Great Outfits in Fashion History: Leighton Meester in Versus Versace at Fashion's Night Out

A real throwback, in honor of New York Fashion Week.

There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In ‘Great Outfits in Fashion History,’ Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks.

Since it’s technically New York Fashion Week, I thought it would be appropriate to look back on one of the many, many great celebrity looks that the event has brought us over the years.

Of course, the front row has become the hot spot for celeb-spotting — and in recent seasons, there have been no shortage of memorable outfits: Cardi B in Marc Jacobs, Lil Nas X in Tom Ford, Megan Thee Stallion in Coach, Jeff Goldblum in Calvin Klein by Raf Simons… But one sticks out in my mind, from an event that has always fascinated me: Fashion’s Night Out.

The year was 2010. The CW was about to begin airing season 4 of “Gossip Girl,” and its stars were hitting the promo circuit. Naturally, that meant stopping by New York Fashion Week — specifically, Fashion’s Night Out, then in its second year. Leighton Meester attended Fashion’s Night Out: The Show at Lincoln Center on the eve of the event, wearing a strappy-caged mini dress, in a satin-y blue fabric, from Versus Versace’s Fall 2020 collection, designed by Christopher Kane and Donatella Versace.

It stands out to me because it was a noticeable departure from Meester’s red-carpet style from the early days of “Gossip Girl,” which consisted of more classic dress silhouettes (bodycon, A-line dresses, strapless pencil) in neutral or jewel tones. As the show’s popularity grew, she started experimenting more — with cutouts, graphic prints and interesting shapes that felt current with what we were seeing on the runway. And that progression led to this Versus moment.

Plenty has been written about Fashion’s Night Out (and why it no longer exists). But hey, we still have the pictures.