Convergence Fashion: Hailing the Gossip Girl Fan

Curator's Note

Much like Veronica Mars and The OC, Gossip Girl features the lives of the young elite. Through its focus on the multiple viewpoints, Gossip Girl humanizes its wealthy characters, casting wealth and privilege as adolescent constraints, akin to more run of the mill coming of age issues such as sexuality and popularity. This humanizing of NY’s teen royalty allows the program to have it both ways: showcasing an idealized NY society, and yet making the characters accessible. This type of personalization—a favored structure among TV fans—has fueled the show’s nascent fandom. Like fans of Veronica Mars and the The OC, and Roswell and Buffy before, Gossip Girl fans celebrate strong female characters and, at the same time, focus on the material aspects of the show’s signature style. In their engagement with the show’s fashion, viewers identify with the character’s sense of self through their sense of style. In the case of Gossip Girl, the CW’s official website has been designed to capitalize on this type of fandom, showcasing (by character) information about the various clothing and accessories worn by the different characters. However, aware of economic disparity, on websites and online forums fans share not only their appreciation of the various clothes/jewelry/bags displayed on Gossip Girl, but also suggest more affordable alternatives. This clip, available at the Gossip Girl official site (and shared by fans at youtube) encapsulates the CW’s savvy extratextual campaign: the program’s costume designer discusses character wardrobes, associating fashion choices with character in a way very much in tune with fan engagement. The closing voice over suggests that fans can replicate the spirit of the look through their own carefully chosen consumerism.