Ralph's Lively Front Row

The “Gossip Girl” cast is typically a lot more visible during New York Fashion Week. But this season, the stars have been working too hard at their actual jobs to have much time for the collections. Leighton Meester made only one appearance, at Proenza Schouler on Wednesday, and Blake Lively chose Ralph Lauren’s Friday show as her sole fashion week outing. “We’ve been working 17-hour days,” said Lively. “And I have to go back to work right after this.”

The blonde actress chose to attend the Ralph Lauren show, she said, because she wears his clothes often and “I love layering the pieces. You could wear it 10 years from now and it still looks classic. He dresses for every age.”

Case in point — Laura Dern, who is 20 years Lively’s senior and was seated further down the row. “I wore his stuff at 14 and into my 30s,” said Dern, who has known Lauren since he did the costumes for 1974’s “The Great Gatsby” in which her father, Bruce Dern, appeared as Tom Buchanan.

Meanwhile, David Lauren maneuvered the front row in crutches with one leg in a leg brace. “I stepped off the curb and into a hole and broke my ankle,” he said.