Blair Waldorf is the only role model I’ll ever need

Sure she was bitchy, manipulative, and downright evil, but Blair Waldorf was also fabulous, sophisticated, and always got what she wanted. If you were ever Team Serena, then look away now, because this article is an ode to the one role model every girl should have, the true It-Girl of the Upper East Side, Blair Waldorf.

She’s hard working and determined

Although Blair Waldorf might be the literal personification of white privilege, but that doesn’t mean she is handed everything on a silver platter (although when she is handed things it does normally involve an actual silver platter). Everything she achieves on the show doesn’t come from her wealth, or her status, but from her hard work; her Queen B status at Constance, her place at Columbia Uni, her success as a designer.

She doesn’t settle for mediocrity, or believe in fate. The only way to get what you want is through hard work and determination.

She’s independent 

She may have had a string of boyfriends before she and Chuck finally took the plunge and got married, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t also incredibly okay with being single. She knew her self-worth better than any other character on the show, and she refused to be defined by others. She repeatedly cuts people out of her life when the relationship becomes toxic – even Serena – and she openly refuses to be known as just ‘Chuck Bass’ wife’, even if it means losing the man she loves. She is her own person, with or without a man at her side.

Her style is flawless

Blair Waldorf is the Elizabeth Taylor of fictional TV characters. She may have aspired to be like Grace Kelly when she married the Prince of Monaco, but she becomes her – and every other icon from the 50/60s – through her timeless and effortless fashion.

She is aware of and accepts her insecurities

Everyone has insecurities, even the Upper East Side’s most powerful woman – Blair Waldorf. The thing that makes her so powerful though, is the fact that she is aware of her insecurities, she accepts them as part of her character. Sure, they may be the root of some of her worst qualities – her scheming and manipulating, for one – but she knows that only by accepting all of who she is can she eventually mature, into the powerful woman she’s always wanted to be.

She doesn’t take crap from anyone

Crossing Blair Waldorf means accepting the fact that she will immediately begin to plot your downfall. She refuses to let people try and walk all over her, and that’s a lesson Little J learnt the hard way.

She is forgiving

Serena did some really terrible things to Blair throughout the six seasons, like the time she had sex with Nate while he was dating Blair, or when she had sex with Dan while he was dating Blair (she’s nothing if not predictable), or even that time she leaked Blair’s private diary to Gossip Girl for the entire Upper East Side to see. Despite all this, Blair repeatedly forgives and forgets, a quality that many people lack, and an important characteristic to possess.

She has great taste in men

Discounting the unfortunate incident with the Prince who turned out to be Not-So-Charming, Blair’s dating repertoire included “golden boy” Nate Archibald, romantic outsider Dan Humphrey, and, of course, Chuck Bass. She singlehandedly turned the ultimate bad boy into the boyfriend every girl dreams of. She even managed to get the biggest commitment phobe of the Upper East Side to marry her. If that doesn’t gain her role model status, then nothing will.

She is an amazing friend

She might be a tough love kind of friend, and sure, if you cross her you can be sure she’ll have a scheme in mind to get revenge, but she will do anything to protect her friends, and keep them out of trouble. Not to mention, she is fiercely loyal, especially to Serena; best friends are forever, no matter how many times they fight.

She’s smart

She may not have attended Yale like she always dreamed, but she still graduated at the top of her class at Constance, and attended an Ivy League University. She constantly proved herself to be more than just a pretty face; how else would she be able to give such profound advice, or come up with all her elaborate schemes?

She knows what she wants and she won’t settle for less

Blair proved time and time again that if she wanted something, she would get it, and she wouldn’t settle for less than she deserved. Remember that time she faxed a letter to every machine at W, which was over 200 machines? Or the time Chuck Bass, who she loved more than the world itself, traded her for his hotel, and she ditched him instantly? She knew she wanted to be a powerful, successful woman, and she knew she wanted a man at her side who loved her completely when she achieved that, and nothing stopped her from fighting for what she wanted.

She’s not perfect

She makes mistakes, same as everyone, and she learns from them. She’s not some unattainable figure of perfection. She’s raw. She’s real.