with blue-chip brands like Chanel, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior (she wore a vintage Dior outfit from 1997 on her current press tour). But she likes to give airtime to lesser-known brands, such as Dauphinette and Christopher John Rogers. She is also generous in sharing the love, often crediting or tagging her hair and makeup teams.
Given that a stylist would typically take weeks to call in an outfit for a red carpet event, and several days to work with their client on outfits, Lively isn’t about to turn down one to handle her considerable workload. already mitigated. For stylist Shelly Vella, it shows how comfortable she is in her own skin. “I’m always inspired by celebrities who have the confidence to put together their own press wardrobe. Blake Lively doesn’t look like she’s wearing the clothes – her style is effortless and she seems to take real joy in fashion, and has an instinctive sense of what looks good on her. There is nothing worse than a whole styled train that doesn’t match what you want to wear, or how you feel that day.
She continued: “Choosing not to have a stylist is smart and stylish in itself. It also shows that she has a real interest in fashion that she knows exactly what she wants, and where to find it.”
While purists may love mermaid dresses, ruching, handkerchief hems, toadstool handbags and jarred colors, off the menu, Lively is unlikely to care. “It never fails to amaze me that I get to play dress up for a living,” she enthused to her 45.3 million Instagram followers. Like Taylor Swift, she wears things for the love of them, not the labels. Unlike Swift, she is not divorced. Most women who are fortunate enough to have a stellar acting career, four children and the blind devotion of Ryan Reynolds (her doting husband of 12 years) would attract at least a modicum of resentment online. But there are few trolls. Lively is popular – whatever that means, because of the public’s desire to take down anyone who seems to have it all.
Although Lively looks natural, it is also projected through her wardrobe. What’s more fun than an A-lister who chooses his own clothes? And if she gets it “wrong” sometimes, any errors will only make her more predictable. In new Vogue Her friend Hugh Jackman describes Lively as “someone who is comfortable in their own skin,” adding, ‘you can’t do that. You can’t gift it to someone”. In a world of increasingly homogenized style, she’s a person herself – toadstool handbags and all.
More of a Blake Lively feeling way
