Blake Lively does not–gasp!–work with a stylist. But she does have unbridled access to just about every single fashion house in existence, having leant on Balmain, Oscar de la Renta, Dior, and Chanel to outfit her convergent press tours for Deadpool Wolverine and It Ends With Us over the past few weeks. The looks have been outrageous, at times bordering on saccharine, and yet…she pulls it off.
There are few designers she’s turned to as often as Donatella Versace. Last night, Lively posed on a New York red carpet in a fall 2002 Versace gown–nude mesh and hand-embroidered in multicolored beads–first worn in public by Britney Spears at Versace’s spring 2003 presentation at Milan Fashion Week. “The ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and tell our stories,” the actor explained of her decision to wear the dress, which she sourced from Tab Vintage and had been holding onto for six months, on Instagram. “Thank you for your example and your contribution to women telling their stories. So excited about your biopic and all you have to come.”
It was earlier this week announced that Universal Pictures had secured the rights to bring The Woman In Me–the pop star’s explosive, best-selling memoir–to the big screen, with director Jon M. Chu, the mastermind behind musical movies like In The Heights and the forthcoming Wicked adaptation, hired to direct. Sydney Sweeney, Addison Rae, Dove Cameron, and Millie Bobby Brown are among the names being touted to play Britney, but perhaps Lively’s heartfelt tribute should also be considered as a not-so-tacit audition to join the cast?