The Making of a Gossip Girl

This month, Blake Lively—she of the golden tresses and constant adulation—waxes rhapsodic in Vogue about fashion and…the recession? Because Gossip Girl dallies in a “heightened reality,” Lively feels it’s unlikely the writers will incorporate the economic downturn into upcoming plots. (Although to keep up appearances, the show avoids filming “going out of business” signs on Manhattan streets). Lively also talks of being groomed for the part of Serena van der Woodsen—as a child, she frequented boutiques with her former model mother, and went from California style (“sweatpants and Uggs”) to New York chic. “You put on skinny jeans and riding boots and a leather coat and handbag, and you take on that posture and character…It becomes very natural.”