The Queen B of the Upper East Side is a fascinating character that for some people, is aspirational. For others is somehow relatable, and for many others is simply entertaining.
Something about her personality and her ambitious mind, planning every possible strategy to make her wishes come true, is intriguing.
Blair Waldorf is a perfectionist. Her blackmailing tactics, her school grades, her relationships, and her events must be perfect for her as she strives for superiority among the people around her. Blair obtains this kind of power due to her intelligence creating alliances and friendships, and her awareness of who she can and can't trust.
Through the whole series of over 100 episodes, we see several phases of Blair. We get to know a spoiled, wealthy teenager, who falls in love, moves on, fights hard to get into the school of her dreams, falls in love over again but reconnects again to her true self and dreams.
Blair Waldorf is a character that fans describe with so many adjectives: strong, savvy, popular, pretty, intelligent, sophisticated, and the list goes on and on.
One of the most interesting features of Blair Waldorf is her clothing. It's no surprise that Blair Waldorf's style is a popular topic among Pinterest boards, hashtags, and articles. So today, we'll talk about this fascinating character and the way she wears clothes as a communication strategy to achieve her goals.
There are certain accessories that make Blair Waldorf's style recognizable. There's the bow, the headband, and the thighs. There's also this interesting contrast of wearing high fashion accessories with a traditional school uniform. These accessories are almost never ostentatious or flamboyant, and they show a young interpretation of a traditional uniform. It's very unlikely that we see her with huge logos and flashy clothes. Instead, her accessories are luxurious and sophisticated.
Blair Waldorf as a Figure of Authority
Blair Waldorf often wants people to see her as a figure of authority. She commands her so-called "minions" she gives punctual orders to Dorota. At times, even her parents and her instructors were victims of her savvy way of getting what she wanted.
When you think about figures of authority in daily life, such as police officers, instructors, politicians, or Generals in the military, they often have a uniform. The uniform by itself doesn't give them authority, but it visually illustrates their power. This is why many people have an immediate reaction of intimidation when they get pulled over by a police officer or when they see their head supervisor walk by. People would probably have a less proactive response to police officers if they were wearing a graphic t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.
Clothing as a way to illustrate power has been a strategy that humans have used for a very long time. From Louis XIV of France wearing the highest heels in the nation to show there wasn't a higher form of authority, to Angela Merkel wearing boxy suit jackets in a political environment where mostly men assume these high positions of power, political fashion and power have been linked for centuries.
So it's no surprise that Blair Waldorf uses clothing as a strategy to show power too.
As a figure of authority, Blair is looking for something other than new friends. Instead, she wants to be followed. She cares about perception. In many ways, her strategies are political because she aims to convince the school, and the whole Upper East Side, that she is relevant, bright, and successful. She develops strategies
She wants to be seen as the most powerful and relevant person at school. Her clothes help her to look like an intimidating figure who is not necessarily approachable. Every now and then, some accessories like jewelry and headbands will help her to tone down the intimidating look by making it colorful and soft. Still, Blair's style tends to be very structural and stiff compared to her best friend's, Serena, whose style tends to be more playful, with effortless silhouettes, draped details, deep necklines, and even some messy hairstyles.
So for those who see Blair Waldorf as an aspirational figure or simply love their style and would like to replicate it, here are some design tips and tricks that this fascinating character used to keep her image cohesive and her reputation in place during her time in Constance.
Plaids
Plaids usually get along very well with each other. There is a common misconception about the need to have identical pieces with plaids in order to make an outfit that matches.
The truth is that, as long as there is something in common such as colors, sizes, or the kind of plaid, these pieces can go together. In fact, these pieces with a subtle difference will make the outfit more interesting than if the whole thing was identical.
Colorful Prints
Here is an example of how Blair Waldorf pulled off this fashion strategy.
Styling a colorful print is not as complicated as some people think it is. Very similar to the plaid situation, it's about finding a color out of the several colors in print and using it to complete your outfit. These combinations can create interesting looks, especially if you go with bold colors that match your print.
Matching Prints
The spring brings lots of opportunities to give a colorful approach to our clothing selections. The florals, the prints, the accessories altogether can be mixed and matched with the pieces that you already own.
For this fruit themed look, Blair puts together to oversized prints that are very similar in terms of proportion. This means, the size of the cherries in the top is very similar to the size of the apples in the skirt. Certain accessories like the belt, or the scarf, can make the look more saturated, but that would vary depending on certain aspects like the body size and the individual’s preferences.
There will be times when stores release different products with the same print. This way, you can wear one or more of these pieces together. Sometimes it will look too matchy-matchy, sometimes it’s simply the right amount of print. It’s all about trial and error, putting your clothes and looking at yourself in the mirror.
Royal Accessories
Ever since the first season, Waldorf felt like a member of the Royal family. Her rules at the Met Steps, her clothes, and her attitude toward others made it clear that she felt very special compared to others.
The common phrase "fake it till you make it" makes reference to acting and imitating confidence so that the mind believes that what you wish to accomplish is about to be accomplished.
So Blair Waldorf using the Lady Dior bag makes perfect sense. The Lady Dior bag became very popular after one of Princess Diana's visits to Paris. She received this bag as a gift, and it became one of the favorite accessories of the Princess, which is why the French fashion house decided to name the bag Lady Dior, a very meaningful and successful strategy that relates this bag to Lady Di.
Layers
Layers are a way to add dimension to your body. There are areas of the body that you would like to accentuate and others where you wouldn't like a lot of attention.
For this look, the accessories and the neckline bring a lot of attention to the chest and the neck. The layers of fabric create more volume, and it's an interesting way of bringing attention to the chest without having a deep neckline.
Pops of color
You only have a couple of coats, but the cold weather lasts at least three months. How to keep things different without saturating the credit card? The accessories can make all the difference. Starting with a dark green coat as a base, Blair added yellow accessories that create a pop of color and become the main focal point. This means that if you wear the same coat three days later with accessories of another color, or no accessories whatsoever, people may not even notice. Playing with scarves, gloves, headpieces and bags, can create several iterations with the same coat as a base. Try different things and have fun in the process.
