Know Thy Enemy, Part 1 of 3 - The Women in Purple

Episode Synopsis: Isobel returns with multiple double-crosses that end in her turning Katherine over to Klaus. Bonnie, Jeremy and Damon go on a field trip to the burial site of all the witches, where Bonnie is given more magic. If her first use of it is any indication, she now has the power of a very strong leaf blower. Caroline tells Matt the truth about Vicky, and he promptly tells Caroline’s mother everything – including that Caroline is a vampire.. Isobel takes Elena to the graveyard where Isobel’s parents had an empty grave for Isobel, and after much dramatic vampire speechifying, Klaus’s henchman releases Isobel. She promptly rips off her necklace and bursts into flames in front of Elena, making Isobel parent #3 to die in front of Elena and adding at least another five years to her therapy bills.

The A-plot was all about Elena, Katherine, and Isobel this week. To drive this point home, all three were wearing purple with black coats through the last act.

I love that wardrobe dresses Elena like a normal teenager when she’s at home. Jeans, a ridiculously comfy looking sweater, Converse. This is definitely what Elena would be wearing after a night spent trying to talk to her very mature guardian through a door.

It’s also yet another wine color for Elena, which seems to be her big color at the moment. I can’t complain – the color works for her. It’s a good thing Nina Dobrev’s complexion works well with dark reds; if she were a pale blonde, the bright reds would be far too obvious a connection to blood and vampireness.

Elena in the outfit Katherine picked out for her. You have to give Katherine credit - she does manage to nail Elena’s style. Then again, it’s not hard: henley + tank + jeans + straight hair = Elena Gilbert. Alternately, my wardrobe on any particular day, but I don’t have a fabulous undead doppelganger hell-bent on creating chaos while maintaining perfect curls and spectacular cleavage. I love that Katherine styled the outfit a little for Elena: Elena would probably have worn knee high flat boots with this outfit, but Katherine made sure to leave her with stiletto booties. I’d love to watch an episode where Katherine goes through Elena’s closet and gives her a makeover. Oh man, how awesome would a makeover reality show hosted by Katherine be?

Just a normal morning for Katherine: cute tank top, perfect hair and makeup. I’d love to find out that she’s secretly compelled a hairstylist to live in her closet and fix her up every day, mostly because curling your hair takes time out of an otherwise busy day of scheming and backstabbing.

This was an episode full of long shots that let us see the whole outfit. What I took from this scene was that Nina Dobrev might have the longest legs ever, in the history of the universe. Also, Katherine loves stiletto ankle booties, and I need to own that jacket. The feed I watch when I livetweeted this episode cut out most of this act, so I completely missed what was clearly the winning Leather Jacket of the Week.

Another angle on the awesome cropped motorcycle jacket with the flared back was big among vampires this week – both Katherine and Caroline wore jackets with that cut. It works way better on the leather jacket than on Caroline’s denim one.

Because the Sweet Valley twins wore the same dress this episode (spoiler alert: in the next episode, they switch places to go on each other’s dates!) , I thought it was worth comparing and contrasting how they looked – because, although the differences were small, they were very telling.

This purple dress is gorgeous, but not something I would have picked for Elena. It’s a little lower-cut than we usually see from her – she’s been more of a sweetheart neckline girl in the past, unless I’m forgetting something. I love the little pyramid stud cuff she’s wearing, it’s very unlike her.

Getting this full shot of the dress was great, because it’s really easy to compare and contrast the differences between Elena wearing it and Katherine wearing it. The dress is low-cut, but Elena’s kept it fairly modest with only a little cleavage and a longer hemline. It looks great on her, although I’m not loving the black heel (you’ll see them in Katherine’s section). It makes sense, though. She’s never been one for dressing up, so it makes sense that she’d only have a few pairs of heels. Even still, when you have a badass doppelganger running around, at least raid her closet once or twice. Isn’t that the perk of having an evil twin?

Speaking of perks … in case you can’t tell from the livetweets, one of my favorite things about Katherine is her unrelenting devotion to push-up bras. Even when she’s pretending to be Elena, she can’t help but rock some major cleavage. The first time she saw a WonderBra, she must have thought, “Finally, my time has arrived.”

I really liked this coat. It has a pea coat feel, but having only two buttons keeps the jacket from feeling too casual. Like I said at the top of this post, all three women in the A-plot spend the last act wearing purple dresses with black jackets, a point that’s prominently on display here.

It wasn’t until I was screencapping for this post that I noticed the most striking difference between Elena and Katherine in this dress: the hemline is several inches shorter. Is Katherine taller than Elena, or do vampires have magic hemming powers?

Another thing I didn’t notice until I was screencapping for this post: the moment when Stefan realizes that Elena is actually Katherine. Watch his eyes:

A quick glance down, then up – Katherine, when will you learn that your cleavage will betray you every time?

Despite packing heavily for this trip, Isobel spent the entire episode in one outfit.

This is the problem with dresses that have pockets: you are going to put your hands in the pockets, and it’s going to totally screw up the lines of the dress. I’m not loving the fit for Isobel to begin with, and the pockets don’t help. It’s all just a little too comfortable for a vampire – maybe I’ve been spoiled by Katherine, but vampires shouldn’t be wearing dresses that I would pick to conceal a food baby.

Isobel’s huge hoops were terribly distracting to me through her entire scene in the Gilbert kitchen. They’re gigantic. The earrings kept poking through her hair because they were hitting her neck and her shoulders. I was hoping that Elena would try to pitch lemons through them.

I don’t think Isobel changed her dress through the episode, but she did wear two different coats. The first was a drapey jacket that I couldn’t get any good shots of, but I think it had a leather back. The second was a peacoat style that she wore through the last act – a look I loved because it felt so young and innocent.

And finally, answering that eternal question: what kind of luggage does a vampire use when she doesn’t have to carry her own bags? Louis Vuitton, of course.

Know Thy Enemy, Part 2 of 3 - The Supernatural Ones

This week, Stefan decided to tone down his otherwise flamboyant wardrobe in favor of a grey button-down and black pea coat. It’s a good thing he didn’t go with his usual bright paisley shirt and sequined Hammer pants, I was getting sick of all the color and patterns.

Damon also stuck with his usual look – dark pants, dark neutral t-shirt, black jacket, boots. Look, Damon, I know that you’re the brooding undead bad boy, but can’t you switch it up occasionally? Maybe a well-tailored suit? Just something to break up the monotony.

Yeah, that works.

Meanwhile, in the plotline of secrets and lies, Caroline continues to have a wardrobe I want. Her plaid skirt and knee high boot combination is very first-season Veronica Mars.

At first, I loved this jacket almost solely for the cut. Then I saw it in HD, and now I’m starting to think it’s acid washed, which is definitely unfortunate.

As is the back of the jacket – on its own, that little flared detail is similar to Katherine’s motorcycle jacket and is kind of cute. But when paired with a shirt that apparently has tails, the whole thing is just too layered and busy to work. And seriously, why does her shirt have tails? What’s up with that?

Bonnie, being a witch and therefore the earthy character on this show, is wearing yet another empire-waist peasant top. It’s not particularly flattering, but this is Bonnie, so that goes without saying. Ultimately it doesn’t matter - the dead witches gave her the power to have a really convincing Storm Halloween costume, so I guess they don’t mind her questionable wardrobe choices.

Know Thy Enemy, Part 3 of 3 - All the Rest

After spending some time with Señor Tequila, Jenna decides she’s fulfilled her parent-figure duties and locks herself in her room to make Elena’s mother’s return all about her. At least this allows us to get a good look at her very cute equestrian-style boots.

The next day, she switches out the equestrian boots for a daytime appropriate pair of brown ones, the better for storming around the foyer.

She flounces around looking way more styled than one would expect from someone who just spent the night devastated over lies and betrayal. Then again, you can only pout in your room for so long before getting bored, so she probably decided to kill some time by flat-ironing her hair around 5 am. 

 Jeremy doesn’t do much beyond follow Bonnie and occasionally ask exposition-enabling questions, but he’s pretty cute while doing it. With Stefan masquerading as a high schooler but looking as if he’s stepped out of an Abercrombie store, it’s nice to be reminded of how an actual teenage boy dresses.

Speaking of teenage boys, the oldest looking mortal high schooler in all the land is still reeling after learning that Caroline is a vampire. I’m going to take this opportunity to let it be known that I hate those fur collared Sherpa jackets. I don’t know why, but they’ve always bugged me. It’s fitting then that Matt, who always inexplicably kind of bugs me, is wearing a Sherpa jacket.

My favorite part of watching a tv show is keeping an eye on the extras or the minor characters. After doing several takes of a scene in which they don’t have much to do besides react or open a door, they start giving their characters some major attitude.

Those poor cater-waiters. Not only are they traumatized by John’s lifeless body, they’re stuck wearing truly hideous uniforms. I didn’t think anything could clash with khaki, but these vests have proven me wrong.

I hope these actors thought of a backstory for their characters. I’ve decided that they are brother and sister, and they’re catering to support their vaudeville act.

Then you have Isobel’s chauffer, owner of a giant belt buckle and a whole lot of attitude. See, Damon? It’s possible to wear black but switch it up occasionally. I’m not suggesting you wear this outfit, but I just want you to see the possibilities.

This may be my character choice ever. As he opens the door for Isobel and Elena, the chauffer pops one leg out in this wonderfully impatient, quietly sassy stance.

There is an entire character in that belt buckle and bent leg – a character I want to get to know. Is he a vampire? Is he working for Klaus? Think about the possibilities of the two of them drinking wine and gossiping – you know they would come up with some awesome schemes. At the very least, can he be on Katherine’s makeover show, “Your Style Bites?”

Katherine is far too evil to be without a henchman, and this chauffer is definitely the man for the job.

Mini Recap: Know Thy Enemy

Elena is kidnapped by Isobel, who manages to double-cross just about everyone before killing herself in front of Elena. So, y'know, just a normal day in the life of Elena Gilbert.

Best Outfit
Elena's purple dress. Of course, Katherine's push-up bra really helped the look.

Jacket of the Week
There were jackets all around, but I was loving Caroline's sleek cropped denim jacket.

Gratuitous Ab Shot
What? Don't you take off your shirt when you wash your hands?

Like Mother, Like Daughter
All I could think about during any scene between Elena and Isobel was their gorgeous hair. It's hypnotic.

Check back on Sunday for my complete recap!