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Gossip Girl: Fashion and History Repeat Themselves

by Nana at May 12, 2009, 9:30 AM

Last night's episode was essentially a trailer for the upcoming spinoff series that will show how a young Lily came to be the wild child that racked up an experience list longer than Rufus', but it was also a clear reminder that what goes around really does come back around.

While Older Lily let Serena spend the night in the clink, so too did Serena's grandmother let '80s Lily a.k.a Brittany Snow stay in the slammer when she refused to obey her mother and leave Los Angeles. But the flashback didn't stop there. That purple cocktail dress that '80s Lily wore as her older sister sprung her from jail was a dead ringer for this Betsey Johnson frock we recently featured as a Fly Pick.

The parallels continued, shuttling us between '80s and '00s fashion and music (did you see No Doubt looking very much like Madonna and band in her early years?!!!), the present day love story between Rufus and Lily, and Dan and Serena, and the persisting triangle between Chuck, Blair and Nate.

As Blair dances with Nate (in a fantabulous prom dress!!) and ultimately receives the Prom Queen tiara thanks to Chuck's ballot box stuffing, she reflects on the nostalgic value of the moment. She'd always imagined herself going to the prom with her first love, she tells Nate, and now that she has she's fine with moving forward -- without him. It's a poignant moment of maturity for Blair and Serena as they discuss it afterward. And it opens up an an interesting comment on all the flashback fashion that's in vogue right now.

If fashion journalist (and Marc Jacobs critic), Suzy Menkes had her way we'd stop looking back and stop resuscitating '80s, '70s, and '60s fashions. We'd innovate and create new fashion, new looks, new music, new culture that defines us. Which in theory makes perfect sense. But as a matter of fact, as Lily and Serena are finding (and as we'll find once the spinoff series launches), until you learn from and fully deal with the past, the future will just be a repeat.

(c) Warner Bros. Television No celebrity Endorsement implied.

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