As a public feud seems to brews between Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni , at least one crew member has nothing but praise for Lively: costume designer Eric Daman. When we spoke on the phone last week, days before the messy back-and-forth escalated to such a degree that Baldoni hired a crisis PR team, Daman spoke of his “symbiotic” relationship with the Lively, whom he first met over a decade ago when they worked together on Gossip Girl . “[It’s] a real gift to be able to come back and work with Blake and reconnect,” he said.
“It's been literally a decade...
It was one of those things where you don't see a good friend for many years, but then when you are with them it's like no time has passed.” The prolific costume designer, whose credits include Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries as well as the Gossip Girl reboot, called Lively the ultimate ally in the making of It Ends With Us, the highly-anticipated adaptation of Colleen Hoover 's best-selling novel of the same name. In the film Lively stars as florist Lily Bloom, a woman navigating an abusive relationship with handsome neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).
Lively, who was also an executive producer, not only brought in pieces from her own closet to supplement the costumes department, but she also fought for her and Daman's vision of Lily, which was questioned by Sony after paparazzi photos of Lively on set were met with cruel comments online. “It might've set off a few alarms for the studio,” Daman said, referring to the largely negative discourse. “They were concerned, but Blake and I both stood by what we were doing as far as the design concept.
And Blake could sell anything. You can put a paper bag on her and it just looks fantastic. If she feels good in it, she will sell the shit out of it.
And Blake and I both knew that.” Daman also hinted at some creative differences on set, specifically when it came to Lily's look for the pivotal rooftop scene. “There were rather a lot of outside conversations that didn't understand what we were doing there," Daman said, referring to the soon-to-be iconic Carhartt coveralls.
"But that was the right piece and Blake loved it.” Here, Daman opens up about Lily Bloom's masc-meets-femme style, facing the critics head on, and the Gossip Girl Easter egg some fans may have missed. Glamour : Your relationship with Blake goes all the way back to your days on Gossip Girl .
Is that how you came to work on It Ends With Us ? Eric Daman : Originally it was producer Alex Sachs, who is a big fan of Gossip Girl, who thought it would be a wonderful rematch. I think it was her brainchild, and she talked to Justin [Baldoni] about it and I met with them. And then Blake was ecstatic about it.
What were some of the initial conversations about Lily’s style like? Was there a mood board? In the beginning, we definitely wanted to lean into this idea that Lily paints with every color in her paint box. That, “everything old is new again” idea. We wanted to lean into vintage elements, similar to what she would be doing in the boutique [decor-wise], and just who she was as Lily Bloom.
In the book, she's a little bit quiet, and a little bit more reserved. [But] bringing Blake into it and being able to flesh out who this character is through clothing—it was really wide open, stylistically and inspirationally, for us. We leaned into the vintage vibes, but didn’t want to get into [a style that was] too girly or femme or floral.
It would be very obvious to say, "Oh, it's just dresses. She's very cute. She wears little Anthropologie or Reformation dresses,” and for Lily to be that girl—which, I love that girl, she’s fantastic.
But having conversations with Blake early on...
we have a very symbiotic style relationship, Blake and I; we share similar points of view and inspiration. And we had this idea of bringing in the masc with the femme. We had masculine elements, these workwear elements, with the Carhartts and the men's dungarees and overalls.
They were all vintage and all had a beautiful story to them. We brought them in to give her this kind of masc, protective outer layer and shell. I think that added to this character, considering what she goes through as an abused woman in this relationship.
It also would've been very easy to fall into, "Let's make her this quiet, reserved girl." And I think actually the way Blake played it, is that Lily is so self-possessed and sure of herself and confident. Whereas these outfits are kind of thrown together, masc, femme.
A little bit Noughties Riot Grrrl-inspired. It has this hard edge; you wouldn't expect this type of woman, if you would, to fall into an abusive relationship. And I think it was important to show that this could happen to anyone.
I think there was an important element in the clothing, and of course what Blake brought to the character, that lends itself to that. I thought I caught young Atlas wearing a Carhartt jacket in the early part of the flashbacks. You are correct.
So that was the same jacket that Blake ended up wearing later on, when she was with Ryle? It was adjacent. A very similar vibe. And that was definitely a connection to the past, building in all those flashbacks.
It was really important to feel like she still had this emotional connection to her past. This is what I love about design, to be able to connect emotions through clothing. You notice something like that, a lot of viewers won't, but it'll still register in the back of their mind that, "Okay, there's this connection there.
I don't know why I'm feeling that." Clothing has that power. So yes, there was an element of current-day Lily sort of pulling from who she was as young Lily, and also there's still a part of Atlas that she's carrying with her.
Jumping back to the inspiration a little bit. You mentioned Riot Grrrl. Are there any other specific references? It wasn't as specific.
It was just kind of this amalgam of imagery. The only specific thing was that we wanted to keep it in this very rich, deep, desaturated autumnal palette, which really helped pull it all together. And obviously we were mixing a lot of patterns.
Blake kept saying, "Let's have a chaotic element." And [it was important to] just to feel really self-possessed, and confident in the choices that we were making. They were bold choices, and I think there was a lot of polarized commentary early on about [the clothing] that has since changed, which is awesome.
But it was an amalgam of all different eras. There was a little ‘70s, and there was a little ‘90s, and there was some early 2000s on the board, but it wasn't one specific reference. I think Riot Grrrl came from that sort of thrown together, beat-up street look, where we were using menswear, with boxers and layers and pieces like that.
It was more about the Riot Grrl energy. Yeah, it was really the energy and where we were going with it, which I think not everybody was on board with in the beginning. I actually wanted to ask you about the discourse around some of the paparazzi photos that came out last winter.
Things look so different in paparazzi photos compared to what they look like on set, where you can see everything altogether. What was it like for you and for the cast to be able to see the response to Blake’s wardrobe in real time? I think it's always a little bit shocking. I got really used to [the immediate response] when we were working on the Gossip Girl reboot, and [I get] that reactions will be positive and negative.
But to see people go in so hard on hating it...
[Younger generations] are always like, "We shouldn't hate so much," and they're the first one to point the finger. The looks were polarizing. It might've set off a few alarms for the studio; they were concerned, but Blake and I both stood by what we were doing as far as the design concept.
And Blake could sell anything. You can put a paper bag on her and it just looks fantastic. If she feels good in it, she will sell the shit out of it.
And Blake and I both knew that. We were coming back together for the first time since Gossip Girl . People were going to be looking at it through a different lens also.
I think people were hoping for a bit more Serena, or for her to be like this super femme boho girl. That would've been a very obvious choice, and would've been probably been a bit more of a crowd pleaser early on; [but we were] doing something that felt so much more current. The look feels very fresh, and a little bit more like an actual cool girl vibe.
From what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing on social, it just seems like people are much more into it [than they were]. And again, seeing someone walk from the trailer to the set in paparazzi pics—they're half dressed, you don't see how it's lit. And it's important for people to remember this is all part of storytelling.
And that paparazzi don't always take the friendliest shot, if you know what I mean. Everyone should keep that in mind when they want to tear people down again. So you would say that the criticisms of Blake’s outfits didn't influence your work? They did not.
I think they could have if Blake didn't feel so strongly and so secure in herself and in how much she loved them—because Blake really loved [them]. She's not going to worry. It's Blake Lively.
She's not going to wear something that she's not into, let's be very honest. And she loved all the looks. And she was a big part [of costuming].
We styled looks together, and we worked together in a very cohesive manner. So I think she felt very connected and confident that this is who Lily is. We both kind of stood our ground in that.
I read that the boots Blake wears in the party scene were actually her own? Yes. The YSL crystal boots, yes. Blake's amazing like that.
I've never worked with another actor that could just be like, "I have these amazing YSL crystal boots, and I think it'd be great for the party scene." And then also be like, "And we're going to shoot a tracking shot of me walking in with them." She has the full picture.
She knows. She's really brilliant in that way. What am I going to do? Say, "I don't know about those incredible YSL crystal mesh boots?" Absolutely not.
I'm like, gobsmacked, and the fact that we have access to her amazing closet and that she's willing to share with [the costumes department]—that is fantastic. And gives us very special pieces. It's important for the actor to connect with what they're wearing.
I think it helps them. These are tools that help them create these characters. That's really what I'm there for.
I want [actors] to look amazing, but I've got to take my ego out of it and make sure that they feel seen and heard. And I love that Blake wants to bring in her own pieces, or something from Ryan [Reynolds]' s closet that she feels connected to, and that helps her in the scene to create this character. I think it's awesome.
Was there something of Ryan's that she had? There was at least one. She definitely wore a plaid vest of his in one of the Lily Bloom montages in the store. She also connected us with Gigi Hadid .
They're like besties , which is awesome. We’re sitting in the fitting room and Blake's on the phone with Gigi, so casual. And we were able to borrow a bunch of beautiful pieces from Gigi's line, Guest In Residence .
We got to use quite a lot. So it seems like there are a lot of perks to having Blake on as your principal. I mean, yes.
For sure. She's delightful to be around and just great. The perks plus the personality is just really special.
Is there any piece from the film that was memorable, either because it was difficult to source, or because it was kind of a pivotal piece of clothing? For me, there's two pieces like that. One that is for Blake and then one that is for Jenny Slate 's character, Allyssa. The Blake piece was the Carhartt jumpsuit for the roof scene.
Originally, we were going to shoot that scene where it was summertime, and then we just never really nailed it down before we got to shooting. There were a lot of opinions on what Lily should look like on the rooftop, [because] it's the first time she's meeting Ryle. There were a lot of eyes on what we were doing with that look, specifically.
And Blake and I were going back and forth about it and trying to figure out, is it just a hoodie? What is this look? And then the [SAG-AFTRA] strike happened, so we shut down. And then when we came back, we were going to shoot that scene in the wintertime, so you can't just be in a slinky tank top. There's got to be another element to it.
I'm from Michigan and my dad used to work out in the field in these insulated Carhartt coveralls in the winter. And I was like, "That would be awesome if I could find one that was a beautiful, deeper color, that was from the ‘70s or the ‘80s, and had a real, true vintage, worn quality to them. I went hard on Etsy and eBay.
I call it eBay dumpster diving when you go further than just the first 10 pages of results—when you really go deep on eBay, which is what I did. And I came across this beautiful, almost French blue, late ‘70s, maybe early ‘80s, Carhartt coverall that was just perfectly worn in and stained, and had a gorgeous patina and story to it that was also the right size. This piece just kind of appeared.
It was like the needle in the haystack. I bought it and I took a picture of it for Blake. And she's like, "Oh my God, it's like the ultimate hot girl.
I love it." There were rather a lot of outside conversations that didn't understand what we were doing there. But that was the right piece and Blake loved it and she sold it.
I think that's kind of an iconic moment, because it also sets up this game. Ryle has never seen a woman like this in his life. A woman that's not just going to fall for him and end up in bed with him that same night.
But also a woman sitting on the edge of his rooftop in Carhartt coveralls...
that's pure fire sitting there in red-hot Carhartt coveralls. I think they really added to [the mystery]. We don't know who this woman is.
Ryle’s never encountered this kind of woman before, which makes it that much hotter and more intriguing. And then their game of cat and mouse. I think, in the book, it would've been a game of cat and mouse, but it would've only been Ryle as the cat.
And I feel like [in the film] it goes back and forth. It's always like, "Which one's the cat? Which is the mouse?" And I think the way Blake played all that was fantastic. And Jenny’s look? I knew that the first time we see her, when she arrives at Lily Bloom's flower shop, and it's a little bit of a mess—I really wanted that to feel like that moment in the Wizard of Oz when Glinda the Good Witch descends in her fairy ball.
And that it's just like this sort of ethereal, otherworldly, ultra wealthy, but somehow relatable fairy that shows up to be Lily's best friend and help her out and be supportive and kind. [While working on] the finale for the new Gossip Girl , I was working with Oscar de la Renta on a custom piece for the Met Ball episode. And while I was there they had this coat that was this beautiful botanical forest.
It was just the most beautiful coat I really had ever seen in my life, and I was obsessed with it, and really wanted to use it on Gossip Girl , but I never got to. And then when I was reading the script, I was like, "I think that coat has such a magical, whimsy, but also the lines are so sleek and beautiful that it felt sophisticated at the same time." It was important for Alyssa's character not to become the wacky best friend.
It's not Emily in Paris , which I love Emily in Paris . No shade, but it was important to find a balance there. And that coat felt like that world to me.
It felt like this magical other world, but also a beautiful garment that a very wealthy woman could be walking around in. Then of course, the orange Birkin bag was the perfect pop of color. The Hermès bag is referenced in the script and it was important to find.
And I was all gung-ho. I feel like really wealthy women carry the Kelly Green Kelly bag or the orange Birkin, versus a black or a sad neutral. You're just going to rock the fucking Hermès orange.
Totally. And of course we have a budget we have to respect, which the Birkin Bag didn't really fit into, if you know what I mean. And my assistant costume designer, Jen, was in contact with Fashionphile .
They resell luxury heritage bags. And they were very excited to work with us and lent us the Birkin. Wow, that's amazing.
Also, if I might add, in a note of self-referential inspiration there is a small Blair Waldorf Easter egg living in Allyssa. Allyssa in my mind, would've been a fan of Gossip Girl. She's of the age.
So she would've watched Gossip Girl and she would've been a Blair. Oh my God. She's wearing a headband in that first scene, isn't she? Yep, there you go.
See? Oh my goodness. It's subtle, but then once you hear it, you're like, “Oh.” It was just enough of a nod.
I remember in the opening scene Lily carries a Valentino bag, and my first thought was, “Does she come from money?” The first time we see her she arrives at her mom's and the Valentino tote became her hero bag. And she carries a Fendi bag and she's wearing Louboutins. I remember thinking at that moment, “How can she afford that as a florist?” I think she comes from enough money to understand what that all means, but I also think we leaned into the idea that she's a boss and can take care of herself and can go buy herself a Valentino bag if she wants to.
I was just like, "Should I go become a florist and then I can afford designer bags?" But that makes sense too. I guess she's been at this for a while. Exactly.
I think it was fun to bring in those elements and have the high-fashion luxury pieces also. And it feels correct. Why wouldn't she have a Valentino? I think some lux fashion accessories that kind of show that she's a boss and can afford a Valentino tote if she wants it.
My last question was about young Lily. How did you think about dressing her in relation to her older counterpart? It actually worked out great, because young Lily was cast a little bit later in the scheme of things. We really had Blake's looks solidified, so they could pull back from that and be like, "Who would she have been when she was a kid? And how can we tie them together seamlessly?" Obviously the palette helps a lot.
The fact that she's late '90s, maybe a little early 2000s, and we can lean into this crunchy grunge and [the fact that she's a] gardener, she is mindful, she's kind, she has an earthiness to her, she loves Atlas, and is so helpful with Atlas. And there's a little bit of that Carhartt, again, that Noughties feel, but not quite as elevated or Riot Grrrl as we did with Blake. So it was a direct symbiotic visual, but the grown-up version.
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