GOSSIP GIRL (2007 - 2012)

 I’m always hesitant to cap TV shows because of the sheer amount of costumes. (Particularly with a show like Gossip Girl which, with the exception of a few menswear pieces, famously avoided using a single article of clothing in more than one scene.) But a number of people have requested it so I decided to take on the show in its dazzlingly over-costumed glory…

…And promptly ran into the same problem I did last year when I tried capping it for the first time [exhibit A], namely that there’s like 80 hours of this shit. So I decided to take a different approach, and focus on the true style icon of the show

BLAIR CORNELIA WALDORF

I compiled all of Blair’s 476 outfits into the graphics below. (That’s right. Four. Hundred. Seventy. Six.)

By the numbers:

Total Costumes: 476

Avg costumes/season: 79.3

Avg costumes/episode: 3.967

# of lingerie sets: 76

# of headbands: 74

# of iconic old Hollywood looks: 7

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Examining Blair's wardrobe in such a macro way revealed a lot of trends that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I was analyzing the show on an individual episode level. Namely, the dominance of the color red (followed closely by black & yellow - I see you taking cues from the coral snake, B).

Other stray observations:

• Blair's clothes tend to be the most colorful in the first few episodes of each season.
• Season 1 as the lightest and most varied in terms of color palette. Season 1 also featured the most headbands (total count: 36)
• Season 2, by contrast, is the darkest - and features the most costume changes (total count: 113)
• Season 3 has a significantly smaller range of color than the first two seasons, and the silhouettes are much more structured and conservative. We've officially moved away from the schoolgirl uniform of circle skirts and headbands (Blair only wears 4 in the entire season).
• Season 4 is even more muted than Season 3 - it's almost entirely neutrals and reds. 
• Season 5 shows more color and more light - we start to see whites creeping their way back in Blair's wardrobe. (Fitting as her wedding plays such a huge role in her story arc. This is also the only season where there are NO HEADBANDS!!)
• Season 6 was a bit harder to get a cohesive sense of because of it's length, but you can see it following the well-established patterns of her look - lots of reds, blacks, yellows with a few pops of bright color. Her pastel Elie Saab dress looks out of place against the rest of her wardrobe this season, which is interesting because it was easily one of my favorite things she wore throughout the entire show.