Blake Lively Said She'd Lie and Call Forever 21 Outfits 'Vintage' on Red Carpets

last updated 8 October 2021

Blake Lively gave a delightful interview on styling herself and her red carpet fashion to The Handmaid’s Tale's Sydney Sweeney for InStyle (opens in new tab). But the best tidbit she revealed was her party trick for when she wore Forever 21 on red carpets. When asked what designer she was wearing, she stopped saying it was Forever 21 and called it vintage instead.

Sweeney mentioned that she remember Lively wore a Forever 21 dress to one of her first red carpets. Lively replied, "I wore Forever 21 much longer than I admitted. I just started saying it was vintage because I was so shamed for it." Then she laughed. "For me, fashion is a form of self-expression. It also really takes me out of my comfort zone. One of the reasons I'm an actor is that I’m naturally very shy, so it's liberating to dress up and pretend to be someone else."

2005 Teen Choice Awards - Arrivals — Blake in a $13 dress from Forever 21 at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards.

(Lively, by the way, admitted to Glamour UK (opens in new tab) she said Forever 21 was vintage years ago, when talking about old red carpet looks, the 2005 Teen Choice Award outfit came up. She said of the look, “This was my second ever premiere. I’m wearing a $13 dress from Forever 21. On the red carpet people were like ‘who are you wearing?’ But when I told them, they said I shouldn’t admit to it, like it was more impressive to have a designer gown that’s thousands of dollars. After that I just told people it was vintage.”)

In her InStyle chat, Lively explained to Sweeney that she honestly plays a role during red carpet interviews, too. "When you have to be you, it's the most intimidating part," she began. "The only way that I feel comfortable doing red carpets and interviews is when I adopt the same thing that I do when I’m acting, which is to play a character. So when I’m going to a premiere, I think, who is that character? And I step into that. I still get knots in my stomach before red carpets. You just want to represent yourself properly, so that's why I chose to style myself. I also had the very fortunate and unique opportunity of being on Gossip Girl, where fashion was a main character. So I started developing relationship with designers, and then I’d get their email addresses. It all happened organically."

Lively also mentioned that while she styles herself, she does look to three people now to get honest opinions about her outfits: "It used to be just my husband [Ryan Reynolds], but now it’s my kids [daughters James and Inez Reynolds] too. And kids do not filter," she said with a laugh.

Blake Lively's Most Iconic Fashion Moments

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February 18, 2016

Out and about in Soho, New York City, Lively looked phenomenal in Louboutin boots (opens in new tab) and leather trousers (opens in new tab). She carried a Chanel (opens in new tab) pearl-shape handbag.

Alyssa Bailey is the news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.