Despite our initial doubts, Karl Lagerfeld chose well when he selected the Gossip Girl actress to front his handbag line. Miss Lively, remarkably, manages to convey the facial expression she so obviously lacks onscreen. The stunning blonde in the photos is no longer Blake Lively, but a real-life Serena van der Woodsen - beautiful, mysterious, and untouchable. There's an unmistakable undertone of loneliness and melancholy in the empty doors, silvery lighting, and shadowy mirrors. Lagerfeld doesn't show us the fireworks and champagne, but the party girl when the lights are off and the festivities are over. Yet even when stripped of the bright, hard glitter, Lively is nothing if not polished and pristine. There's nothing worn or rough about her perfectly tousled tresses or artfully smoky eyes. Its perfect tragedy only heightens its ethereal pulchritude; there's something exquisitely painful about sadness manifested in beauty, and Lagerfeld captures that to a tee. Forget about Freja and Heidi; this is easily his best campaign to date.