Ok, ok, ok, the cat is out of the bag, despite my previous protestations at the way a lot of the fashion blogosphere have gone doolally over Gossip Girl, I am in fact a faithful downloader and viewer of the show and have even been urging friends from foreign lands who have yet to get the show in their country to do a bit of BitTorrenting... it goes without saying that Fashion is Spinach minute by minute commentary on the show is also compulsive reading.  Don't shoot me, there's a lot of Susie time to fill on drab evenings and American teen shows with silly storylines and heightened fashion (though me thinks the strike has done the writing quality some good, non?) can be a neccessity. 

Coming from a country where school uniform is pretty much standard across the country and where little variation/play is permitted, it is quite funny watching the school uniform being played up and costumified the way it is in Gossip Girl.  Everyone somehow comes off looking like they're NOT wearing school uniform as they're gussied up with various trenches, tights, headbands, jackets and accessories, all detracting from what is a white shirt with a ribbon necktie and a tartan skirt.  Yes, they are ALL actually wearing those two items even if they're heavily disguised. 

So with my bog standard navy skater skirt and a Fred Perry white shirt with necktie, I had a bit of school hi-jinx fun and if the rules can indeed be bent away, imagine the number of characters that could pop up...

Heather gets the A grades without even trying.  She might turn up to school, she might not.  Black makes her think clearly and precisely. 

Constance steals Chanel from her mother and messes it up.  She likes pearl necklaces but she might deconstruct them to make a headband.

Laia hardly says a word but she has some secrets hiding in her cigarette box which she always carries with her.

Victoria does her homework duly but struggles ever so much.  Her glasses always falls off her nose as she tries to figure out what sort of florals to wear each day.

Vada doesn't know whether she's coming or going.  Late everyday, hair in disarray and the only thing keeping her in school are her parents' hefty annual donations to the not so discreet 'School Fund'. 

Fenella is the British transfer student and she's slowly yet surely adjusting to her new school.  Once the shell is opened up, she might even show the Upper East Siders a thing or two about what she knows about decadence.   

Background pics from Teen Vogue