Blair Waldorf

Infobox character
colour = #DEDEE
colour text =
name = Blair Waldorf


caption = Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf
first = Book Series:
"Gossip Girl"
TV Series:
"Pilot"
last = Book Series:
"Don't You Forget About Me"
cause = End of series
creator = Cecily von Ziegesar
portrayer = Leighton Meester
full name = Blair Cornelia Waldorf
alias = B; Queen B
gender = Female
age = 15-17(book series)
16-17 (TV series)
born = November 17
death =
occupation = Book Series:
College Student
TV Series:
High School Student
family = Book Series:
Harold Waldorf (father)
Eleanor Waldorf-Rose (mother)
Cyrus Rose (step-father)
Giles (father's boyfriend)
Tyler Waldorf (younger brother)
Yale Rose (maternal younger half-sister)
Aaron Rose (maternal step-brother)
Ping (paternal younger, adoptive half-bother)
Pong (paternal younger, adoptive half-sister)
pets = ""Book Series"":
Kitty Minky (Russian Blue Cat)
""TV Series"": Cat (Tabby)
residence = ""Book Series"
Fifth Avenue, UES, Manhattan
van der Woodsen Penthouse, UES, Manhattan
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
The Yale Club
167 East, 71st Street, Manhattan
Yale University
""TV Series"": UES Manhattan

Blair Cornelia Waldorf is the main character of the "Gossip Girl" franchise,McAdam, C. [http://sundayheraldsalon.com/salon/2008/03/chatter_in_classes.html "Chatter In Classes", Cecily von Ziegesar interview] . "SundayHeraldSalon.com". 2008-3-15. Retrieved on 2008-8-28] introduced in the original book series and appearing in the television adaptation of the same name. She was created by the series' original author, Cecily von Ziegesar. Blair, whose actions and relations are frequently followed by the mysterious Gossip Girl, is a privileged young woman born to high society on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The television character, played by Leighton Meester, has gained a degree of notability for her popular wardrobe. As a result, her styles and outfits have received real-life coverage or recognition from various periodicals. [http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20164507_20057738_20371760,00.html "'Gossip Girl' Season One: Get the Look"] "instyle.com". 2008-9-19. Retrieved on 2008-10-9]

Both the author and television actress have openly commented on the character's motivations. According to Meester, some of Blair's biggest vices are her "insecurities" with regard to her social status, which often make her an overachiever. [http://www.buddytv.com/articles/gossip-girl/gossip-girl-the-new-cw-11418.aspx "'Gossip Girl' Actress Spills the Beans on Her Character"] "buddytv.com". 2007-9-25. Retrieved on 2008-10-9] This is partly due to a certain degree of jealousy she feels toward her friend and occasional rival, Serena. At times, these insecurities create what von Ziegesar labels "flaws and complexities" which contribute to character development. One of Blair's most noticeable issues is an apparently snobbish persona. However, it is suggested that this is a byproduct of her attempts to maintain social prominence, and does not represent the entirety of her personality. In Meester's view, the true Blair is a "good girl" who possesses a more sensitive and good-natured center. [ [http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22943161-5003422,00.html "Queen bee is really a good girl"] "news.com.au". 2007-12-17. Retrieved on 2008-10-9]

Book series background

Blair was born to high society on Manhattan's exclusive Upper East Side. Her father is Harold Waldorf, Esquire, a successful lawyer, and her mother is Eleanor Waldorf Rose, an Upper East Side hostess. She has a younger sibling named Tyler Waldorf. After her mother's marriage to Cyrus Rose, she gained a step sibling named Aaron Rose, an alternative vegan, and a half-sister, Yale Rose. After Blair's father ran off with a man to France, he and his partner, Giles, adopted Cambodian twins, Ping and Pong. Blair grew up with popular girl Serena van der Woodsen and future boyfriend Nate Archibald. She is described to be 5'4" and slender, with brilliant blue eyes, long brunette hair (for the first four books), and a fox-like face. Her two allies, after former best friend Serena left for her New Hampshire boarding school, are Kati Farkas and Isabel Coates. She cuts her long brunette hair to her ears and continues to cut it to look like her idol, Audrey Hepburn.

Blair is a student at the Constance Billard School for Girls, a small, elite, all-girlsschool located at 93rd and Madison Avenue, and suffered from bulimia. She wants to attend Yale University, notably with on/off boyfriend Nate, but in the end she goes to Yale alone. Blair, before going off to college, usually lived with her mother, step father, and full and half/step siblings in a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue. She also lived at The Plaza Hotel, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with Vanessa Abrams, and in the original apartment where Breakfast at Tiffany's was shot with BFF Serena, in designer Bailey Winter's East Hampton summer home, and the Yale Club of New York City.

Overview

Starting at a dinner party at the Waldorf Penthouse for future stepfather Cyrus Rose, former best friend Serena, described as the most gorgeous girl in all of New York City, returns from her boarding school Hanover Academy in Hanover, New Hampshire. Blair, from the start, doesn't want to give up her spotlight as being the "most happening" girl in the room just yet. She and boyfriend Nate who have dated for about a year are in the middle of a passionate scene when Serena shows up, and entertains all the guests with stories about her wild summer adventures and what it was like to be at boarding school, shunning Blair out of the spotlight again.

Blair starts nasty rumors about Serena and turns her into a school outcast. Eventually, Blair finds out boyfriend Nate Archibald slept with Serena right after sophomore year, hence why Serena felt the need to escape to boarding school and not come back for a year before she was kicked out for returning late in the beginning of the school year. When Jenny Humphrey, a freshman with a hearty bosom steals Nate away from her on her birthday, which is also the day that her then pregnant mother marries Cyrus Rose, Serena and Blair make up once again and go back to being the best of friends, while ignoring Nate and his new girlfriend. When Blair's mom marries Cyrus Rose, she meets her new step brother, Aaron Rose (a vegan with an endless supply of herbal cigarettes and an unrequited crush on Blair), comes the day Blair has been waiting for all her life—her Yale interview.

Blair messes up her college interview at Yale by telling her interviewer about the trainwreck her life has become, and then kissing him on the cheek upon dismissal. Blair's father donates a multi-million dollar vineyard to Yale, but it is still not enough to clear her mistakes, and she is wait-listed at Yale. She's turned down by Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Tufts, and Wesleyan and is only accepted into
Georgetown University, her safety, despite being one of the best girls in the senior class. However, Serena, a below-average student, was accepted into all of these schools.

She is known to move out of her home frequently, first trying to live at Serena's penthouse before they left for Sun Valley, then taking a suite at The Plaza Hotel (to the chagrin of Constance Billard's headmistress), moving into Brooklyn with her shaven-haired classmate Vanessa Abrams, living with Serena at the original apartment where Breakfast at Tiffany's was shot, and moving into designer Bailey Winter's East Hampton home as a muse. She also lived in the Yale Club of New York City for a short time, where she held her high school graduation bash.

After Nate, her relationships with other men have been quite rocky. She started a brief fling with her Yale alumni interviewer, only to end it when she finds out that he was married and has a daughter also studying at Constance. She also had a thing with Serena Van der Woodsen's older brother, Erik Van der Woodsen, while they were skiing at Sun Valley for spring break. After another messy break-up with Nate, she starts a brief affair with a British lord she met at the Yale Club, however, this was ended upon learning of his relationship with his second-cousin.

Blair is eventually accepted into Yale. She and Nate go on a month-long boat trip around the world over the summer and return a week before college starts, only to discover Serena waiting. At the end of the final book, Blair and Serena kiss and make up for good, and Nate leaves them both to sail across the world with his father's Navy mentor, Captain Chips White, to figure his life out, not wanting to choose between either girl or getting in the way of their friendship again.

TV series background

Wealthy and snobby, yet good-natured, Blair Waldorf is the daughter of high-end fashion designer Eleanor Waldorf and Harold Waldorf. Mr. Waldorf left Mrs. Waldorf for a man named Roman, and ran off to Paris. Blair is known for her Queen Bee status at the exclusive Contance Billard School for girls. Blair's friends joke that she has dated on/off again boyfriend Nate Archibald "since kindergarten."

eason 1

In Season 1 of "Gossip Girl", Blair is introduced as the Upper East Side 'Queen Bee,' who is dating Nate Archibald, best friends with Serena, and also close friends and plotting allies with Chuck Bass. [http://www.tv.com/gossip-girl/show/68744/episode.html 'Gossip Girl' Episode Recaps] . "TV.com". Retrieved on 2008-8-28] When her best friend, Serena van der Woodsen, returns home from boarding school, the two try to reconcile their friendship. Blair soon learns from her boyfriend, Nate, that he and a drunken Serena slept together behind her back. Blair, infuriated, ends her friendship with Serena. However, at the end of the episode "Poison Ivy", the two reconcile as Blair incorrectly stated that Serena had a drug problem (pictures, which Chuck Bass took, implied that Serena was a patient at the Ostroff Centre), when in fact Serena was there to visit her brother who tried to commit suicide. Nate continually seeks out Serena, and in the process breaks Blair's heart on numerous occasions; but Blair, hanging onto him, manages to keep their relationship together until "Victor/Victrola".

Blair and her fashion designer mother have a rocky relationship. Blair is convinced that Eleanor enjoys Serena's company more than her own and seems more convinced of this when Eleanor chooses Serena over Blair as a model for her clothing line. Her father left her and her mother for a man, Roman, and the two live in France. She is close to her father and is trying to have a closer relationship to her mother. It is also revealed that she has an eating disorder that she has overcome, but sometimes relapses back into when extremely distressed.

Fed up with Nate's attraction to Serena, Blair reaches her breaking point when Nate can't seem to reciprocate her love. She breaks it off with Nate and goes to Victrola, the burlesque club that Chuck Bass has recently purchased. After being challenged by Chuck to dance on stage, she loses her virginity to him in a limo in the spirit of the moment.

Regretful of her actions, Blair is focused on getting back together with Nate as soon as possible and warns Chuck to keep quiet about their affair. On the night of her birthday, however, Nate fails to make an appearance at her party, and Chuck confesses his feelings for her. He gives her a necklace as a birthday present that she had hoped Nate would get for her, and the two begin a secret affair.

She agrees to go to the Constance Billard's debutante ball with Nate, but she is distant, and in a fit of jealousy, Nate gets into a fight over her and is kicked out of the ball. Blair realizes that Chuck tricked Nate into getting into the fight and leaves Chuck to reconcile with Nate. Out of fear of losing Blair to Nate, Chuck attempts to manipulate events in his favor, but his plan back-fires and brings the two together again. Chuck sees Blair and Nate kissing and going into a room, and he leaves NYC miserably.

Chuck, driven by jealousy, threatens Blair that he'll tell Nate about the two of them. Blair ends things with Nate so that there would be no reason for Chuck to tell him. But when the three are part of a group of students threatened with suspension for breaking into the school, Nate, mistakenly thinking that Blair was responsible, takes the blame in her stead and is suspended. When Blair asks him why he confessed to something he did not do, he tells her because he loves her, and they reconcile with each other. In the next episode, Chuck reports to Gossip Girl that Blair had sex with two men in one week. Jenny confirms this to Nate when he asks her about it, Nate gets into a fight with Chuck, and he ends his relationships with Chuck and Blair.

Blair, now a social pariah, tries to flee for France—but Serena finds her at a dock for her private plane and convinces her not to leave.

Blair's entire life now revolves around climbing back up the social ladder. After sending false tips to Gossip Girl and trying to sabotage Jenny's birthday, Blair regains her throne by revealing that Jenny's boyfriend is gay, and just using her as a cover-up, but Jenny's reputation is ultimately ruined because she lied about having sex with him. The girls in the group quickly cut their ties with her and go back to being Blair's Clique.

Blair, Nate, and Chuck—who all hate each other, but remain Serena's three closest friends, then reunite and need to help Serena get rid of Georgina Sparks, who is blackmailing her with a tape of them accidentally killing a boy. In the process, the close-knit group of four reunites, and many fans have stolen Blair's nickname for the group and dubbed them the "Non Judging Breakfast Club." The four are ultimately the main characters of the story and hold the highest positions in the Upper East Side society.

At the Bass/van der Woodsen wedding, she and Chuck reconcile when Chuck announces in his speech that "in the face of true love, you never give up—even when the object of your affection is begging you to." The two share a kiss after he apologizes for his previous cruel words and indiscreet text messages. Blair is surprised, but incredibly happy to find Chuck being so "romantic." A week after the wedding, the beginning of summer, Blair and Chuck make plans to go to Tuscany together. However, Chuck reverts to his old habits for fear of losing the "Chuck Bass" portion of his nature and stands Blair up at the helipad, leaving Blair to fly off to Tuscany with the man she met at the helipad.

eason 2

A good portion of Blair's storyline in season 2 revolves around her love-hate relationship with Chuck Bass. At the beginning of season 2, Chuck tries to win her back, but Blair is preoccupied with her new fling, a British Lord by the name of Marcus Beaton. Blair manipulates Marcus's stepmother into a social alliance after she learns that the Duchess is actually her ex-boyfriend Nate's secret married lover Catherine. She later gains a bit of sympathy for Catherine when she realizes that Catherine's relationship with Marcus's father parallels her own sexless relationship with Marcus. Chuck picks up on that, and in the middle of a blackout at a party he puts on a fake British accent and seduces Blair. Marcus walks in on the two of them, and Blair admits she wasn't fooled, but that she needed Marcus to show her that he wanted her, physically. Vanessa discovers that Marcus is sleeping with Catherine, his step mom, and tells Blair. Blair threatened to tell Catherine's husband about her affair with Lord Marcus. She also told her she would keep her mouth shut if Catherine and Marcus left town together and paid off Nate's father's debts. Unfortunately, Vanessa went to Lord Marcus' father earlier and spilled the beans about Catherine and Marcus so Nate is still in debt.

With Marcus out of the picture, she waddles back into her clique of friends but as it turns out in the little time she was preoccupied with dating Marcus and getting rid of him, Serena van der Woodsen, her best friend and IT Girl, has regained her original spot as Queen Bee and acquired the favor of the girls in their clique once more. During Fashion Week, Blair, annoyed that Serena is the one in the spotlight, tries to ruin things for her by 1) switching the front row seat of Serena's for Eleanor Waldorf's fashion show, 2) convincing the runway models to leave, and 3) giving Serena the wrong dress to wear once it is decided she and Poppie Lifton and their friends are to model Eleanor's designs. Blair tries to mess with Jenny. At the moment she finds out Jenny is the one who suggested Serena and famous socialite Poppie Lifton have front row seats at Eleanor's show to generate more publicity, she lets it slip to Jenny's father she had not been to school for two weeks, and making the runaway models Jenny was in charge of leave just as the show was about to start. Even so, Blair is actually jealous of how easy it is for Serena to be the center of attention. While both Blair and Jenny have worked hard to achieve what they wanted Serena is the one to glide through everything. Blair confronts Serena backstage and she expresses hurt at the fact Serena broke their tradition of watching the fashion show from backstage. However, Serena rebuffs Blair's accusations and tells her bluntly how she always has to step aside so Blair can be the one to shine brightest, and that she no longer wants to hold back who she is just so Blair won't get her feelings hurt.

Reception

While covering the book series, the "Sunday Hearld Salon" called the creation of Blair "a masterstroke," asserting that "her selfishness, stubbornness and complete self-obsession make her the focus of much of the humour, but while she is the most flawed of the series’ main characters, she is also the most likable." The reviewer went on to state that the character was "satisfyingly human" despite her bravado, also asserting that the things Blair desires represent "normal teenage issues," and that "she is far more than the stereotypical Barbie rich girl who creeps into much teenage fiction."

While making reference to the TV series in a 2008 article, "People" magazine commented that "Meester has burst out of this ensemble to stardom." "Variety" acclaimed her performance as similar to that of "a predatory junior Joan Collins who practically breathes fire out of her pinched, perfectly WASP-ish nostrils." [http://www.people.com/people/leighton_meester "Leighton Meester"] "people.com". Retrieved on 2008-10-9] "FHM Online" ranked the actress the "Hottest TV Star" of autumn 2008, stating that as Blair Waldorf, "Meester has stolen the spotlight with her mind-blowing good looks and amazing performance." [ [http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/65728/index.html "Leighton Meester Named 'Hottest' by FHM Online"] "etonline.com". 2008-9-19. Retrieved on 2008-10-9]

The character's sense of fashion (credited to designer Abigail Lorick) [ [http://www.stylelist.com/celebrity-style/hottest-celebrities/abigail-lorick-dresses-gossip-girl "Celebrity Style: 'Gossip Girl'"] "stylelist.com". Retrieved on 2008-10-9] is popular, earning mentions from periodicals such as "InStyle" and "New York," [ [http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/03/blair_waldorfs_wardrobe_does_n.html "Blair Waldorf's Wardrobe Does Not Go Home With Her"] "nymag.com". 2008-3-19. Retrieved on 2008-10-9] along with recognition from numerous Websites. [ [http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/gg_blair_looks_071126/photo_0.html "Blair Waldorf's Signature Looks"] "ctv.ca". Retrieved on 2008-10-9] "TV Guide" also ranked Blair Waldorf among its "Best-Dressed TV Characters of 2007." [http://community.tvguide.com/thread/Heller-Hath-Fury/Best-Dressed-Tv/800029725& "Best-dressed TV Characters of 2007"] "tvguide.com". 2007-12-21. Retrieved on 2008-10-9]

Differences between the novels and TV series

Notable differences exist between the book series and the television adaptation with regard to Blair. In the opening credits of the TV series, she is billed second. Her favorite store in the books is Henri Bendel's, whereas in the TV series she has no particular favorite but wears many of the same designers as in the novels. Furthermore, in the book series, Blair and Chuck do not associate much; in the TV series, they are quite close and eventually start a rocky but serious relationship. Chuck, thus far, has acted as her central most love interest in the series as the majority of Blair's storylines involve him in one way or another.

Additional differences arise with regard to Blair's family. In the books, Blair has a younger brother named Tyler, whereas, in the TV series, she is an only child. Blair's mother, Eleanor, is single in the TV series, whereas in the book series, she is married to a man called Cyrus Rose, also inheriting a stepson, Aaron, around the same age as Blair. Eleanor is also a wealthy hostess in the book, while she is a designer in the show.

Blair has a cat named Kitty Minky in the book. It is noteworthy, though, that in the TV series, her father's lover Roman (Giles in the books), named their cat Cat, in reference to "Breakfast at Tiffany's", Blair's favorite movie. Also, in the TV series, audiences are given the impression Blair was bulimic before her dad left, but in the books, she becomes bulimic after he leaves.

Family

Book series

*Harold Waldorf (father)
*Eleanor Rose (mother)
*Tyler Waldorf (brother)
*Cyrus Rose (step-father)
*Aaron Rose (stepbrother)
*Yale Rose (half-sister)
*Ping Waldorf (adoptive half-brother)
*Pong Waldorf (adoptive half-sister)

TV series

*Harold Waldorf (father)
*Eleanor Waldorf (mother)

Flings and romantic relationships

Book series

*Nate Archibald (boyfriend)
*Miles (fling)
*Owen Wells (fling)
*Erik van der Woodsen (fling)
*Lord Marcus (ex-boyfriend)
*Jason (fling)

TV series

*Nate Archibald
** First Relationship:
*** Start Up: Before "Pilot" (1.01)
*** Broke Up: "Victor, Victrola" (1.07)
**** Reason: Blair confronts Nate about his confession to 'Serena'.
** Second Relationship:
*** Start Up: "Hi, Society" (1.10)
*** Broke Up: "School Lies" (1.12)
**** Reason: Chuck threatens to tell Nate about their relationship if Blair continues seeing him.
** Third Relationship:
*** Start Up: "School Lies" (1.12)
*** Broke Up: "The Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate" (1.13)
**** Reason: Nate learns about Blair's secret relationship with Chuck.

* Chuck Bass
** First Relationship:
*** Start: "Victor, Victrola" (1.07)
*** Broke Up: "Hi, Society" (1.10)
****Reason: Blair believed that Chuck purposely ruined her Cotillion.
** Second Relationship:
*** Start: "Much 'I Do' About Nothing" (1.18)
*** Broke Up: Before Summer, Kind of Wonderful (2.01)
****Reason: Chuck was afraid of letting Blair get too close, so he left Blair in Europe.

* Lord Marcus Beaton
** Start: Before "Summer Kind of Wonderful" (201)
** Broke Up: "The Ex-Files" (204)
***Reason: Blair learns from Vanessa that Marcus is sleeping with his step mother Catherine.

References