Blake Lively has always been one of the most famous and sought after fashion icons. Let’s take a look at Blake Lively’s fashion evolution since her debut in the industry.
From her debut to her most recent hit A Simple Favor, Blake Lively has taken her admirers through myriad of fashion styles. Her style changed and adapted to her characters, but never disappointed.
The red carpet saw her grow up from a playful teenager to a beautiful mother of three. And in a way, her style grew up too. Needless to say, she has aged like fine wine and her fashion styles have not failed to catch up. Let’s take a look at her fashion evolution over the years.
Beginning of Blake’s Career
Blake first appeared on a red carpet in 2005 for the Kid’s Choice Awards. She was spotted in denim, a bright-colored belt, and a very Y2K top, exposing her midriff, which was ‘in’ back then. Her sling-back, closed-toe, sparkling heels helped set a fancier tone to the whole outfit. She had her hair in natural-looking beachy waves and minimal make-up. This public appearance was the start to Blake Lively’s fashion evolution in the industry.
The very same year, she stole the spotlight at the premiere of her first big movie, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. She wore a bold and bright orange dress, a color not everyone can pull off!
Blake paired the outfit with a long pearl chain, multiple bracelets, and strapped stilettos. She kept up with the color for the premiere of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. Here she opted for a softer orange, but not straying from her slightly bohemian touch, with wild wavy hair and layered maxi dress.
Right from the beginning of her career, she has been known for her bold and risk-taking fashion choices. She has never been averse to bright colors, bold patterns or different silhouettes.
Also read: 100 Years of Fashion – Blake Lively in The Age of Adaline
Gossip Girl Days
After landing one of the lead roles in CW’s popular TV show Gossip Girl, she completely transformed into her character, Serena van der Woodsen. Just like her character, Serena, Blake channeled her inner diva into all of her glamorous outfits. She and her character’s fashion style quickly became popular and she came to be known as a fashion icon.
Serena’s style did not differ much from Lively’s own effortless one. This allowed her to slip into the character perfectly. Here are some of her Serena looks!
Serena’s style is far too fancy for the high-schooler that she is and her collection of outfits is pretty huge too. Around the time Gossip Girl premiered, and even now for that matter, the ‘Serena school uniform’ style is widely loved by high school students. It is cool and comfortable. This outfit inspired a lot of loose ties and unbuttoned-at-the-top shirts.
Plaid skirts with leggings or stockings underneath had never looked half as cool as they did when the It-girl of fashion donned them. And not to forget, Serena’s wide range of high boots, which she layered with stockings at times, quickly appeared in all of our closets. Regardless of how often they are actually put to use.
Also read: Winter Fashion: Best Gossip Girl Outfits of Blair and Serena
Outside the school Serena’s personal style was a mix of boho-chic and effortless streetwear. She combined jeans with long tops, vests, palazzos with layered necklaces and club-wear with chic updos.
What was Serena Wearing? XOXO Gossip Girl
Serena can be seen wearing bright colors, ruffles, and taking all sorts of fashion risks that even Lively is known for. This yellow piece is another one of her outfits that very few people would be able to pull off.
Throughout the series, we saw her grow up from a rebellious high-schooler to a college grad. Her fashion had a lot of such moments too, going from carefree to grown up and back to unruly. She was always the girl with an edge. Serena had to constantly shift between acting responsibly and making stupid decisions as a teen.
We saw a lot of different sides of her character through her clothing.
Serena’s skinny jeans and ankle boots look also make for a great casual outfit, which unlike her, we might not wear for a quick coffee run. Nonetheless, this look would be great for a day out shopping or a casual brunch date with friends. Lively’s character, Serena, also managed to pull it off to a completely fancy brunch right at the beginning of the drama series.
The Serena Influence
The high schooler Serena also has a proclivity for leather jackets, which later turned into a fondness for long coats. These too, she often paired with knee-high boots of various colors, making one wonder how big a closet did this Upper East Sider exactly have.
Her days as Serena helped build her reputation as the ultimate fashion savant. This show was a turning point in Blake Lively’s fashion evolution. Throughout the Gossip Girl years, all of her public appearances have been extremely glamorous and sometimes dramatic!
She showed a newfound interest in short, dramatic silhouettes. With a lot of ruffles and velvet, embellishments, and little to no accessories. She rarely shies away from experimental fashion and that usually extends to her hairstyles too. While at the beginning of her career she was usually seen in her natural-looking beach waves, later on, we could see her becoming more open to hairstyle updates based on her outfits.
Most Memorable Red Carpet Looks
As was expected from her, almost all of Lively’s red carpet looks have been greatly spoken about. Like her embellished dress at the Met Gala or her Grace Kelly moment at the 2014 Cannes. Let’s take a look at her most adored red carpet looks!
Blake Lively’s Met Gala Look Book
Lively has always been one of the best-dressed actresses at the Met and has often been lauded by the fashion critics. Through these Met Gala outfits, we can look into Blake Lively’s fashion evolution on this red carpet.
2009
Right from her 2009 teal Versace gown that boasted of a plunging neckline and a bold slit, her confidence and poise have earned a ton of praise.
2011
She attended the 2011 Met all decked up in a Chanel gown, the partially sheer beige fabric having metallic intricacy. She had her hair in her signature curls, paired with minimal accessories as always and beige strapped stilettos.
2013
The 2013 Met, themed “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”, saw Lively featuring a Gucci gown with a long train, which became her signature attribute for future Met Galas. The strapless gown had a feathery, black, dramatic train that she complemented with dark makeup, adhering to the theme. She also wore long earrings, another feature that became common to her ensembles in the future.
2016
She chose a pink Burberry gown for the 2016 “Manus vs Machina” themed Met Gala, which was widely praised by a lot of critics. The strapless dress has a long slit, revealing a sheer layer of fabric underneath. The long train had beautiful floral patterns and she wore long earrings, leaving her neck bare. This outfit was accessorized by minimal jewelry.
2017
In 2017, Blake jumped back to a feathery train, with a dramatic gold and blue gown. She chose minimal makeup and accessories to balance out the beautiful gown.
2018
A discussion about Blake Lively’s fashion evolution would be incomplete without her 2018 red and gold gown, which decorated the stairs of the Met with its long train. This was one of her most iconic looks to date and rightfully so, as it reportedly took 600 hours to make. She carried the look with unbeatable grace.
The gown had a deep and wide neckline, accentuating her facial features. She accessorized this look with minimal jewelry, letting the embellishments shine and shine they did! She looked divine in this gown, the halo in her hair making her look almost godly.
Blake Lively’s Pregnancy Flair
Lively is one of the many actresses who celebrated their pregnancy glow in the public eye. In fact, it seems like she used her pregnancy to her advantage. She gave maternity fashion a whole new dimension.
She barely ever changed her style or hindered it by trying to hide her bump. Lively often stepped out in bodycon dresses, enhancing her pregnant belly, and has managed to look absolutely stunning each time.
She glowed like a million gold drachmas in a yellow strap, bodycon dress at the Pikachu premiere. The dress even sported a thigh-high slit. In fact, long slits seem to be her favorites and who would blame her? With legs like that, she can totally pull them off.
The blue dress with the long train, commonly known to people as the “Elsa” dress, undoubtedly made Lively look like a pregnant princess. The dress had sparkles and the blue color was very much like Queen Elsa’s.
Blake even wore a flowy floral dress, with messy hair, looking very much like an average pregnant lady out for a quick snack. Needless to say, pregnancy did her a whole lot of good and she even had some of her best fashion moments while pregnant. So listen up ladies, the next time you need a pregnancy outfit inspo, you know where to go!
Movie Premieres
Blake Lively has attended plenty of movie premieres, whether her own or her husband’s. And she has managed to look exquisite even in the simplest of outfits. She has experimented with all sorts of outfits, from leather to her staple sheer fabrics and feathers. Blake Lively’s fashion evolution is all about experiments that usually managed to fit her style.
She went for the old Hollywood style at the premiere of The Age of Adaline. For her husband’s Deadpool 2 premiere, she sported a black strapless sparkling dress, down to her ankles, with her seemingly favorite type of long earrings.
For the premiere of her movie The Shallows, she again donned a leather and sheer tulle strapless number with strapped heels, flaunting her toned arms and lean features. These are a perfect study of Blake Lively’s fashion evolution.
She always manages to highlight her best aspects through her outfits. And, a common observation with respect to her ensembles: she opts for minimal accessories and a bare neck.
A Simple Favor
One of Lively’s famous publicity looks will have to be for the most recent 2018 thriller A Simple Favor. She wore pantsuits to almost all of the publicity tours and let her character, Emily, shine through her outfits. This was an important aspect of Blake Lively’s fashion evolution.
All of her fitted power suits reminded us a little of a certain Upper East Sider we had thought Lively left behind. She managed to look like a corporate Serena again and her fans were totally there for it!
Blake Lively’s Fashion Evolution
Needless to say, Blake has the spotlight and all the eyes on her every time she steps out in one of her soon-to-be iconic looks. She has never shied away from any colors or patterns, albeit she has had a few favorites. But really who can fault her for having the confidence to wear anything and everything when she certainly has the poise to carry them all.
Do you have any personal favorites among her outfits? Do let us know in the comments below and tag us on Instagram if you happen to do a little Blake Lively styling with your own closet gems!
Read Next:
– Blake Lively at Golden Globes 2017: She Wore a Gown with Pockets!
– 100 Years of Fashion – Blake Lively in The Age of Adaline
Sakshi Lokhande is a Fashion Journalist Intern at ShilpaAhuja.com. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Communication at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar.
She’s always loved reading, especially mythology and fiction, which soon gave way for her love for writing; the two hobbies she owes her huge glasses to. She is passionate about writing things that impact people’s lives or are helpful to people in some way or the other. Sakshi also loves to dance and has been very active in cultural activities since her childhood. She enjoys jogging as it helps her clear her head and she often gets a lot of ideas for her design work and her writing while jogging too.
Having lived in Pune city for as long as she can remember, she has great love for old forts, architectural structures and old libraries, mixed with the fast-paced city life. This made her want to write things people would want to stop and read. To find a bit of themselves in her words, to slow down and take a breather.
Due to her college activities, she has also developed a lot of interest in slow fashion and sustainability. Sakshi’s everyday look includes boot cut jeans, graphic tees and wedges, paired with tiny earrings and maroon lipstick.