Blair Waldorf Basically Invented All Of 2024’s Biggest 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 first, 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 post high school, and expanded her choices to include all sorts of patterned tights.

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.

Even Blake Lively, who portrayed Serena in the show, has taken some style inspiration from Blair herself.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Much like Carrie Bradshaw before her, Blair’s fashion longevity is impressive — and she’ll always be a style icon.