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Blair Waldorf, Queen Of Colored Tights, Basically Invented All Of 2024’s Top Trends

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Blair Waldorf, Queen Of Colored Tights, Basically Invented All Of 2024’s Top Trends

Gossip Girl (the show and the anonymous blogger) always made it seem like there was only room for one it girl on the Upper East Side: Serena van der Woodsen. Meanwhile, her best frenemy, Blair Waldorf — though she was a popular, straight-A student with an Ivy League education — was always portrayed as insecure about the troubled golden girl. If only GG, aka the OG DeuxMoi, lived through 2024.

Nearly two decades after the show first debuted in 2007, fashion girls are unanimous about the brunette beauty being the most influential elite on the show. Just take a look at this year’s top trends.

Bright-colored tights, for example, are enjoying a renaissance after popping off in the 2010s, thanks to Blair. They were so widely associated with millennial style, in fact, that they were deemed “cheugy” thereafter. And that’s just one of her signature looks that reentered the fashion zeitgeist.

With Gossip Girl finally back on Netflix (as of Oct. 29), it’s high time to take a trip down memory lane and give credit where it’s due. From rainbow-hued tights to slinky slip dresses, ahead are today’s biggest trends that all started with Constance Billard’s teen queen.

Colored Tights

When Blair was ruling the school with an iron fist, she quite literally had a uniform. To make the prep school set her own, however, she accessorized with bright stockings.

Her love for the style continued well into the show’s later seasons, years after high school, and expanded her choices to include all sorts of patterned tights.

Gossip Girl
Leighton Meester on the set of "Gossip Girl" at Wollman Rink on November 2, 2007 in New York City. (...
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Blair’s affinity for colored tights shaped fashion. Soon after the show’s premiere, fans and fashion enthusiasts began wearing stockings in every color of the rainbow. It wasn’t until the mid-2010s that they were deemed cheugy, or uncool, and fell out of favor. And no one reached for colored tights again… until 2022.

These past two years, colored tights officially made a comeback. Fashion’s brightest stars including Selena Gomez and Cardi B have been showcasing the trend, whether to complement a monochromatic outfit or as a bold pop of color.

Selena Gomez's outfit at the SNL afterparty.
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Cardi B wears a floral mini to attend the Marc Jacobs fashion show at the New York Public Library on...
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Even Blake Lively, who portrayed Serena in the show, has taken some style inspiration from Blair herself.

Blake Lively is seen out in New York City.

Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images

Even runways are rife with the look. At Versace’s Spring/Summer 2025 show, Gigi Hadid wore brick red tights, proving the trend will continue for the next few seasons (at least).

Gigi Hadid walks the runway at the Versace fashion show during the Milan Womenswear Spring/Summer 20...

Pietro D’Aprano/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Headbands Galore

Another one of Queen B’s staples was a chunky headband. For her, it wasn’t just an accessory, it was a marker of the elite. Even her minions were expected to wear them.

The hairpiece was so synonymous with Blair’s style and ingrained into her brand of dictatorship that a bedazzled iteration was quite literally used to crown the next reigning Constance Billard queen (Jenny Humphrey).

NEW YORK - JULY 13:  Actress Leighton Meester walks to the "Gossip Girl" film set in the Upper East ...
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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 03:  Actress Leighton Meester seen on location for "Gossip Girl" on September 3...
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Like tights, headbands quickly infiltrated the masses ’til they were also deemed passé. However, with the rise of the quiet luxury aesthetic, headbands came back, particularly atop the heads of stealth-wealth icons like Sofia Richie and Jennifer Lawrence.

Today’s celeb-favored headbands are so Blair-coded, in fact, that they’re from the exact same label Blair used to wear: Jennifer Behr.

Sofia Richie wears an LBD, pointed pumps, and her Hermès Kelly to attend a David Yurman dinner.
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Jennifer Lawrence wears a structured mini dress on the set of a Longines watch commercial on June 29...
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Plaid Play

Blair never met a plaid print she didn’t like and often added the pattern to her ensembles, either by way of a statement coat or accessory. On several occasions, she went the maximalist route and paired plaids with other patterns.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 10:  Leighton Meester is seen on the movie set of 'Gossip Girl' on January 10...
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NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 26:  Leighton Meester on location for "Gossip Girl"  on November 26, 2007 in New...
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While plaids are a fall staple, resurfacing annually as temps drop, this year, more and more people are embracing the lined pattern.

Taylor Swift is the design’s biggest advocate. She’s worn plaids and tartans on date nights with Travis Kelce and red-carpet appearances alike.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 07: Taylor Swift arrives prior to a game between the Kansas City Chi...
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ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Taylor Swift attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena o...
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Lingerie As Outerwear

This moment in time should hereby be known as The Naked Years. The reigning trends — especially this year — are iterations of lingerie-forward looks. Fashion’s most daring are exposing their bras or panties (or both) in one form or another.

Before lingerie became so commonplace, Blair gave audiences a peek at what intimates drawers could look like. Hers were replete with babydoll dresses, slip dresses, lacy pieces, and even garters. Though she mostly kept her spicy looks in the confines of her bedroom, she did attend a party once wearing nothing but a lacy slip.

Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl.

Courtesy of The CW/Everett Collection

These days, everyone who’s anyone has rocked the lingerie-as-outerwear trend. Sabrina Carpenter is perhaps the biggest fan of the style. Whether she’s on stage or partying with friends, she practically only wears lingerie out. She even loves to add garters with her thigh-high stockings (a go-to Blair combo).

Meanwhile, the likes of Lupita N’yongo also love wearing nighties out.

Sabrina Carpenter performs on stage during the Short N' Sweet Tour held at Madison Square Garden on ...
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Lupita Nyong'o wears a leopard print slip dress on June 19, 2024 in New York City.
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Much like Carrie Bradshaw before her, Blair’s fashion longevity is impressive — and she’ll always be a style icon.

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