Lifestyle With J

Queen B!

Queen B: Brunette Beauty

Blair Waldorf, daughter of Fashion mogul Eleanor Waldorf,is queen of the met steps. She know’s she’s Upper East Side royalty and she isn’t afraid to own it. My first time watching the series, I thought she was too hard on Dan Humphrey, but I now can see she was just perceptive, and always one step ahead of everyone else. Love her or hate her (and according to online fan bases, she wins the popularity contest over Serena) she is a force to be reckoned with.

Fashion!

While her blonde bestie opts for a modern day bohemian look, Blair is a traditional girl and takes much of her inspiration from Audrey Hepburn. This is demonstrated when her inner psyche is revealed through her dream scenes (she is often depicted as dreaming about her life as if she were cast in a classic Hepburn film) as well as her many 50s style fashion choices. As seen in how she accessorizes her school uniform with bows, tights and her classic headband, she favors a preppy classic look. Her classic and modest fashion choices help her to demonstrate that she takes her education very seriously. While Serena is often seen with loose, wild curls or more inventive hair styles, Blair is often seen with a clean blow out, headband in tow, or a classic up-do.

For everyday looks, she tends to opt for classic a-line dresses and knee length pencil skirts, and embraces looking lady-like and classy through her day to day life. Occasionally she is seen in a classy tapered slack look, paired with a blazer when she is on the job. For galas, she often looks like a real life princess in her formal and ornate ball gowns.

Family Ties

**ED trigger warning

Blair’s mother, Eleanor Waldorf has a strong impact on Queen B’s need to succeed, and her love of couture. As the head of her own fashion empire, Eleanor Waldorf Designs, she is Blair’s first example of a powerful woman in fashion, which we can observe as the show carries on becomes Blair’s dream and reality. The lifestyle of a Waldorf woman is in many ways  enviable. From the spa team on speed dial, to the backstage pass at the fashion show, Blair seems to have a pretty charmed life. Of course we can see the downsides this fast-paced lifestyle has on Blair. Young Blair often feels her mother puts everything and everyone (including her own friend Serena) above Blair, and she fears she will never be able to impress her mother in order to win her love. In addition to her parents complicated divorce (her father leaves the family for his lover, Roman) Blair is seen suffering from an eating disorder as a means of coping with her need for control. During this tense time in her relationship with her family, Blair seeks solace in her friends, and strives to be queen of the met steps in order to enjoy a sense of admiration and control. Thankfully, as the show goes on, Blair and her mother develop a healthy relationship, and we see their is enough love to accommodate the ever shifting family dynamics.

What’s love got to do with it?

While her blonde bestie enjoys playing the field, and keeps an open heart when it comes to love, Blair is a bit more single focused on the men she opens her heart to..It goes without saying that Chuck is her kryptonite. While she had a few other enduring and defining relationships in her life, we all always knew that she was going to end up with Chuck. Despite the ridiculous antics Chuck put her through, through it all, they really understood each other, and had a chemistry that could not be denied. I believe that despite Chuck’s many shortcomings, his redeeming quality was his ability to both excite Blair, and make her feel safe at the same time. She needs balance in her life in her pursuit to becoming a powerful woman in her own right, as well as experiencing the passionate love she desires. Chuck is the man that is able to complement Blair, as does she for him.

The Balancing Act of Being Blair Waldorf

Blair is known for being forthright, and is certainly not one to mince her words. In giving some tough love advice to a young and struggling Jenny Humphrey Blair states, “You can’t make people love you, but you can make them fear you.” This certainly seems to be the strategy she employs as she navigates high school politics at Saint Jude’s, her internship at W, and her eventual journey to fill in her mother’s shoes in fashion. While Blair starts off with the typical mean girl persona, as her character develops, we can see how much she cares about her friends, and that her advice, no matter how harshly it is delivered, tends to ring true. Blair has excellent foresight and knows how to execute her visions into reality. While her singleminded focus can make her appear cold and harsh, when she learns to balance her penchant for success with a little love and warmth, we see Blair blossom into the woman she desires to be.

Scheme Queen

We would be remiss to analyze Blair Waldorf without discussing her love for a good scheme. Blair just can’t help herself, when she or a loved one needs to get to the bottom of something, she will stop at nothing until the case is closed. In another world, Blair would have been a wildly successful private investigator. While her penchant for getting involved in personal affairs often gets her into trouble in her own relationships, it only brings her and Chuck closer. Chuck often seeks Blair’s ability to get to the bottom of things when he needs reinforcements from his own personal private investigator.

In Blair and Chuck we Trust

I believe that all things considered, Blair and Chuck are the characters in the show that show the most character growth, and in turn, receive the happiest ending. They both never give up on their dreams, know when to pivot and be flexible, and through it all, are able to share an enduring love together. Blair truly gets the happiness she deserves after her the many sacrifices she made. While she can be seen as the underdog to Serena, who perhaps has a more natural star quality, Blair’s tenacity wins out in the end. We love you Queen B!

You know you love me..

XOXO,

J