Let's start with something about me: I hate Colleen Hoover books. I despise how TikTok convinced the world that her writing was revolutionary, her plot lines intricate, her style original. It's a step above airport romance novels in my opinion...so when one of her hit novels, It Ends With Us, was adapted to a movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, I was disappointed but not surprised.
And to make matters worse, I was constantly reminded of this fact because it was filmed on my street in Hoboken, New Jersey...but enough about me.
It Ends With Us finally hit theaters on August 9, and the press tour has been nothing short of catastrophic.
We have the internet up in flames ready to burn Blake Lively at the stake for a multitude of reasons (including, but definitely not limited to) her fashion sense, her "pick me" attitude, or her dismissive commentary on domestic abuse, which is a main focus of the film itself. Not only that, but there's clear tension between Justin Baldoni and the rest of the cast, who stumble over cute press questions like "What was it like working together?"
It's all very reminiscent of Olivia Wilde's
Don't Worry, Darling, which starred Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, and was riddled with obvious cast member drama from the beginning...yet, it's less hilarious and more annoying. But let's break down the It Ends With Us press tour drama before you get even more confused.
Let's put it into perspective. Things have gotten so bad that director and actor, Justin Baldoni, has hired the same PR crisis manager (Melissa Nathan) that both Johnny Depp and Logan Paul have used. As the press tour surged on, fans began to notice Baldoni was absent from group press events as reports swirled about disputes between himself and Lively during post-production.
If you see Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni on the same couch together during this press junket, then consider yourself lucky. They've split up their press tour with respective outlets: Baldoni gets
Access Hollywood, Today, ET!, and GMA; Lively gets Vogue, Capital FM, and CBS Mornings.
Sources told
The Hollywood Reporter that disagreements arose during the final cut while filming. Lively, a producer on It Ends With Us, had scenes she wanted and even commissioned her own cut of the film. However, Forbesassures this can happen without indicating a feud.
Fans have been reading in between the lines during press interviews. Lively has made a few interesting comments furthering the creative control rumors. At one point, she even mentions her husband, Ryan Reynolds, wrote a scene in the film, which some believe was the start of their fight. Then, in another interview, Lively shares she got in a fight with an unnamed person about removing a Lana Del Rey song from the film.
However, given the film's references to domestic violence, this Lana Del Rey song could have been considered controversial. "Cherry" details loving a man despite all of the hard times in an extremely toxic and unhealthy relationship. So, if Baldoni was the one Lively had to fight, he may have had a point.
In his own interview with
Elle, Baldoni admits to tensions on set: “There are all these things that happen every day on set, there’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this. Then at the end of the day, it’s that friction, I believe, that creates the beautiful art,”
Cast member Jenny Slate adds fuel to the fire by dodging questions about Justin Baldoni. Slate told a reporter that it "must be difficult working two jobs" when asked what it was like working with him. When Baldoni was asked about Lively, he claimed it "seems like she's ready to direct."
There's been nothing but shade, and apparently, the movie isn't even that great. What I think everyone can agree on is this press tour needs to end.
Blake Lively has managed to pull off the impossible. It used to be rare for a television star to make the crossover to movie stardom. From George Clooney to Will Smith, few actors in the 90s pulled off that feat. And while it’s a bit more common now, only a select group have soared from teen drama to A-List status.
In recent years, we can point to stars like
Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, and Charles Melton as proof that there’s life beyond the soapy high school drama. But let’s be honest: they’d be nothing and nowhere without the original cast of Gossip Girl.
The 2000s drama was ahead of the curve. Shows like
Succession and White Lotus have taken up its mantle by commenting on the lives of the elite from the inside but those prep school kids blazed the trail. And leading the pack, forever changing what we think of Grand Central Station, is Blake Lively.
Decades later, she’s still on top. She’s a beloved A-Lister with an enviable marriage, an even more enviable friend group (Taylor, if you’re looking for more besties look no further), and a thriving career.
But how did she go from preppy headbands to Hollywood royalty? And, even more recently, why does her career feel like it’s always on an insane upward trajectory? Especially when, if we have to admit it, she’s not the
greatest actress around. Likability and beauty can get you far — but Blake’s career is astounding. Is she really all that or is she just... really pretty?
Blake Lively's Rise to Fame
Before she was Blake Lively: Hollywood Icon™, she was still the coolest girl on our screens. Her role in
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was pivotal for millennials everywhere. Alongside America Ferrera (Hey Barbie!), Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel, this ultimate girl gang rivaled her current Swift squad. We all wanted to be them. We all wanted to wear her pants.
She retained that mantle of being unattainably cool in her pivotal role:
Gossip Girl.
As Serena van der Woodsen, Lively became the ultimate It Girl. Just like her character, she was the epitome of elite 2000s girlhood. She was like Paris and Nicole with an old-money sophistication. She was all bandage dresses and blowouts both on screen and off. Who didn’t try to recreate at least one of Serena's outfits — and with disastrous results! — in the show’s heyday?
Post
Gossip Girl, Blake faced the stingy choices available to young female stars once their adolescent drama rolled its final credits. For women, the desire to grow up in the public’s eyes leads to a string of sexualized roles. Or, the need to branch out manifests in less-than-successful career pivots — sorry to Leighton Meester’s one song.
While Blake didn’t go any of these routes, she didn’t make the splash she yearned for, either. She did a string of subpar movies that are not worth the watch. She starred as a perpetually beautiful woman who didn’t age in
The Age of Adaline — kind of a reverse Benjamin Button except her biggest problem was staying hot forever. Then she starred in the clunky, Gone Girl-esque thriller A Simple Favor alongside Anna Kendrick. Though critics panned it for its nonsensical plot, confusing characters, and flat acting, it found cult fans on streaming and is even an iconic role for many fans — even recently announcing a sequel (we’ll get to that).
She also had forgettable roles as the hot love interest in films like
The Town, a cult Boston crime film for which she put on an okay Boston accent, and Savages, a movie recently revived by Netflix.
As her most notable works post
Gossip Girl, this isn’t the most robust resume. Yet Blake has retained A-List status. I wouldn’t call her an It-Girl, she’s not out partying or having abrat summer, but every time she steps out, she makes headlines. At this point, she’s known as much for her idyllic marriage with Ryan Reynolds and her friendship with Taylor Swift. Her daughter even has a feature in Taylor Swift’s “Gorgeous” — probably a bigger career credit than anything Blake has appeared in since Gossip Girl.
Meanwhile, many of her
Gossip Girl castmates have found success beyond the series. Penn Badgley stars as the creepy serial killer Joe in Netflix’s You. As one of the streamer’s biggest shows, Penn has been catapulted back into the hearts of audiences everywhere — even if his character isn’t the typical heartthrob. Chace Crawford is subverting his pretty-boy looks in The Boys on Amazon, another smash hit series. His character, The Deep, is disturbed and dumb, and played with a brilliant blend of criticism and compassion by Crawford, who doesn’t merely rely on his looks … though he definitely could.
Not to mention her
Sisterhood co-star America Ferrera starring in Barbie, the hottest movie of last summer, and being nominated for an Academy Award. Not her first award buzz, never forget Ferrera’s Emmy-nominated turn as Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty, one of the most addictive shows of the 2000s.
With everyone else in her orbit going on to transcend their roots and prove their actual talent, why hasn’t Blake done the same? And however has she managed to stay the most relevant? So the question is: Is she actually a solid actress, or are we all just distracted by how outrageously gorgeous she is? It's like when your crush says something and you laugh even though it wasn't funny. Are we all just crushing on Blake Lively?
Blake Lively Is The Queen of the Met Gala: Why did she skip Met 2024?
Testament to her enduring A-List status, Lively is one of the people’s favorites at The Met Gala, which she generally attends with her husband year after year. As one of the biggest and most exclusive annual events on the planet, only a handful of celebrities are invited to the Met steps each and every year. Blake is one of the lucky few.
Usually, the invite list is determined by who was most relevant that year. Whose press tour dominated culture and fashion headlines? What musicians were everywhere? Who were the industry It-Girls? Lively hasn’t fit that bill since the 2010s, yet there she is, smiling on the Met Steps each and every year.
It makes some sense when you consider how viral Lively’s looks go every year. She’s an easy muse — so designers never miss when dressing her. Therefore her absence at the
2024 Met Gala was remarkable. Many were hoping she’d revive the success of her most memorable gown from the Heavenly Bodies exhibit. But alas, nothing. Some speculated a falling out with Anna. Others, another pregnancy. Or was Blake finally just … uninvited?
Turns out, she was just busy being a mom and working on her various projects. I’ll admit, I was skeptical when I heard this. What projects? Lively’s biggest projects are The Met and
Kansas Chief’s games. Sometimes I think she’s as much of a nepo bestie as Travis Kelce is a nepo boyfriend. But I recently ate my words. Blake Lively has a stacked Q2 — proving we too can finish the year strong even if we were lagging in the first half.
Blake's Been Busy: Everything Blake Lively has been up to in 2024
So what are all these projects Lively is so busy with? Surprisingly, a slate of blockbuster films and a brand new business. She’s already embarked upon various press tours, which is why she’s everywhere right now.
Her most prominent, and controversial, venture for the year: starring in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s blockbuster
It Ends With Us. This BookTok favorite is divisive to say the least. While Colleen Hoover’s genre of easy-to-read romantic fiction went viral, the literati aren’t a fan. The main point of contention: the writing is stinko. But to each their own. And on this particular book, Hoover’s critics are accusing of profiting from abuse and trauma because the film romanticizes an abusive relationship.
Yet, the power of BookTok compelled the studios to adapt this novel into a big budget movie starring Lively alongside Justin Baldwin, known for
Jane The Virgin. For a minute, thanks to last year’s succession of strikes, it looked as though the movie might be scrapped. Call it Lively’s luck, but production continued against all odds and here we are: moments away from its big premiere.
Watch the Trailer for It Ends With Us here:
But that’s not the only press tour Blake is on. She joined her husband Ryan Reynolds on the press tour for
Deadpool and Wolverine, even upstaging Reynolds and his co-star Hugh Jackman with her look for the final premiere.
Alongside Gigi Hadid, she appeared on the red carpet at
Lady Deadpool. Little did we know, this was a hint of things to come. In case you forgot (I definitely did) Lively had a brief role as Lady Deadpool in the canonically awful Green Lantern films. She kind of reprised the role as the voice of Lady Deadpool in this new movie — just one of many cameos and Easter eggs in Marvel’s latest bloated action flick.
When not campaigning for wife-of-the-year, bestie of the year, or promoting
It Ends With Us, she’s been filming the much-awaited sequel to A Simple Favor. She and Anna Kendrick have reprised their roles: mysterious Hot Mom (Lively, obviously) and Bored Mommy Blogger (Kendrick in an abundance of floral sundresses and wedges).
This sequel comes so long after the original because, despite the initial bad reviews, it found another life on streaming platforms. So, get ready to comfort-watch or hate-watch when it comes out — I'll be doing both.
But Blake isn’t only trying to pump some much needed life back into her acting career. She’s enetered her Business Mogul Era. She’s already founded the brands Betty Buzz and Betty Booze and now she’s branching into beauty. Known for her scorching flowing locks, why
wouldn’t she make a haircare brand?
The collection is called Blake Brown Beauty after her maiden name — which Reynolds joked he only just found out. Priced at $25 and under, Blake Brown Beauty is launching exclusively in Target to corner the affordable haircare market. The line consists of shampoos, masks and styling product. If there's one thing the world needs more of, it's celebrity beauty brands, right?
Promising to give the world that Blake Lively shine, the brand is a departure form many DTC celebrity beauty ventures, such as Cecred by Beyonce, Rate Beauty by Selena Gomez, or Hailey Bieber’s rhode. Instead, Blake is doing what she does best: going for mass appeal. It’s worked so far, might as well bet the house (or the hair) on it. But let's be real, unless her shampoos come with a personal stylist and a Hollywood paycheck, we might just be setting ourselves up for disappointment.
This approach is similar to another celebrity whose success Blake takes major cues from: Jennifer Aniston. Before there was Serena, there was Rachel. From inspiring trends to becoming the people’s princess, Aniston and Lively have a lot in common. Namely that they’ve built gigantic careers on an average amount of talent. Pretty privilege is really kind to some.
Now, I’m no hater. I love looking at beautiful people as much as the next person. But as we brace ourselves for a Blake resurgence, someone
has to say it: she’s prettier than she is talented.
The truth is, Blake Lively, like Jennifer Aniston, has found her niche. She's good at being likable, at being the girl next door (if the girl next door lived in a mansion and was married to Deadpool). And in Hollywood, that's a skill in itself.
So, is Blake Lively overrated? Maybe. Is she the second coming of Meryl Streep? Probably not. But is she good at what she does? Absolutely.
At the end of the day, Blake Lively is like that really pretty, really nice girl from high school who you want to hate but simply can't. She's not changing the world, but she's not trying to. She's just out here, living her best life, making us all wish we could pull off headbands and making Ryan Reynolds Instagram posts slightly more tolerable.
So here's to you, Blake Lively. You may not be perfect, you may not be revolutionary, but damn it, you're doing your thing. And sometimes, that's enough.
So while I won’t be tuning into her latest slate of films or buying her beauty brand, I’ll be enjoying her press tour simply for the opportunity to decide which of her looks hit, and which of them miss.
I remember exactly where I was when I first watched it: the trailer for Challengers starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor. That was my Super Bowl. It had everything: besties, bisexuality, and Zendaya in that Blonde bob.
I had waited months to finally get a glimpse of Zendaya's collaboration with Luca Guadagnino. Ever since the film had been announced, we'd savored clips of Zendaya practicing her tennis game, Tomdaya strolling around Boston on location, and even her judgemental looks (and flawless courtside fashion) at Wimbledon and the US Open.
And just when we were on the precipice of a legendary press tour — that was supposed to include a stop at the Venice International Film Festival — it was taken away from us by the SAG strike.
Challengers was originally slated to premiere on September 15, 2023. Due to the strike, it was pushed back to April 26th, 2024. You can understand my devastation. Especially since Challengers was not the only casualty of the strike. Many films were pushed from late 2023 release dates and into 2024. Luckily, we had some bangers to close out the year. But we have been so brave and, in the new year, we are about to be rewarded.
2024 promises a slew of highly anticipated films. And not just delayed projects, but other cinematic delights that we've been waiting years for. And with the press circuit back and better than ever, we also have promotional interviews, red carpets, and more to look forward to. After Barbie put on a marketing masterclass, next year promises to take it up a notch. And I, quite frankly, cannot wait.
Here are some of our most anticipated titles in 2024:
Challengers, April 26
It goes without saying that I'll be first in line when tickets are finally released. Join me to watch Zendaya play a retired tennis star in the middle of a years-long love triangle. All directed by the man who made Call Me By Your Name.
Dune: Part II, March 15
Speaking of delayed Zendaya projects, Dune's long-awaited sequel is finally coming. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya will be joined by Austin Butler and Florence Pugh — which is enough for me.
Argylle, February 2
If you can't wait until the Spring, don't worry, Argylle will be out in February. It promises to be a hilarious take on the spy genre that subverts all the old tropes and cliches. It stars Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill. We're in for a delightfully ridiculous treat.
The Fall Guy, May 3
Another comedic action film, The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt man who becomes the hero of the screen when he has to save his ex, Emily Blunt. If you liked Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City, you'll love this.
Spaceman, March 1
Based on the book Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař, Adam Sandler is returning to dramatic roles with a movie that promises to be his next Uncut Gems or Punch Drunk Love. He stars alongside Paul Dano, Carey Mulligan, and Kunal Nayyar stars as an astronaut whose life unravels while he is on a mission.
Mean Girls: The Musical, January 12
While this might not be as giant as Barbie, this musical remake of the 2000s classic is already a hit. Starring Renee Rapp as Regina George, a role she has been playing on Broadway for years, I can't wait to relive all the iconic Mean Girls moments on the big screen.
The American Society of Magical Negroes, March 22
Black satire is back in a big way. After the success of 2023's American Fiction, I am excited to see another film that examines Black representation in pop culture. This satire stars Justice Smith as a man who enters a secret society of Black people who embody the "magical negro" trope.
Bob Marley: One Love, February 14
Biopics can be hit or miss, so fingers crossed that Kingsley Ben-Adir's turn as Jamaican singer and songwriter Bob Marley hits the right notes. Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film spotlights his life and career, including his political activism and fight for peace.
Mickey 17, March 29
One thing about me? I love an unsettling film — hence my devotion to Saltburn. Bong Joon-ho's first movie after Parasite, Mickey 17, promises to fit the bill. It stars A-List weirdo Robert Pattinson in an adapted tale about a man who dies and is reborn with memories of his past life.
Deadpool 3, July 26
Deadpool 3 might be the last good Marvel movie we get because it's looking pretty bleak for the next generation. Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds team up for this tale of Deadpool and Wolverine. The summer blockbuster we deserve.
Kraven: The Hunter, August 30
Hear me out: Aaron Taylor Johnson. Marvel is trying their best to replicate the success of Joker with their own villain origin story. Kraven is a Spiderman villain but, more than that, I would like to reiterate: Aaron Taylor Johnson.
Joker: Folie à Deux, October 4
Following the Oscar-winning success of the first Joker , DC is hoping this sequel will save them from the despair of 2023's The Flash. More than anything else, I'm curious to see Lady Gaga join Joaquin Phoenix as Harley Quinn.
Wicked, November 27
While movie-musicals have a spotty history (think: Cats and Les Mis), Wicked is so iconic I want to believe in it. It stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. The cast has already made headlines for Slater's relationship with Grande — it's giving Don't Worry Darling presstour-levels of chaos already.
Gladiator 2, November 22
Will 2024 make me an action movie stan? If Paul Mescal has anything to do with it, it's more likely than you think. Gladiator, the 2000 film starring Russell Crowe, spawned a generation of men thinking about the Roman Empire. Ridley Scott returns with this long-awaited sequel to hope he can strike lightning twice.
Apparently it’s #NationalNudeDay. The best way to celebrate? With … Peloton?!?
Everyone’s favorite exercise bike brand has done it again: gone viral. While their first viral video broke the internet unintentionally, in its aftermath, they’ve since capitalized on the hilarity of it and become master marketers.
Don’t recall the OG viral Peloton commercial? The premise was simple: give your loved one a Peloton, aka “The Gift That Gives Back.” In it, a husband gifts his wife a Peloton, and she tries it out for size. But for some reason, the internet interpreted her facial expression as a cry for help.
So, the “Peloton Wife” went viral. So viral that Ryan Reynolds made a parody ad for his own company featuring — you guessed it — the same actress from the original commercial. Brilliant!
And so a new era of Peloton was born. A self-aware, semi-absurdist era that I’m totally into … even if I don’t always understand it. Sure, the bikes are of excellent quality. Yes, the instructors are iconic. And, obviously, they got a serious popularity boost during the pandemic — and it was deserved. But nothing makes me want a Peloton more than their latest series of ads that expertly blend hilarity and hotness.
Enter: the sensational Maximum EffortPeloton commercial featuring Christopher Meloni — known for his role in Law & Order: SVU and his self-proclaimed “big cakes.” (This is a real thing he said. I swear. It’s on Elon Musk’s Twitter forever.)
This strange new ad is already living in my mind rent-free. Sure, Sexy Stabler content never fails to get the internet riled up (see: the pictures that prompted the “big cakes” tweet). But I have to wonder what went on in that casting room.
I imagine the Peloton board — cycling on Peloton, all wearing suits, because in my head that’s how they conduct business — dreaming up this concept and putting it into action as no one other corpo entity could.
I’ve barely recovered from their Mr. Big commercial. At least that was timed to the And Just Like That release date. This? No thoughts. Simply Chris Meloni naked for Peloton.
I just want to know how they find these men. And what they want from us — Peloton, please! Explain yourselves! Perhaps their next venture will be a dating app. I’d swipe right.
Who are the 2022 Met Gala hosts? What is the Met Gala theme? Who will be Best Dressed at the 2022 Met Gala? And all the questions we need answered before the first Monday in May
Each day we get closer and closer to the most momentous, most glamorous Monday of the year: The Met Gala.
For the first time since 2019, the first Monday in May will mark fashion’s most spectacular event once again. With 2020 being canceled outright and the 2021 event postponed to September, this sensational evening is finally back and bigger than ever.
Bring me Rihanna in elaborate ball gowns with giant skirts, bring me Zendaya floating up the stairs — and Jason Derulo tumbling down them — bring me Harry Styles (with Olivia Wilde, please-please?) looking ethereal, Billy Porter transported in by shirtless models, and Lil Nas X strutting about in metallic armor or dripping diamonds.
After the stunning displays of sartorial experimentation at the 2022 Oscars (Read our Best Dressed list here!), I can’t wait for this year’s (hopefully redemptive) Ball.
The 2022 met gala theme is a continuation of last year, culminating in a two-year exhibition. 2021 was In America: A Lexicon in Fashion, and In America: An Anthology Of Fashion premieres on May 2nd, 2022 — a regularly scheduled Gala. Although the theme was decided years ago by Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute feels timely as the country reckons with its very identity.
This year’s event also celebrates the Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary. According to Bolton, the night pays homage to the American fashion community “to acknowledge its support, and also to celebrate and reflect upon American fashion.”
Compared to more established houses in Europe, American fashion has been an underdog in fashion‘s Western landscape. While American designers have often helmed major European powerhouses — such as Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton — American brands find it more difficult to gain the same pedigree.
While fashion can be exclusionary in many ways, often the best parts of American fashion reflect the best parts of American culture.
In Highsnobiety’s recent tell-all interview, “Read This Before You Decide to Work in Fashion,” which is a cutting insider’s take on the fashion industry, Eugene Rabkin highlights the most redeemable part of the industry. He describes this as: “the aspirational class — the immigrants, the expats, the minorities, the restless souls with the kind of passion that often comes from desperation and the desire to make something out of nothing.”
This year’s Costume Institute Exhibit endorsed designers’ concoctions that represent marginalized communities and use fashion as a tool for creativity and storytelling, rather than as a marker of status.
Many visionary designers will grace the red carpet at the Met Gala for their pioneering work. However, last year’s disappointing showing at the Met Gala makes us wary of what this year will bring.
Despite the opportunity for unique, refreshing fashion showings at the 2021 gala, we ended up with boring tat, prom-like gowns, and garish ensembles. Current maximalist trends were at odds with the classic silhouettes which inspired the event’s motif. Lackluster wares made for mighty a weak statement on American Fashion.
In fact, most of the looks made us cringe.
Controversial guests like Addison Rae and Madison Beer proved the skeptics correct by pulling up in ill-fitting prom dresses. Some of the more statement outfits fell so flat they were hard to look at. I mean … I can barely believe Ciara wore a neon green, sequined cutout dress. And let’s not forget that it was emblazoned with a jersey number and she accessorized with a football — Kaepernick is taking a knee somewhere.
Even the highly anticipated guest list of the night was controversial. The elephant in the room: Timothee Chalamet wore converse. And sweatpants? The outfit was confusing and the juxtaposition was debatably successful — but his charm carried it.
This year, however, the theme is similar but it’s thankfully not a repeat.
“Gilded Glamor” is a more traumatic view of American fashion. Thematically taking cues from the Gilded Age of oil money, railroads, and big skirts with big hair. This year’s chairs are Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Regina King. Perhaps this overtly dramatic affair will inspire gowns with trains as long as the carpet, wigs so heavy you worry for the wearers’ necks, and fashion that reflects the theatre of our times.
As usual, I’ll be in sweatpants watching from my couch, critiquing thousand-dollar dresses and ensembles that took days to assemble.
But even if I’m merely watching from the comfort of my sofa, the Met Gala, which takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inevitably inspires my summer fashion year after year. I love daring to dress up. And feel like I’ve been granted implicit permission from the Met Gala. to express myself through audacious and dramatic clothing choices.
One of my most recent places for some fabulous inspiration has been Vivaia. It’s my go-to place for my clothing and accessory needs. After all, no matter the cost of your outfit, the accessories can make or break it.
If I learned anything from the 2021 Met Gala is that details matter. Every piece of an outfit is important, from your statement pieces to your jewelry or footwear. And good shoes and accessories can run you a pretty penny. But they don’t have to. Vivaia has high-quality products that check all the boxes: affordability, style, and sustainability.
Vivaia's core mission is to create stylish, sustainable footwear that is eco-friendly and responsible. They have carved out a line of luxurious and fashion-forward footwear with exceptional quality at a fair price. They expanded into accessories to broaden the scope of their mission, and now they’re my favorite place to shop.
While thrifting for second-hand or eco-friendly clothing is getting easier, I found that there are few brands that feature sustainable accessories or stylish shoes. Vivaia is changing that landscape and changing the world.
This year, I hope to see a similar focus on sustainability in the fashion world at large. One sustainable, Vivaia-clad step at a time. We can only hope.
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend the world premiere of "A Simple Favor" at The Museum of Modern Art, in New York
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Warning: This article contains graphic depictions and descriptions of the horrors of chattel slavery in America.
Planning a wedding is among the most stressful things you can do.
Basically everyone you know will be there, judging your choices of clothing, hair, decor, food, music...napkin rings. Okay, so maybe most wedding guests aren't actually scathing critics looking for your every misstep, but for a day that's supposed to be one of the happiest in your life, there's a hell of a lot of pressure to get things right.
Now imagine that you found the perfect venue—charming and rustic, with beautiful views, and plenty of room for all your guests. Does it even matter what that venue is called? What difference does it make if that perfect spot is called Stinkpile Manor, or Festering Wound Estate, or Boone Hall Plantation…
That's where Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively got married in September of 2012, a choice which Reynolds now calls "a giant ****ing mistake." At the time the Gossip Girl star and the once-and-future Deadpool were praised for Lively's beautiful designer dress and for the decadent dessert spread at the intimate event.
At the time, there wasn't much of a cultural conversation on the legacy of chattel slavery in America. Not to say that everyone loved the disturbing practice of memorializing confederate "heroes" with statues and military bases throughout the American south, but there weren't groups of people tearing them down.
The answer is that, like a lot of white Americans (technically Reynolds is Canadian), they clearly didn't, but they have since recognized that it's a problem. In his recent interview with Fast Company, Reynolds said that their choice of wedding venue is "something we'll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for."
So what's the big deal? It's a nice old building. What does its ancient history have to do with today? So it operated for centuries as a prison and work camp for upwards of 85 enslaved people who were treated as livestock in a system of dehumanizing oppression that regularly incorporated horrific mutilation and torture and was never fully dismantled—living on in sharecropping, mandated segregation, and (to this day) prison labor.
What does that have to do with now? Are you saying that you wouldn't hold your family reunion at, for instance, Auschwitz?
Many Americans who were raised to romanticize life in the antebellum south don't seem to realize is that the evil of slavery in America easily matches every horror of the holocaust. That's not the sense you'll get from movies like Gone With the Wind and Song of the South, or even from history textbooks that try to reframe the Confederacy's motivation for seceding as anything other than a devotion to the institution of slavery—but it's the truth.
The fact that plantation houses have a pleasant, domestic architecture—rather than the cold industry of the Nazi death camps—only speaks to the vast division between those who lived there by choice, in comfort, and those who were kept there as property.
If you can look at an old southern plantation and imagine sipping a mint julep on the porch, that's probably because you can't quite imagine being born into a life of inhuman deprivation and servitude—learning from a young age that you can be torn from your family at the whims of those genteel, julep-sipping owners.
The Toxic Nostalgia of Plantations
In recent years many historic plantations that operate as tourist attractions—including Boone Hall and the former estates of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington—have made an effort to expose that dual reality to their visitors. And those efforts have been widely met by irritation and resentment of white visitors who wanted to fantasize about an era of simple luxuries without recognizing the industry of misery that funded that lifestyle.
The fact is that the labor that funded and maintained Boone Hall's picturesque avenue of oaks was kept there by a system designed to terrorize enslaved Black people—to make them too scared to run for freedom. And when those people were freed they were given nothing of the wealth they had helped to produce—though some plantation owners were paid for the loss of "property."
The Reconstruction Era—which could have been a time for America to reckon with past evils and begin to recognize Black Americans as worthy of equality—was sadly overseen by President Andrew Johnson following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson saw to it that gains made by Black Americans were minimal and that Southern states could begin the process of rewriting history with a nostalgic glow.
And the plantation, in all its romantic glow, is the enduring symbol of that nostalgia. It can't function as just a nice place to get married if it's also going to serve as an important reminder of one of history's greatest tragedies. You can't book Auschwitz for that family reunion.
Reynolds' Apology
Thankfully, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively—whether you accept their apology or not—seem to understand that problem. As Reynolds put it, "It's impossible to reconcile. What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy ... A giant ****ing mistake like that can either cause you to shut down or it can reframe things and move you into action. It doesn't mean you won't **** up again. But repatterning and challenging lifelong social conditioning is a job that doesn't end."
That lesson is particularly important to keep in mind when that work of repatterning and challenging falls on an entire culture. It's work that we're just starting to do as a nation. We need to face our history before we can move on.
That means maintaining historic plantations as memorials to our nation's greatest crimes. That means don't have your wedding at a plantation—and if you already did, consider apologizing (to your guests, to social media, to the world) for contributing to that toxic plantation nostalgia.
As for Reynolds and Lively, they had a separate wedding ceremony at home after the fact, which hopefully allowed them to form some happy memories of their union without the taint of America's dark history.
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