It’s Not TV, It’s Gossip Girl
Costume Design on the New and Old Series
Originally published on Letterdrop 8/26/2021
In an interview with Bustle, costume designer Eric Daman laid out five ways the Gossip Girl reboot fashion differs from its older sister’s: minimalism, the influence of social media, sustainability, fewer designer labels, and comfort. While outfitting the next generation of Constance Billard/St. Jude's students, Daman drew from current fashion trends: oversized sweatshirts, not prim cardigans; walkable sneakers, not stilettos; bike shorts, not preppy kilts; all done in a palette of navy and neutrals and minimal patterns, little of the bold colors and poppy prints that were popular during the original series. Even the lighting and set design look more at home in the world of HBO’s Succession than the CW’s Gossip Girl. In fact, the showrunner, Josh Safran, aimed to create “the Succession version of Gossip Girl” (New York), one that’s more critical of its wealthy characters and their privilege than the original series was.
Now, I’ve never seen Succession (I hear people on the internet like it!), but I’ve seen enough screenshots and GIFs to ask: Why must the HBO Max Gossip Girl adopt its moody color palette and dim lighting, along with its more critical lens? I’m all for a more self-aware Gossip Girl, but why must a show be sapped of any brightness and playfulness to be considered serious or relevant? (The exception being the gorgeous Christopher John Rogers runway show in the first episode.) There are lots of critiques to be made of the OG Gossip Girl, but I don’t think it ever tried to be another show, especially not one about adults (god help us, millennials are the teachers in this new series, consumed with either cyberbullying or sexually preying on their Gen Z students).
I won’t get into my thoughts on the new stories and characters because, frankly, they’re not fully formed, and neither is the show itself; it’s hard to compare six episodes of the reboot with six seasons of the original. (And to be fair, the original series had the advantage of being based on a popular book series.)
That being said, the costume design is still interesting and complex, with numerous references to the original series’ fashion. (And thankfully, the reboot is much more thoughtful about costuming its characters of color than the original was.) Much has already been said about Serena van der Woodsen’s and Kate Keller’s similar looks, so I'll touch on a few of the other Easter eggs in the first half of the series:
Little Z
Zoya Lott is the youngest character on the show, a freshman, and so the costumes draw a few connections between her and her original counterpart, Jenny Humphrey. Both are made to look younger than the other cast members with their uniform’s pinafore, though Zoya’s looks more like the overalls she favors outside of school. Indeed, Zoya’s wardrobe draws a lot of inspiration from nineties grunge fashion—flannels, in particular, a Humphrey family staple.
The New Minions
Constance no longer has an official hierarchy, but the school’s unofficial queen is influencer Julien Calloway, her minions Luna La (her stylist) and Monet de Haan (her publicist). While Julien isn’t interested in a queendom, Luna and especially Monet want to maintain their friend's power, so their costume design, more than any of the other main characters’, “harken[s] back to the old OGGG” (Bustle). Monet may snark on headbands, but her wardrobe is “Blair Waldorf meets Dionne from Clueless . . . the epic mean girl”—tweed suits, bows, ruffled blouses, chunky Oxfords, and Chanel jewelry.
Black Dresses and Gold Sequins
Still, the biggest homage to the original series comes from two minor characters: Pippa Sykes and Bianca Breer, best friends and rivals from a neighboring school. Pippa and Bianca are a send-up of Blair and Serena and their white, cis, straight world: two “bland” girls (one brunette, one blonde) who are “always . . . fucking each other’s boyfriends and pushing each other into fountains.” They wear Blair’s cotillion dress and Serena’s wedding gown to a Halloween party, and their everyday looks are equally dated. At school, Pippa wears a headband and preppy cardigan and turtleneck, Bianca an oxblood moto jacket and black Henley. For drinks, Pippa chooses a black dress and pearls, Bianca a gold-sequined dress—pieces that were once motifs in Blair’s and Serena’s costume design.
Someone Buy Me This Shirt
While the original series always played with sexuality and desire in costume design, the reboot actually has more than one canon queer character! In the first episode, Aki Menzies wears my favorite piece so far: a bisexual button-down, ombré blue to pink like the bi pride flag. Aki, who later comes out as bisexual, is questioning his sexuality, so naturally, this piece is handed to him by an openly pansexual male love interest, Max Wolfe. “No, no, no, not for me,” Aki says, but soon enough, he’s changing into the shirt in front of Max, while his longtime girlfriend, Audrey Hope, looks on lustily.
My Must-Have Accessory
Much like Blair had her Ladurée macarons, the new students have their delicious, Instagrammable New York pastries: Fan-Fan doughnuts, Supermoon croissants, Wafels & Dinges waffles. Until the back half of the season drops in November, I'll look forward to seeing what other fashions they wear and sweets they eat. (Someone’s gotta get a Milk Bar cake for their birthday, right?)
While I likely won’t write about the reboot again soon, I’ll return with my next volume (Veronica Mars) in two weeks: Thursday, 9/9. Until then, stay safe, stay hydrated, and get vaxxed!
