Gossip Girl setting fashion trends: Lebanese young viewers identification with media characters

Abstract

This article aims at expanding the knowledge of identification with the fashion of media characters on the series Gossip Girl (Schwartz and Savage, 2007). Since the subject has already been investigated abroad, this article helps gain an understanding of the topic in Lebanon, and its influence on Lebanese female teenagers and young adults. The theory of Identification is adopted throughout the study. The article uses a qualitative research method to analyse a series of interviews with eighteen Lebanese females, between the ages of 16 and 26 years old. The interview questions are explored under four themes: the fashion element of Gossip Girl, similarities, imitation and identification. The main findings indicate that the interviewees are aware of the prominent fashion element of the series and imitate their favourite characters in terms of fashion styles. This leads to the deduction of identification with Gossip Girl characters' fashion styles.