Blake Lively is embracing florals for spring. On Monday evening, the Gossip Girl alum attended the 2023 Barnard College Annual Gala in New York City and she couldn’t help but gush over her resplendent ensemble on social media.
The star gave herself a well-deserved pat on the back for leaving the house (relatable) and shared getting-ready photos on her Instagram Stories. After showing off the outfit from all angles, she shared one last shot of her look and wrote, “If I keep taking photos in these clothes it will no longer be an outfit but an actual Transformer. I’m just so proud I left the house.” (The occasion marked Lively’s first red carpet outing after welcoming her fourth child with husband Ryan Reynolds in February.)
She also posted on her grid and gave a shout out to those at the event — and her outfit one last time. “This is my new family now @serenalevy @slevydirect @sophie_levy congratulations on all you’ve done for @barnardcollege I loved celebrating you but I mostly loved having and excuse to wear neon and heels,” Lively wrote.
The actress attended the event in a blooming off-the-shoulder floral-print A-line tea-length dress by Carolina Herrera that screams mid-century chic. Lively topped it off with a bright coral pink Sergio Hudson trench with a vibrant yellow lining and slipped into a pair of matching pink satin Manolo Blahnik Hangisi pumps with a crystal buckle.
The A Simple Favor star wore her honey blonde locks in a high ponytail and let her long curls cascade down her back, letting her show-stopping earrings from Brent Neale jewelry and Lorraine Schwartz take center stage. “Yes, I’m in Christmas pajamas at this point but focus on the insane art that is @brentnealejewelry & @lorraineschwartz,” she wrote on a close-up photo of her shoulder-scraping jewels.
Lively also gave a shout-out to beauty aficionados, hairstylist Jennifer Yepez and makeup artist Carolina Gonzalez for “making me feel like human Facetune.”
Lively is known for working without a stylist and putting together all of her own ensembles. In 2018 she told WWD, “I have control issues and a big ego — that’s probably the honest answer [for why I won’t hire a stylist].”
“I just like it. I love design and I love fashion and it’s a way to be creative,” Lively added. “In my job I get to be creative, but it’s over a period of time and so many other people are involved, whereas this is a beginning, middle and end, and I get to be creative and there’s an end date in the near future. It’s the same reason why I like doing my friends’ hair and makeup or cooking — you get to be creative and finish it. Whereas with my job you do it and then two years later it’s finished. It probably goes back to the control issues; it’s like, ‘Okay, I did it, I completed it, it’s done!’”
