Serena van Der Woodsen Style Analysis: The Allure of Visually Dominant Characters

I go more in depth on this in the Blair Waldorf video. I'll be also using my knowledge as a stylist and different tropes of television and film to define the character. To start, we will look at extroversion, which Serena is very high in. Serena's colorful personal history and easygoing nature suggest that she's an extrovert. This is depicted in her very first outfit, as she is first introduced to us as a mystery girl in a preppy travel look at Grand Central. Her caramel colored leather jacket, nautical striped shirt, printed handkerchief, and of course her signature long flowing undone blonde hair signifies this kind of effortless, breezy, 2000s off-duty model look that she will continue to have in episodes to come. Serena does whatever she wants, when she wants. She's the life of the party, with her free, fun-loving spirit, who may be wild, but also a genuinely kind person. These traits are found in her clothing, as they are usually very bright, colorful, and often have silhouettes that take up a lot of space. This establishes a form of dominance, when someone makes their body physically bigger or higher up than others, they are sending superiority signals. Going back to our prehistoric roots, a common and critical way to show dominance is to appear large and powerful. Her fashion is eye-catching. She is never one to settle for a boring look. She often sports the boho look, which is a style that is inspired by the lifestyle of free spirits and hippies of the late 1960s and 1970s. This aligns with Serena's attitude towards life, as she tends to embrace the carefree, relaxed, and unusual. She wears a lot of earthy and warm hues. A trademark of Serena is the color gold, from her hair to her gowns. She tends to be draped in it. Gold in psychology is linked to, and symbolizes, success, achievement, and triumph. It's deeply associated with abundance, prosperity, luxury, quality, prestige, and sophistication. There is a value and elegance within this color, as it implies an affluence, material wealth, and extravagance. It's perfect for Serena, as she is this beaming light of her social circle, and comes from an affluent family. Goes to the best private schools, and has a prestigious social circle that often requires her to dress up. For conscientiousness, she is very low. Serena's nature is impulsive and disorganized, like how she is more frequently shown arriving home in the morning to the relief of her mother, still wearing a cocktail dress from the night before. Serena puts off dealing with consequences, and gets into the habit of this, since she's so easily forgiven by those around her. This is because she carries a lightness to her that gives her an allure, but also a naivete. This plays into the light vs dark feminine trope. This is a character contrast trope, where two female characters are decidedly feminine, but in very different ways. Serena is the light, generally seen as angelic and loving, whereas Blair is the dark, generally devilish and plays with desire. Light characters are usually very sweet, and can come off very innocent, even if they're doing something wrong, whereas dark characters are usually aloof and brooding. As with any two character trope, Serena and Blair's traits play directly off of each other as they are character foils. She is the light to Blair's dark. Opposites really do attract, since despite their frequent takedowns of one another, Blair and Serena have an undeniably sister-like friendship. For openness, Serena is very high, as she is curious, imaginative, spontaneous, and open-minded. She will often travel, party, or do things on a whim, rather than thinking out her actions. Open people tend to prefer variety and value independence. That's why we see Serena often stray away from the Upper East Side, and put herself out there. She is very charismatic and good with people, so as a result, she can often have things handed to her, or opportunities given to her, based off her personality, looks, and social standing, rather than intelligence or skill. For instance, she gets to choose between three Ivy League universities. However, it's explicitly said that she's only wanted there not because of her academic prowess, but because of her place in society. Another example of this is how she hijacks a photoshoot, but not on purpose. Her openness is easily seen in her body language, face, actions, and style, hence easily making her a muse. Serena is noted to be the muse of several designers, particularly in the books, though For agreeableness, Serena is high. A person with a high level of agreeableness and a personality test is usually very warm, friendly, and quite tactful. They generally have an optimistic view of human nature, and get along easily with others. They place a lot of value on social harmony, and Serena can easily create this because of her kindness, affection, and demeanor. Even though she's an intimidating, beautiful person, she can still be very down to earth and connect with others. People who are high in agreeableness tend to also be more cooperative, while those low in this trait will be more competitive and often manipulative. For her neuroticism, Serena is low. Her nature is quite internally calm, even when she is distressed. She is very confident and resilient. Of course, she does have her down moments where she is upset, but they tend to blow over very quickly, as she moves on to the next thing or the next person. She tends to let others take care of her mistakes, and often falls into the damsel in distress trope. The fact that her being in a car crash thanks to wolves roaming New York, being conned by her boyfriend, and her mother having her arrested for stealing a bracelet are not even the best examples of why she fits into this trope. The only time that we see higher neurosis within Serena is when it comes to her always needing someone to love her. The highest point of neurosis in this character was when she had a phase where she was spending a lot of time looking for her father. Serena tends to fill this void through looking for love outside of herself and becomes in love with love. Unlike Blair, who is more focused on self-fulfillment and betterment, Serena's drives are external and tend to be her relationships with others.