Blake Lively Is Giving Carrie Bradshaw In a Floral Maxidress and Neon Manolo Blahnik Heels

While Blake Lively is known for being a fashion guru both on and off the red carpet (she's self-styled, in case you forgot), her characters have also provided plenty of style inspo over the years, from Serena van der Woodsen's beloved designer wardrobe to Emily Nelson's posh suit collection in A Simple Favor. Now, the star is taking a page out of another fictional character and style icon's book with a floral maxidress and hot pink Manolo Blahnik heels that are both giving major Carrie Bradshaw vibes.

On Monday, the mother-of-four attended the Barnard College's Annual Gala, where she walked the red carpet (her first since welcoming her and husband Ryan Reynold's newest baby) in a multi-colored floral Carolina Herrera dress layered under a Sergio Hudson Barbie-pink trench coat with a mustard lining. Lively finished off the look with matching neon pumps from Bradshaw's go-to shoe designer, Manolo Blahnik, and accessorized the outfit with jewelry from Lorraine Schwartz and Brent Neale. The actress pulled her signature long blonde into a half-up hairstyle with voluminous curls in the back, and she matched her glam to the colorful look with shimmery pink eyeshadow and a fuchsia lip.

During the event, Lively presented an award where she reminisced about the time that she almost went back to college after receiving "zero acting jobs" — that is until Gossip Girl producers offered her a gig. "Two weeks after that, the producers of Gossip Girl called me like an ex-boyfriend and they said, 'Listen, will you please do this show? And if you do, we promise you can go to Columbia one day a week — as long as it doesn't interfere with our seven-day-a-week shooting schedule,'" she joked per E! News. "Who doesn't want to earn a bachelor's degree in 77 years?"

Lively continued, "So needless to say, I think I have to accept that tonight is the closest I'm going to get. So I'm just going to pretend that this is me graduating tonight. So thank you, thank you. I made it."

Lively also commemorated the night with an Instagram in which she posed with Shawn and Serena Levy who have helped throw the college's galas over the years. In the second slide of her post, Lively gave fans a better look at her outfit by standing in front of a piece of art covered in flowers, much like her dress.