Blake Lively 'Preserve' Celebrates Slavery? Ryan Reynolds' Wife Features Southern Antebellum Themed Spread On Lifestyle Site, Held Wedding On Slave Plantation
It seems that Blake Lively is either ignorant of American history or just extremely racially insensitive. On her lifestyle site, Preserve, the actress featured a fashion spread titled “Allure Of The Antebellum,” celebrating the aesthetics and sensibilities of ladies in the pre-Civil War South. Lively has a poor track record when it comes to this topic – she married Ryan Reynolds at Boone Hall, a Charleston, South Carolina plantation. Not surprisingly, she is now facing some serious backlash.
The spread in question features a blonde model standing on the porch of what looks like an old southern mansion, posing in a series of hats, coats and A-line skirts. It includes a written description of the inspiration that begins, “Georgia peaches, sweet tea, and the enticement of a smooth twang…we all love a bit of Southern charm.” It continues, “These regional mainstays, along with an innate sense of social poise, evoke an unparalleled warmth and authenticity in style and tradition.”
In a highly revisionist recounting of history, the description explains, “The term ‘Southern Belle’ cam to fruition during the Antebellum period (prior to the civil war), acknowledging women with an inherent social distinction who set the standards for style and appearance. These women epitomized Southern hospitality with a cultivation of beauty and grace, but even more with a captivating and magnetic sensibility.”
As could have been predicted if anyone one Lively’s team had any foresight, the spread has not been well received. Headlines have included, “Blake Lively’s Fall Fashion Inspiration Is Slaveowners,” by Gawker, and “Blake Lively Wants To Return To a Time of Cute Hats and Slavery,” by Vox. It is unclear where the Los Angeles native star’s romanticized notions of the 19th Century American South came from, but going forward, she might want to keep them to herself.