Shamelessly Unveiling The Depths of the Gossip Girl Obsession

From Sasha

Okay, it was only a matter of time before Gossip Girl made it into the blog. Maybe I was trying to keep the lowbrow world of modern television separate from the world of fairy forest folk; maybe I felt you would be confused by my seemingly incongruent obsession with a show about rich teenage prep schoolers in New York City. But then, little by little, I realized-- all of you are watching it, too! Ha ha! (And believe you me, that includes Amber here at Violet Folklore... big time.)

For the few among you who have yet to be initiated, I offer an explanation. No, I've never been-- or tried to dress like-- a preppy, in all of my life. No, I don't watch much TV-- we don't even have TV service, and we haven't had it for 15 years. I have missed all the shows that have captivated my peers for the past decade: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sopranos, Sex in the City. But then along came the show that brought me (and so many of my popular-culture-resisting friends) back to TV land-- the utterly obsess-able Gossip Girl. It has a lot going for it: sassy, witty characters, outrageous fashion, steamy love scenes, and the most Jane Austen-esque-cliff-hanger plot twists imaginable on the little screen. For one hour, my brain is on vacation, and nothing else matters except the shifting reputations and alliances of these immaculately turned-out Upper East Siders.

Come to find out, you can watch even it on your computer! (Revelation). Of course, it's better on the big screen, with friends, so you can see the outfits better, and shout things at TV, ganging up on the characters you don't like. But speaking of characters I ***LOVE***, here are Chuck and Blair, the reigning King and Queen of my Monday night heart:

Now the purpose of this blog, besides potentially humiliating myself, is to discuss this gold brocade dress that Blair wore in the season premiere on Monday (forgive her pout face- she is having a bad moment here as she visualizes Chuck cheating on her with a supermodel). I always pick a fave outfit from every show-- and frankly, Lily Bass often wins the prize. But when Blair dresses up, she goes for it, and this dress made me lose my breath for a moment. When have I seen anyone wearing gold brocade lately? (Okay, I live in a rural county, so that's not a fair question, but I DO get out sometimes.) I think we need more gold brocade NOW! While this dress is made by Burberry and probably costs more than my month's salary, there is plenty of reasonably priced vintage gold brocade on Etsy. Check out these finds:

Brown Brocade With Gold and Silver Trim, $40 from laurakhollander

Cocktail Dress with Matching Jacket, $60, from laurakhollender

Gold Bullion 1950s Gold Brocade Dress, $85 from LipStickWhiskey

Go get fancy, ladies! 

Okay, a funny aside: last night Chris and I were talking about how much we miss Nate from Gossip Girl's Man Bangs this season. I am actually thinking of starting a petition to bring them back, as they add a whole dimension to what is an otherwise tepid character. Then somehow the discussion turned a corner and we were talking about what a bunny would look like with Man Bangs (maybe because Nate sort of looks like a bunny?). As I was drifting off to sleep, I remember asking Chris if he could please photoshop me a Bunny with Man Bangs. I had forgotten all about it today, when suddenly this appeared on his Facebook: 

Chris says he used Nate's actual hair for this one. Bring em back, Nate!!!

You know you love me! XOXO...