FEMME FATALE
Blake Lively is dressed to kill in her new thriller, ‘A Simple Favor’
IN “A Simple Favor,” the stylish new thriller from “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig, Blake Lively plays a martini-swilling two-faced fashionista. And her swaggering pantsuits, couture dresses and femme fatale vibe borrow heavily from Hollywood icons such as Lauren Bacall, Greta Garbo and . . . Feig himself.
“Paul is a total sartorial gem,” the film’s costume designer, Renée Ehrlich Kalfus, tells The Post. “When Blake and I were talking with him about our ideas for her character, I kept looking at his tailored suit, his pocket square, his tie. And I said, ‘That’s it! We’ve gotta dress you like Paul!’ ” “A Simple Favor,” out Friday, tells the story of Emily (Lively), an inscrutable fashion professional who suddenly disappears from her Connecticut town. Her peppy mommy-vlogger neighbor, Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), decides to track her down. Shocking twists — and fabulous fashions — ensue.
Kalfus worked closely with Lively to establish her character’s mysterious hauteur. “Blake felt that Emily needed a brand,” says Kalfus. They agreed that “suits would be the perfect shield for a character with so many secrets.”
As a result, Emily wears a roster of vintage pantsuits by Ralph Lauren, which opened its archive for the film. Head-turners include a cream-colored suit — worn with matching cummerbund, unbuttoned-to-the-navel shirt and deconstructed bow tie, all signaling a louche sexuality — as well as a three-piece navy pinstripe ensemble, worn with a jaunty felt hat.
“I wanted her to look like she’s not at all interested in fitting in with the other parents,” says Kalfus. “And that she doesn’t want to give anything away. She’s enigmatic. All those items sort of protect her.”
Kalfus tailored the outfits to Lively’s body and added loads of
vintage men’s jewelry — stick pins, tie bars and watch chains.
Lively got so into the over-the-top aesthetic that she snagged Feig’s own walking stick to accessorize for a scene.
“She comes down to set and says to Paul, ‘I really want to use the walking stick,’ ” says Kalfus. “And he said, ‘You can’t just walk with a walking stick.’ So he stopped everything to give her a walking-stick lesson.” Emily’s impenetrable gloss stands in stark contrast to Stephanie’s ribbon-trimmed pink sweaters, colorful patterned socks and flirty floral frocks.
To create her twee wardrobe, “I spent a lot of time on Instagram, looking at a lot of mommy bloggers,” says Kalfus. “She’s trying to create a brand that would help her win over followers for her vlog site, so she very intentionally has this cheery DIY component to her costumes.”
From there, Kalfus haunted consignment stores, looking for blouses, A-line denim skirts and sweaters that she could customize with ruffles, embroidered cats and rounded Peter Pan collars. “Everything is just a little cute,” says Kalfus. While Emily uses clothes for drama and obfuscation — particularly in a scene where she plays the perfect housewife — Stephanie’s looks reveal her character’s arc. As she becomes enthralled with Emily’s life, she begins to amp up the polish and sex appeal in her own look. At first, her experiments reek of desperation — like the time she tries to jazz up her basic Banana Republic blazer with a vintage Hermès scarf and fussy pearls, or when she squeezes into one of Emily’s va-va-voom slinky black gowns. But eventually, she lands on a style that merges her quirky aesthetic with high fashion.
“There’s one scene where she’s wearing an Alice + Olivia pompom sweater and a lace skirt, and it’s sort of a transitional piece,” says Kalfus. “It’s a sophisticated version of her DIY aesthetic.”
Kalfus says it was hard to let the costumes go after filming — papartictc ularly the gorgeous archival Ralph Lauren pieces. But she does admit that Feig is relieved to have his cane back.
“He was all nervous about Blake using his walking stick,” says Kalfus. “It was really funny.”
Lively appears to have gotten her own since then: On Friday, she and Feig posed for photos at Lauren’s New York Fashion Week show with coordinating canes.