Blair Waldorf, AKA Queen B, ruled the Upper East Side of New York City on the hit television series Gossip Girl— and along the way also taught us a lot about life during the course of the show. Blair is smart and well-educated; she attended an elite private prep school. She’s pretty, feisty, sophisticated, driven and ambitious, sarcastic, wealthy and worldly. Blair doesn’t take no for an answer, has a strong sense of confidence, knows her worth and does whatever it takes to achieve what she wants. She is the perfect role model for any female!
Plus she possesses impeccable taste in fashion. Blair’s personal style became iconic, and continues to have many recreating her signature looks. (Her classic headbands, tweed jackets, colored tights, plaid skirts, Louboutin heels, trench coats, pearl earrings and preppy attire ring a bell?!)
As an experiment, I decided to fully live like Blair Waldorf for an entire week and employed a ‘What Would Blair Do?’ mindset. (After all, she is good at making decisions since she has many positive attributes and personality traits.)
As an original Gossip Girl fan from the beginning, I thought this would be fun to try since I have always loved and admired Blair – and already identify with her in certain aspects. (Plus I’ve read all the books, have binge watched the entire series too many times to count and have taken the Gossip Girl sites tour in NYC.)
The timing now was perfect because I am a young ambitious female, who lives in New York City and attends a private college on the Upper East Side. It’s very Blair, right? The lifestyle here is fast paced, schedules are always hectic, you’re always striving to obtain goals, events and parties are a constant occurrence, celebrity sightings are inevitable and you are experiencing culture at its prime.
To live like Blair, and fully obtain her mindset, I followed these five steps:
1. Confidence
It is Blair Waldorf who proclaims, “I’m the best of the best. I’m Blair Waldorf.” When you are secure and confident with yourself, you feel better and happier overall in life. You also attract other secure and confident individuals into your life, then you all get along well and empower each other. Blair would cut out anyone from her life who didn’t want her to succeed and be happy – and we all should too. Life is too short to surround yourself with anything less than good people who want you to thrive.
When life got overwhelming and hectic with work, writing, events, and relationships I reminded myself, “I am Katie Gray. People don’t tell me who I am, I tell them.” When you whisper this to yourself in stressful situations you actually do feel better after saying it out loud. It’s like, ‘Oh I was momentarily flustered but I’m back again and I got this, obviously!’
At the end of the day, we all work hard so we do in fact have this! (Seriously, we can handle any situation thrown at us in life. Also, remember it’s the struggles that make it interesting and keep us humble and grateful.)
2. Fashion
Every day is a fashion show and the world is the runway – especially when you live in New York City and are in a Blair Waldorf State of Mind. New York is the epitome for fashion here in the United States. It’s where Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week famously takes place every September and February, and it’s where every major fashion magazine publication is located. Blair and fashion go together hand in hand.
To be like Blair, I did as she would do. I never said no to a shopping invitation, I dressed preppy and chic, I took the train as little as possible since she despises it, I wouldn’t purchase anything on sale and I avoided anything that was so last season. (Remember when Blair was interviewing new minions and with a dissatisfied facial expression, asked the girl, “Are those last season’s Tory Burch flats?!”)
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“Whoever said that money doesn’t buy happiness, didn’t know where to shop.” – Blair Waldorf
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It was all about accessories this week. Blair’s infamous headbands are symbolic because they are like her crown and tiara she puts on every morning. Her fashion dictates her mood and mine did too. When she’s feeling down she wears hats, capes and ponchos. When she is trying to be extra mature and seem older she wears oversized pearl earrings, argyle, turtle necks and tweed. When the weather is nice and she is happy she wears bright colors. She also always rocks a defined bold lip, so I did too and purchased MAC’s Cyber, Russian Red and Angel lip shades. She likes little black dresses and always looks chic and conservative at parties – which are matched with jewels. So I wore black dresses with Blair inspired accessories and makeup tones.
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Although we all aren’t as fortunate as Blair to have a never ending source of income to buy designer goods, a fashion designer mother, a boyfriend like Chuck Bass to buy us expensive jewelry and a best friend/housekeeper like her Dorota – we can still channel our inner Blair!
3. Go-Getter
Blair is constantly striving and she is notorious for being a go-getter. Some of her fantasies and goals have included: Joining the Peace Corps, getting a killer tan, winning the Nobel Peace Prize and having dinner with the President of the United States. Hey, a girl has to dream, right?! I focused solely this week on making things that I wanted happen and did whatever made me happy. As Blair says, “Destiny is for losers. It’s just a stupid excuse to wait for things to happen instead of making them happen.”
We have to take matters into our own hands. That means pursuing everything we want, taking care of our own business, researching everything ourselves and constantly learning. That’s how Blair knows absolutely everything about everyone. (I didn’t conduct any blackmailing and spying like she has been known to do from time to time, though! It’s best to avoid, if possible.) But B is right, “If you really want something you don’t stop for anyone or anything, until you get it."
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4. Determination & Affirmations
If Blair is anything, it is determined. She never lets anything or anyone get in the way of her dreams, goals and desires. This alone is a great message for everyone to remember and encompass. I made sure to not let anyone interfere with my goals and visions. I made sure to channel this while I was interning in the beauty department of a public relations firm in the city and freelance writing all week.
Sometimes Blair can be extreme, such as her remark, “You can’t make people love you but you can make them fear you.” However, she has a point – we can’t put our focus on what people will think. We just have to be ourselves and the right ones will love us and the ones who don’t – it’s their loss.
Blair is willing to do whatever it takes in order to reach her achievements and has been seen reading ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. In my quest to be more Blair like I read the book this week. I actually already had a copy of it because it’s a classic, I’m a bookworm and I had noticed Blair had read it on the show when I was in high school so it was on my reading list for a while. I get what the buzz is about, there are good tactics listed to winning any type of war or endeavor. It was not only Sun Tzu, but Blair, who taught me that with determination and perseverance we can be successful at anything we put forth our minds and efforts to.
That means when people try to rain on our parade and be negative, you have to shut it right down and not let it bother you. This week when people were being even the slightest bit discouraging, I ignored it and kept calm and carried on. I remembered what Blair would say to anyone who tried to doubt her or stop her from achieving her dreams.
We all need to remember our worth. It's just like Blair explains, “I’m not a stop along the way. I’m a destination.” This particularly comes into context when dealing with interpersonal relationships. Blair is right, “A girl wants Romeo, not Hamlet.” She’s also right that, we all need a 'Knight in Shining Armani'. But when they aren’t up to par and don’t know how to treat us the way we know we deserve we have to remember Blair, “My life is so bountiful, I don’t need a boyfriend to feel fulfilled.”
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5. Blair’s Favorite Things
This week I indulged in all of Blair’s favorites. That means I watched the beautiful classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, ate macarons and Godiva, partook in quintessential New York activities like brunch at Bagatelle, looked religiously at fashion magazines, focused on my college goals, hung out with my best friends (constantly dragging them on adventures with me) and read many novels including 'The Art of War'.
I also went to places that Blair frequents and would approve of, such as: Central Park, the Met (and sat on those famous steps like Blair did every morning of her high school years), Henri Bendel, the Empire Hotel for drinks, Lavo for dinner, etc. I made sure I drank a gin martini, as Blair prefers. (Remember when she scolded Little Jenny Humprhey and explained, “This is a Gin Martini. As it should be.”)
At the end of the day, we must:
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Get set for drizzly days on campus with a pair of sturdy, rubber rain boots. Solid colors such as classic black or powder blue will blend easily with any outfit and complement everything from your favorite fall sweater and jeans to that midi-dress you’ve been saving for festival season. Plus, the waterproof design will keep you dry on rainy morning walks across campus and for a few days after snow melts away.
