Love At First Tights: How Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf Changed My Style

It was love at first tights. In 2007, I was a college sophomore in Boston, still emotionally reeling from my recent transfer to a new school and the cancellation of the O.C. (aka the official ending of the high school me). Gossip Girl filled that void--and before I knew it, I found myself more than willing to trade in my dream of Seth Cohen for another seemingly unattainable infatuation: Blair Waldorf, or rather, Blair Waldorf's wardrobe. But after five and a half seasons of incoherent story lines, confusing plot twists, and apparently disappointing Nielsen ratings, Gossip Girl is really over. Like all great love stories/mediocre basic cable dramedies, the romance couldn't last forever. Things haven't been so great for a while now--but, to quote what's sure to be a future Taylor Swift song, I can still remember that very first 'XOXO'...
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So this is it, eh

First came

I owe full credit/blame to Blair Waldorf and her Met Museum minions for kicking off

When I moved to New York nearly two years ago, tights and headbands in tow, I found myself starting over once again. Naturally, I turned to Gossip Girl, watching the entire series again from the beginning--and the scenery started making more sense. Bethesda Fountain? That existed! The steps of the Met was a place I could actually sit. And rampant underage drinking was more than an exaggeration of the CW.

I felt myself getting a little defensive whenever Blair dissed Dan for living in my new home of Williamsburg (BTW, Rufus Humphrey was obviously loaded based on that unreal apartment, which I'm pretty positive Penn Badgley actually lives in due to the number of times--three--I've seen him in my neighbs). But even surrounded by the highest concentration of intentionally dirty hipsters the world has ever known, I still found myself asking the wardrobe gods: 'What would Blair wear?'

My style heroine may have idolized Holly Golightly, but based on my closet full of fitted blazers, shift dresses, pleated skirts, and girly heels, I'm all about Waldorf.

After Gossip Girl takes its final bow tonight, my Monday evenings undoubtedly will be comprised of me stroking my conniving gerbil Blair Waldorf's tiny head as I weep softly into her aspen bedding, remembering the times when I could gain fresh outfit inspo just by switching on the tv. Trends come and go, series get cancelled, tights get runs, and headbands get stepped on--but timeless style perseveres.

At least there's always Netflix.

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A Look Back at Gossip Girl's Finest Fashion Moments

It's official: The series finale of Gossip Girl is a mere eleven episodes away. While many a cynic may argue that the show actually ended sometime during the second season, for us die-hard Upper East Side wannabes, this news is harder hitting than a Nairtini to the head. Of course, what we'll miss most of all is the fashion. Gossip Girl has been on top of the fashion game since its first "XOXO" way back in early 2007, and as the series progressed, the characters' signature styles arguably surpassed the plot development in terms of critical praise. Between Blair's preppy headbands, Chuck's dandy suits, and Serena's gravity-defying cleavage, the influence the kids of Constance have had on street style and fashion spreads alike is undeniable. So, as a tearful ode to our favorite CW soap, here's a look back at some of the style stand-outs that have made the last five years of impossible-to-follow plot lines a little more bearable.