Gossip Girl, xoxo

Photo courtesy of TV.com

I have always loved to have a show from which to draw fashion inspiration. With the exception of Sex and the City, which I think is brilliantly written, these shows are generally trashy in story line and rich in wardrobe. Past favourites have been Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C. and The Hills. At any rate, the combination of scandal, booze, and pretty teenagers has proved to be a dynamic formula. My latest addiction is a new show this fall called Gossip Girl. Based on a book series of the same name, this show can actually be quite sharp when it wants to be. I, for one, have been hooked every week since it started. It's my newest guilty pleasure, if you will. The show is about privileged teenagers who attend an elite private school in New York City and are climbing the social ladder. Of course, as usual on shows like this, they certainly don't seem like teenagers. The costume designer for the show is Eric Daman, also a former assistant costume designer and stylist to Patricia Field on Sex and the City and i-D respectively. He says that he bases his outfit choices for the characters on real-life East coast socialites such as Tinsley Mortimer and Lydia Hearst-Shaw. Daman also revealed that he shops in the Meatpacking District and frequents fashion boutiques such as Opening Ceremony and Stella McCartney while mixing it up with better known fashion houses such as Chanel and Ferragamo.

Photo courtesy of LA Times

The other element of this show that I love is that it is filmed entirely in New York. Much like on Sex and the City, I think of the city as "a character in the story." It is featured prominently in all of its glory and I adore that. I have had a long standing love affair with New York City. When I was a little girl, before I had ever even visited, I dreamed of living there. A few years ago when I had my first opportunity to go, I was thrilled to discover that it was everything that I'd hoped it would be. As much as I love the West Coast, I do think that I could live in New York. It has a certain je ne sais quoi and just feels so culturally and artistically rich. It's charming in all the right ways.

Photo courtesy of Nylon. Check out the article in this month's issue.

I think that the real beauty of a show like Gossip Girl, is that it gives allowance to escape my own life and issues for an hour each week. Besides, as someone who prides herself on being relatively drama-free, I have a hard time not getting sucked in to the fictitious melodrama of these characters. And I can fantasize about raiding their closets...it's quite a lovely indulgence.