Blake Lively’s Met Gala Look Had A Secret Message For Ryan & Her Kids & Nobody Realized
If you haven't stopped scouring the internet since Monday, May 7, ogling at every detail of every celebrity's extravagant Met Gala look, then I have a treat for you. While you were probably busy peeping the details of Blake Lively's positively stunning Atelier Versace gown, with intricate beading filling the gold bodice and long red train, you might've missed one particularly personal detail hidden on one of her accessories from the night. Yes, Blake Lively's 2018 Met Gala clutch was more than just a handbag for the big event.
Lively's custom clutch, crafted by Hungarian-American designer Judith Leiber, was completely covered in rhinestones. One side of the clutch featured a jewel creation of the shining sacred heart of Jesus, as well as an image of the Virgin Mary, lending itself to the overall theme for the 2018 Met Gala: "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination." However, the other side of Lively's clutch for the night focused less on the night's theme and more on her family.
The bag was essentially adorned with a Reynolds family crest. The name "Reynolds" was emblazoned in rhinestones across the bottom of the clutch, while in the center was a gold cross. At each end of the cross, there was a letter corresponding to the first name of each person in Lively and Reynolds' family: an R for Ryan, a B for Blake, a J for their 3-year-old daughter James, and an I for their 1-year-old daughter Ines.
Lively's clutch only complemented the rest of her look, which featured a red and gold Versace gown that reportedly took 600 hours to make, according to Us Weekly, and a golden halo fixed around her bun. While none of this sounds very attainable to us lay people, one part of Lively's look is actually something I could purchase and do myself.
Celebrity manicurist Elle (@enamelle on Instagram) crafted custom-designed KISS press-on nails to accompany Lively's overall Met Gala look. Despite the fact that the nails were specially made for Lively — and the fact that Elle's design also featured Swarovski crystals on some of Lively's nails — we, too, can cop an almost identical look... minus the expensive crystals LOL. Available from Kiss.com, CVS, and other drug stores, KISS Gel Fantasy Nails in "Whatever" ($7.99, kissusa.com) or imPRESS Special FX Holographic Gel Nails ($7.99, kissusa.com) will give you a chrome look similar to what Lively modeled at the Met.
In terms of how Elle came up with the custom design, it seems the Met Gala's religious theme sparked some ideas. “I wanted to create a regal statement-making nail for Blake, incorporating gothic architecture like you’d see in a church’s traditional stained glass windows,” says Elle. “KISS Products had the design capabilities and the technology to bring my idea to life!”
While I'm a little (read: a lot) disappointed that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds haven't adopted me yet, and thus my initial wasn't featured in rhinestones on her gorgeous clutch, it's refreshing to see how closely Lively holds her family to her heart. She once told E! that, to her, motherhood was "the best" and gushed about how important family is to her. "It's the thing that binds us all—family," she said. "We have very unique jobs for a living, but we all are a part of someone's family. It's a nice thing."
While motherhood is clearly so special to Lively, the actress adores her husband Ryan Reynolds just as much as she does her kids, holding both her relationship and her friendship with him very closely. "I knew he would always be my best friend for my whole life," she told Marie Claire. "That was the biggest thing to me. I'd never known anything like the friendship that I had with him. I could like him as much as I loved him."
It seems like Blake Lively's got a wonderful look going for her — and not just at the Met Gala.
