Gone With the Will - Part 1 of 3 - The Good

Chuck buckles down and sits down with good ol' Uncle Jack for a reading of Bart's will. All good intentions aside, Blair interferes and tries to bolster him up with her own belief, but of course, we all know it won't be enough. Not exactly helping is Jack's plan to completely discredit Chuck in front of the Bass Industries board. Meanwhile, Lily and Rufus are still in Boston, unsuccessfully trying to locate their son, and with Nelly Yuki, a bit of stealth, and Vanessa's big mouth, their secret finally hits the Upper East Side.

I've waxed rhapsodic enough about Blair's school uniforms enough, but I can't help myself here.



Her plaid suit with fitted pencil skirt and crisp white blouse is straightforward enough, but the deep plum coat and black quilted bag add some great touches.



If you look closer, the plaid of the suit fabric is rich and textured.

When Blair throws a brunch to support Chuck's new inheritance of Bass Industries, she reserves the entire plate of eclairs for her man and shows up looking fabulous.



Another fitted skirt, this one a heather gray, paired with a beautiful white silk printed blouse.



And really, how stunning does her hair look here?

I never thought I would be adding Vanessa to a "Best of" list.  Usually a mainstay of the "Worst Dressed" list, I have to guess that maybe her proximity to the A list is finally beginning to rub off on her.



Whenever Vanessa is successful at making her Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat approach work, it's because she's smart at mixing patterns, and she includes a neutral that balances the whole look out.  The awesome coat she's wearing tones down the pattern of her skirt and the tights, and sets off the gorgeous striped scarf she's wearing.



Plus, major props on the hair, her makeup is understated and gorgeous, and most shocking of all, I love her silver hoop earrings.

Unlike Vanessa, it's not at all a surprise to see Chuck dressing well.  This outfit in particular I think is a harbringer to come, especially in Season 3, when he goes all "Wall Street."  But it still contains a lot of the flair that makes Chuck Bass, Chuck Bass.



This would be a fairly staid gray suit, light blue shirt combination, but the red striped tie adds just enough color, and even ties in with his mustard yellow pocket square.



His khaki trench with black piping adds just the right dandified touch.

Little Eric is really taking a page from his elder stepbrother's style book.



I love this double breasted jacket with the shawl collar.  Sophisticated details but not overdone for someone of Eric's age.

And for Blair's brunch, Eric does color matching like a pro, pairing an ivory and tan striped shirt with this gorgeous red and gray sweater.

Serena nails one outfit out of the park this episode--this amazing coat and her even more amazing turquoise knee-length boots.  I'm not going to lie, I'd probably commit at least a misdemeanor for those boots.



Plus, her double-breasted military-inspired jacket paired with the gray scarf is very flattering on her.



Her gold woven bag is just hideous though, and completely the wrong choice for this outfit. But I suppose we've come to expect S to sport at least one beachwear item per outfit, even on the coldest of NYC days.

Gone With the Will - Part 2 of 3 - The Bad

I think we all know what Blair was thinking when she selected this empire waisted dress for her private "not a date" dinner with Chuck.  I have to applaud her way of thinking, and even though she looks fabulous, I think Chuck would have agreed with me:  it's not her.

Frankly, it looks just a little too much like a slip for me.

Jack Bass is the epitome of a wolf in a sheep's skin.



Why?  He's wearing the Bass purple, and the nasty streak in him a mile wide proves he doesn't deserve it.

Oh, Serena.



While Blair's dress might have looked vaguely lingerie-like, at least she didn't have an easy-access zipper.  And despite the field trip to Dylan's Candy Bar, stringing rock candy onto your necklace is just plain tacky.

This is, unfortunately, not much better.



The sequined sweater dress usually ages just about anyone 10 years, unless you're 40, and then it looks like you're just trying too hard.

I don't hate this studded gray coat of Jenny's, but for some reason I still find it odd.  Still, Little J is headed the right direction with the bejeweled collar.  I think the problem is all the decoration plus the extra detailing. It's a lot of look for one simple coat.

As for the Mean Girls, they don't get it right, either.



The individual parts of Nelly Yuki's school uniform aren't bad, but as a whole they don't work that well together.  I love her red glasses, and it would have been great to see more color in general instead of that sad looking black and white furry poncho.

Isabel looks great, though, in this smart plaid trench with coordinating purple tie.

I hate to say it, but Penelope would be much better off dropping the headband schtick.  They aren't flattering on her.  Otherwise, her hair would be really pretty on her, and I do love the nubby pink and gray plaid coat.

This tryptic of outfits begs the question: do they have rules such as "On Wednesdays we wear plaid coats"? I would very much enjoy an Insider's Guide to the CB Mean Girls to explain such things.

Gone With the Will - Part 3 of 3 - The Ugly

Honestly, could Dan try any less?



He can't even be bothered to tuck in his damn shirt.

What a drab combo--brown plaid shirt with gray cardigan.  I'm tempted to curl into the fetal position if I stare too long at him.





The other Humphrey child isn't doing much better. It's hard to know what to make of this outfit of Little J's.



It might have been halfway decent without the black turtleneck, but even then, I think the strange pleating and colorblocking would have been enough to pass on this.  Plus, her hair is just weird here.

Lily must really be feeling blue over her son's disappearance because her outfits this episode are a character-low.



A plethora of brass buttons do not a stylish tunic make.

And this is just plain shapeless and gray and ugly.  On the plus side, I do like seeing her hair down--except it's kind of limp and greasy.

Maybe Lily's problem is that she's spending too much time around the style vaccum that is Rufus Humphrey.



Tan corderoy shirt and that brown blazer? Just sad.

And here - much like his son - he's just not trying at all.  A little effort, please?





Back to the kids.

"On Thursdays we take stereotypes to their most extreme."

If you looked up "upper class brunch attire" in the dictionary, you might find pieces parts of all these outfits: brocade, bows, pearls, tweed.  Unfortunately they took this direction and layered them all on until it's just plain overwhelming.  Best of the bunch is probably Penelope's biscuit Chanel-style suit.  Without that ridiculous pink bow headband, she might have managed a somewhat sophisticated look. (And is that a dumbphone that Penelope is holding? Doing these retro recaps is such fun sometimes.)

Hazel, a slender girl, packs on the pounds in her jacket and skirt combination not helped at all by those sloppy strands of pearls.  

Do not even get me started on the clown bow that Iz choose. This is where I lose my patience and say goodnight.