At the 13th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 2, 2024, Blake Lively paired a crystal-covered Tamara Ralph mini dress and sweeping orange cape with pink Christian Louboutin Emilie sandals.
The shoes were an unexpected choice for the orange-heavy look. Rather than grounding the outfit with gold or neutral heels, Lively continued its saturated color palette with dusty-pink suede slingbacks covered in rhinestone crystals. The combination also reflected her long-running relationship with Christian Louboutin, whose red-soled heels have been a recurring part of her red-carpet wardrobe.
Lively had taken a very different approach at the CFDA Awards, where she wore an all-white ensemble, underscoring how frequently her footwear choices shift with the proportions, color, and mood of each look.
Blake Lively pairs a crystal-encrusted Tamara Ralph mini dress and sweeping orange cape with pink Christian Louboutin Emilie sandals at the 2024 LACMA Art + Film Gala (Credit: MediaPunch / INSTARimages)
Diamond Chainmail and a Dramatic Tamara Ralph Cape
Lively’s ensemble combined metallic shimmer with exaggerated proportions, pairing a fitted mini dress with a voluminous floor-length cape.
She wore a handcrafted diamond-chainmail mini dress from Australian designer Tamara Ralph’s Fall 2023 Couture collection. The geometric lattice was embellished with rose gold, pink, and topaz crystals, allowing glimpses of skin between the reflective diamond-shaped pieces.
Tamara Ralph previously served as creative director and co-founder of Ralph Russo until its collapse in early 2021. The couture house was also responsible for Meghan Markle’s engagement portrait dress.
Blake Lively wears a Tamara Ralph Fall 2023 Couture diamond-chainmail mini dress embellished with rose gold, pink, and topaz crystals (Credit: Abaca Press / INSTARimages)
The fitted silhouette was balanced by a topaz silk-taffeta opera cape coat draped over her shoulders. Its oversized sleeves and floor-sweeping train introduced volume and coverage while contrasting sharply with the body-conscious mini dress underneath.
That contrast between the small, shimmering dress and the oversized cape was central to the look. It also created a strong color story for Lively’s footwear, with the pink Louboutin sandals picking up the rose-gold and pink tones scattered across the chainmail.
Blake Lively contrasts her fitted crystal mini dress with a voluminous topaz silk-taffeta cape featuring oversized sleeves and a floor-length train (Credit: MediaPunch / INSTARimages)
Minimal Lorraine Schwartz Jewelry Keeps the Focus on the Dress
With the dress, cape, and crystal-covered shoes already providing plenty of sparkle, Lively kept her jewelry comparatively restrained.
She wore diamond-encrusted rose-gold hoop earrings, small stud earrings, and several rings by American jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz, leaving her neckline bare rather than adding another statement piece.
Her beauty look followed the same approach. She wore pink-toned eyeshadow and lipstick, while her blonde hair was styled in loose, side-parted waves.
Blake Lively complements the crystal-heavy ensemble with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry, pink-toned makeup, and loose side-parted waves (Credit: Abaca Press / INSTARimages)
Why Blake Lively Chose Pink Christian Louboutin Emilie Sandals
Instead of matching the topaz cape with metallic or neutral footwear, Lively wore pink Christian Louboutin Emilie sandals, extending the rose, pink, and orange tones already running through the outfit.
View this post on Instagram
The Emilie is a delicate evening sandal built around slim slingback straps and crisscrossing bands across the foot. Lively’s pair was rendered in soft dusty-pink suede and decorated with micro-rhinestones, giving the straps enough sparkle to echo the crystal lattice of her Tamara Ralph dress without visually competing with it.
The sandals also feature open almond-shaped toes and high stiletto heels, adding height while keeping the construction visually light against the much heavier proportions of the cape. On Lively’s tall frame, the slim heel further emphasized the long vertical line created by the mini dress and floor-length outerwear.
Blake Lively’s pink suede Christian Louboutin Emilie sandals feature crystal-embellished straps, slingback construction, open toes, and slender stiletto heels (Credit: Abaca Press / INSTARimages)
Christian Louboutin’s Red Soles and Blake Lively’s Long History With the Designer
Christian Louboutin founded his namesake footwear label in Paris in 1991, and the French designer’s sharply shaped heels and lacquered red soles became among the most recognizable signatures in luxury footwear.
The red sole originated in 1993 while Louboutin was developing a shoe inspired by Andy Warhol’s “Flowers.” Dissatisfied with the prototype, he used red nail polish to cover the black outsole, creating the contrast that would become the brand’s defining visual signature.
For Blake Lively, however, Louboutin has been much more than an occasional red-carpet shoe choice. She has worn the designer for well over a decade, moving between classic pumps, barely-there sandals, embellished heels, boots, and even menswear-inspired styles depending on the outfit.
Their connection was already evident in 2011, when Lively wore Christian Louboutin Salsbourg lace-up sandals during Paris Fashion Week. That same year, Louboutin famously named a strappy sandal “The Blake” after the actress after she admired the design during a visit to his Paris atelier.
By 2016, Louboutin footwear had become a recurring part of Lively’s promotional wardrobe. During The Shallows press tour, she paired a Carolina Herrera dress with Christian Louboutin Jonatina sandals with transparent PVC straps, wore silver Christian Louboutin So Kate pumps, and teamed a navy Monse mini dress with spiked Christian Louboutin Miziggoo sandals.
Her Cannes wardrobe that year offered another variation on the partnership. Lively wore Christian Louboutin So Tango heels with a pale blue Vivienne Westwood gown, demonstrating how the designer’s footwear could work just as easily beneath a romantic ball gown as with the sharper looks she wore in New York.
Lively has continued experimenting with less conventional Louboutin silhouettes as well. In 2018, she paired a dusty-pink Vivienne Westwood pantsuit with Christian Louboutin Crapadonna studded oxfords, swapping the expected stiletto for a menswear-inspired shoe. For the 2024 CFDA Awards, she returned to sparkle with crystal-covered Christian Louboutin Follies Strass pumps beneath an all-white Michael Kors look.
Seen against that history, the pink Emilie sandals at LACMA were less a one-off choice than another variation on one of Lively’s longest-running footwear relationships. Their dusty-pink suede and rhinestone-covered straps picked up the rose-gold and pink crystals in her Tamara Ralph dress, while the narrow silhouette provided a lighter counterpoint to the volume of the topaz cape.