“Whoever said that money doesn’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop.” – Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an addiction. An obsession. A want. A need. New York Magazine named them the “BEST. SHOW. EVER.”, according to the cover of their April 2008 issue. For those who have been living under rocks, Gossip Girl is both a series of books and television show about wealthy prep schoolers (later college kids) growing up in the Upper East Side, experiencing scandals, surrounding money, sex, drugs, relationships, normal teenage problems, everywhere they go.
I want to be Blair Waldorf. That is my goal in life. Sounds pretty stupid, huh? Blair, also known as Queen B, is a stubborn, brutal but secretly caring, preppy, fashionable character. She looks up to Audrey Hepburn very much and in one episode said that she was Audrey compared to Betty Davis. When staring in front of my mirror every morning I always think “What would Blair wear?” or when I go around shopping I always think “What would Blair say?” Also, all of my sophomore year, I wore Blair’s signature accessory, the headband, every…single…day. I even had a dream about hating NYU because she hates NYU. Isn’t that a little too far? There are so many bookmarks on my computer that helps me figure out Blair Waldorf-esque items to look out for when I go out shopping. Here’s the most recent one: Click here. Luckily for me, the British store, Miss Selfridge, is creating a Gossip Girl collection for the spring and summer 2010 season and is coming out soon in April.
No, not Leighton Meester. Blair Waldorf. I’m honestly not a huge fan of Leighton. Yes she’s pretty and she acts as my favorite character but she’s not Blair. Leighton is trying to be a singer now and I think she’s trying too hard to be out there in the celebrity world. If you watch her video, Somebody to Love, you’ll think she’s slutty. The video is horrible, the song had to grow on me for me to actually like it but regardless, I had to try to like the song. Also, Leighton Meester’s sense of fashion is not at all like Blair’s. Leighton likes more of a distressed look where Blair loves pristine structure in her clothing.
I’ve never read Gossip Girl and I’m told that the Gossip Girl Series are incredibly different from the television show, making me not want to read the books. Plus I wouldn’t think books would be the same. The characters are different. I can actually look at the fashion on my computer screen. And the incredibly good looking actors and actresses on the show. Watch the designer labels run across the screen.
I’ve always been interested in elite, wealthy prep schools ever since I started reading the Private Series by Kate Brian. Although my high school is incredibly different than Constance Billard, the idea of going to a prep school certainly made an impact on my decision to go to a private school. Another hook that drew me into the Gossip Girl world was that the fashion is just incredible. The costume designer, for the most part, actually doesn’t design the characters’ outfits and are bought. The costumes on the shows are usually brand name and a great website I use to find affordable “dups” (duplicates, copies).
Although Gossip Girl has its amazing taste in fashion and allows the obsessed the live vicariously through the characters, many people are against the show. People Magazine reports that America Ferrera, very well known from Ugly Betty and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, says that shows like Gossip Girl are showing women as b*tchy and venomous. Funny thing because America is good friends with Blake Lively (Serena Van der Woosen), both in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. CPE, from eveningsolace.tumblr.com, says that her reasoning for not liking the show is that the plot remains the same throughout the series. She was a big fan of season one but season two is just went downhill. I agree with what she says and yet I’m still obsessed with the show. The drama started for stupid reasons and for some reason, I continued watching. I also realized that the show is even worse now that most of the characters are in college. And yet I’m still watching it.
So I could’ve told you that I’m too obsessed with the show to tell you why I love it. I could lie to you and tell you that I think about it 24/7. But in reality, I don’t think about it 24/7 because my own personal style is very much influenced by the show. I can’t tell you how much my personality has changed from before I watched the show and to now. No I would not like to live a life in scandals (even though that might be fun sometimes). Maybe I’m shallow for loving Blair Waldorf for being the fashionable, headstrong (or b*tchy), wealthy girl that she is and for wanting that life style. Honestly, I don’t think the show is going to keep going after the fourth season, but I know that the show changed some of my personal tastes and I will carry that throughout my life.
XOXO,
Gossip Girl
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