The Perfection of Lily Rhodes

Part Two of Two

Season Three

Lily is gone for the first few episodes of the season, visiting CeCe, who is undergoing medical treatments. When Lily returns (3.4), she learns that Serena is delaying Brown for a year and blames Rufus for not telling her. The next episode, they make up and begin planning their wedding—which, naturally, causes more conflict, Rufus preferring an elopement, and Lily wanting something that reflects her status as “Lily Bass.”

Still, the ceremony ends up becoming a union of their desires (symbolized by the appearance of their shared child, Scott); Lily’s look, too: Designed by Jenny, the gown is nothing like the traditional Vera Wang that Lily wore for her wedding to Bart Bass. It’s a more formal version of the satin pieces she wears in everyday life with Rufus, the color magenta instead of white, the earrings blue. Her dress and the wedding are no longer for show; they’re a reflection of a real life together: “Marrying you,” she tells Rufus, “means finally giving myself a real partner, my children a real father, and finally letting myself truly love.”

Isn’t that sweet? Well, it’s not going to stop Lily from being Lily! On Halloween (3.7), Rufus wants to dress up and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Lily tries to explain that their fancy building never gets trick-or-treaters (accepting free food is for poors!!), and instead of just letting a grown man learn for himself, pays their doorman, Vanya, to bring kids up to the penthouse. Rufus dresses like a member of the Ramones, and Lily’s outfit might as well be a costume, too: she wears a camel suit, a little black bow on her bun, very CeCe-like—a mother indulging “childish” whims. 

Bubble Episode

For this profile, we’ll look closer at episode eleven, “The Treasure of Serena Madre.” “Madre” means “mother” in multiple languages, and so this episode is an excellent example of how Lily and Serena’s mother-daughter relationship manifests through clothing.

On first appearance, Lily learns that Serena isn’t coming to Thanksgiving: Serena says she’s volunteering at a soup kitchen along with newly elected, very married Congressman Tripp van der Bilt’s other staff, but secretly, she’ll be spending the day with just Tripp. Lily receives the news in a Humphrey-brown dress and little diamond hoops, an understated outfit for what she now believes will be a quiet Thanksgiving week.

Lily is no stranger to affairs, but Serena’s first look shows she takes a sloppier, less subtle approach: To meet with Tripp, she chooses Lily staples, a tie blouse and a bun, but both are messy and loose. Outside, Serena tops her outfit with a wearable Judy Chicago piece. (That’s a vagina joke. The coat looks like vaginas.) Tripp has promised Serena that he’s divorcing his wife, Maureen, though not for her, of course! For him (or something)!  

Speaking of coats, Lily runs into Maureen on the street, and they’re wearing the same one, a brown tweed number with bracelet sleeves, paired with different scarves and gloves. While their identical coats will later lead to a mix-up, they also speak to these women’s similarities. They’re both highly controlled people, willing to maintain their image, money, power, to whatever cost to their relationships. Lily tells Maureen about Serena volunteering with the staff, and Maureen quickly understands that her husband is having an affair. When Lily invites them to their dinner, she accepts.

The day of, Lily chooses a black satin top, black-and-gold tassel lariat, gem drops, and brocade skirt, the lariat harkening back to the necklace she wore to Serena’s cotillion. Serena herself is again a messy imitation of Lily: a black low-cut jumpsuit, diamond studs, and a chignon. She thinks she’s making adult, responsible choices, not sleeping with Tripp until he’s separated, and yet her youth and naivete are obvious. She thinks she’s in control, but she’s not.

Maureen embodies true Lily style: a floral-printed dress with a black jeweled cardigan. She reveals the affair at the dinner table, and Serena, shamed by her mother, briefly ends her relationship with Tripp. Serena soon finds a letter from her father, William van der Woodsen, hidden in the family safe. Lily, the letter says, was with William that summer, while she was supposed to be with CeCe.

When Serena leaves with Tripp, she hands the letter to Lily, saying she can never judge her daughter again. Lily, in a rush to hide the letter from Rufus, accidentally stuffs it into Maureen’s identical coat. Maureen had the power all along, and now she has the leverage to reclaim her marriage.  

Following Thanksgiving, Lily’s looks suddenly become more casual, easy: loose hair, soft sweaters and jackets, almost as if she’s thinking back to her visits to the loft in season one. After Maureen gives him the letter, Rufus goes to Brooklyn, and Lily is desperate to bring him back. By episode fifteen, they reconcile, but Lily soon leaves for a secret six-month checkup with William—that summer’s treatments were for her, not CeCe. Serena finds her parents together and brings them home to finally tell Rufus the truth: Lily’s illness has returned, and she is undergoing another round of treatment under William’s care. (Honestly, I say “illness” because her diagnosis is never confirmed, though “vague cancer” seems about right.)

As the season continues, William becomes closer to his children and Lily, and insinuates himself further into their life, even subletting in their building (3.20). When Lily is informed of his new apartment, she’s wearing her smaller diamond studs and a typical Lily dress, with two important differences: First, her white undergarment shows in multiple shots. This may not seem unusual (other characters have visible bra straps), but for image-conscious Lily, it’s significant, almost vulnerable. Second, she’s wearing a pink bow on her bun, even bigger than the one she wore on Halloween in her CeCe cosplay. CeCe adores William, prefers him over Rufus, and now, he’s getting under Lily’s skin, too.

Later in the episode, William is honored as a distinguished alumnus at Columbia and makes a pass at Lily in his speech. When Rufus objects, Lily sends him back to the loft. For the event, she wears a gold dress, metallic like Serena’s; Rhodes women united around William.

In the next episode, however, Blair and the gang uncover William’s scheme: After falling back in love with Lily that summer, he decided to fake a recurrence of her illness so he could “save” her again and hopefully win her affections. This plan is obviously twisted, and so William is sent packing by the end of the season, Lily reunited with Rufus.

Season Four

At the beginning of season four, Lily has happily settled back into her marriage with Rufus and her usual wardrobe: brightly colored blouses and day dresses, turquoise jewelry and diamond studs.

In episode six, Serena asks Lily to borrow jewelry for a New York Observer party. (Ivanka and Jared make a cameo, and boy, does it age poorly!) Newly enrolled at Columbia, Serena is attending the party with her professor, whose class she is dropping so they can date publicly. All this is unknown to Lily, proud of her daughter for taking a difficult class in her first semester.

Oddly enough, Serena arrives at the party wearing not the big necklace or earrings that you’d expect her to choose from Lily’s jewelry box. Rather, she wears diamond studs with a low-cut black jacket, the combination evoking season three’s Thanksgiving outfit, the last time she disappointed Lily with her romantic choices. Lily herself is dressed in a simple gray sheath, clear beaded necklace, and the largest diamond-like studs she’s ever worn. Serena may borrow her mother’s earrings, but she can’t defeat the true master: Lily uses reverse psychology to convince Serena to remain enrolled in the class.

By episode nine, Serena’s relationship with her professor has been outed in the New York Post, and Lily is doing damage control. She believes this affair is part of a pattern and tells Rufus that Serena had a relationship with a boarding school teacher, Ben Donovan.

“Serena was just a kid,” Rufus says. 

“Serena was never a kid, believe me,” Lily replies. Yikes!  

Throughout the episode, Lily wears a sheer printed bow blouse with a brown knit shawl over top—evoking, again, the scarf and coat she wore last Thanksgiving. Though brown is usually a Humphrey color, Rufus himself is in blue, signaling just how differently they view this situation.

Turns out, Serena never had a romantic relationship with the boarding school teacher, but Lily, convinced she did, forged her signature on an affidavit that sent him to prison. To obtain a copy of the affidavit, Serena disguises herself as Lily (4.12), her mother’s style so consistent that she can easily imitate it in a few pieces: a camel coat, gray sheath, jeweled bib, and chignon.

At a party later that evening, Lily tries to stop Serena from giving the affidavit to the press, as she has already made arrangements for Ben’s parole. In this scene, Lily is dressed in a silver satin gown, her neck draped with pearl tassels. Lily doesn’t wear pearls often, but when she does, they always tie back to CeCe, another mother who would do anything to maintain her family’s image.

Once Ben is released from prison, Lily sends him $30,000 and a note asking him to stay away from her family (4.13). When he returns the money and Rufus and Serena discover her attempted bribe, Lily wears a glittery silver jacket and gray slacks, the bigger diamond studs she often wore in season two. She looks like she’s been coated in diamonds, a symbol of the wealth she uses to try to buy her own security.

In episode sixteen, at Eric’s birthday party, Lily finally apologizes for forging Serena’s signature. Her look, a red dress with large studs, echoes the red dress she wore for the Bass party in season two, when she also apologized to her children. Like that episode, this one ends with the family eating cake around the coffee table, their happiness temporary. 

After being blackmailed by a business associate, Lily turns herself in to the DA (4.17), wearing the same look she wore for a party earlier that episode: a beige dress with a matching coat and dangly diamond earrings. Her ensemble is not true white, the color of innocence, but the light color proclaims her wealth and privilege—only a rich person can wear this look without worrying they’ll have to clean it later. Unsurprisingly, Lily receives only house arrest.  

At first, Lily tries to maintain her social standing under house arrest, to the annoyance of her fellow society ladies. As Anne Archibald tells her at the Pink Party (4.19), hosted at the penthouse, “You shut me out when I called off my divorce. . . . There’s not a woman in this room who didn’t take some pleasure in your downfall, myself included.”

Lily decides to use her house arrest to “reflect on [her] actions” and disappears until the season finale, when her taupe blouse and pants almost blend her into the apartment.

Season Five

By episode three, Lily’s house arrest has ended, and apparently so has her reflecting time. In episode nine, CeCe is honored at the Studio 54 anniversary party—despite her frequent complaints about Lily’s and Serena’s wild days, she, too, was a wild child in her youth. For their party, the Rhodes women are all in sequins: CeCe, Lily, and Serena in shades of champagne and gold. Even Ivy, who’s impersonating Carol’s daughter, wears a gold-spangled dress, eager to be accepted as a Rhodes. Only Carol, the black sheep of the family (and their only brunette), wears black sequins, her bracelets like armor. She hired Ivy to obtain her daughter’s trust fund, and now she must maintain the lie to avoid being caught.

CeCe is sick again, unbeknownst to anyone but Ivy, who helps care for her. When CeCe is taken to the hospital, Lily and Serena are finally informed of her illness and Ivy’s true identity (5.16). In this scene, Lily’s outfit is plain, muted: a gray cardigan and jeans, a simple chain. The only exception is her diamond earrings, which have doubled in size. She will soon say goodbye to CeCe, but she won’t let some poor person take her mother’s money, too.

The next episode, Lily tries to arrange CeCe’s funeral, and she imitates her mother in dress: a black bow on her bun, small diamond studs, a fur stole with her black coat. Despite the outfit, Lily doesn’t know her mother very well: CeCe already made her own arrangements—an Irish wake (WASPs, am I right?) and almost all of her will to Ivy. Cece knew she was an impersonator and didn’t care. Ivy is now the legal owner of the penthouse, and Lily and Rufus are exiled to Brooklyn.  

Lily reluctantly moves into the loft but tries to embrace it through her wardrobe: a plaid wrap sweater and jeans (5.18). Ivy throws a party for her newly established CeCe Rhodes Cancer Foundation, and Lily wears one of CeCe’s heirlooms to the event to remind everyone who CeCe’s “true daughter” is. Naturally, Lily’s representation of her relationship with her mother is a humungous diamond-studded necklace, which she pairs with a black dress. She’s still in mourning for her apartment.

Lily manages to get Ivy’s assets frozen, and with the promise of a check, tricks her into leaving the penthouse (5.19). When Rufus finds out, he’s disturbed that Lily lied to him, that she turned Ivy out on the street, and chooses to remain at the loft. In this scene, Lily is dressed in a black blouse and embellished skirt; her necklace enormous, its little bits of turquoise overwhelmed by black ribbon and gold. Combined with her other looks this season, the outfit’s meaning is clear: Lily has chosen the Rhodes money over love.

In episode twenty, Lily reconciles with Rufus, offering to sell her penthouse so they can buy an apartment that suits both of them. To the loft, she wears a Humphrey brown coat, its lapels hiding most, but not all, of her gold jewelry. With her coat off, however, we see the full outfit, the gold necklace, with the tiniest touches of turquoise, dripping over her tan dress.

In this look, Lily discovers that Rufus is paying for Ivy’s hotel and accuses him of using her money. Rufus replies that he used his own credit card, understanding passing across his face. Their arguments aren’t just about Ivy; they’re about what Lily views as hers.

The next episode, Lily pays CeCe’s nurse to say Ivy took advantage of CeCe, and CeCe’s money is hers and Carol’s again. As on the day of the wake, she wears a black coat and fur stole, her diamonds swelled a little bigger. Rufus is still living at the loft, but Lily seems unworried: “[Rufus will] come around like he always does,” she tells Serena. “My bigger concern is the public perception of this whole mess that Ivy caused.” Her solution is to call a family dinner and invite a reporter. Rufus, caring little about image, refuses to attend.

Before the dinner, Lily learns that Carol’s real daughter, Lola, is William’s, making her and Lily’s children half siblings. To receive the news, she reveals the dress under her coat: an uncharacteristic leopard-print sheath.

At dinner, she has Carol arrested in front of the reporter, Ivy earning immunity for testifying. Rufus visits her after, ready to separate from the woman who has finally shed her skin, revealing her true predatory form. Her dress is patterned like a deconstructed snakeskin, her diamonds still on.

“Where exactly are you going to find some other Upper East Side woman to take care of you like I have?” she asks Rufus.

“Spoken like a true Rhodes,” he replies.

In the finale, Bart returns, having faked his death in season two. Lily must now choose which marriage to annul: Bass or Humphrey. For her meeting with Bart, she selects a zebra-like bow blouse, little flowers poking through the print. This time, she’s the prey, not the predator.

Rufus doesn’t want to lose Lily to Bart, so he convinces Bart to sign annulment papers, telling him that Lily wishes to end her Bass marriage. When Lily receives the papers, she’s rattled, dressed in black sheath—almost mournful that Bart would end their marriage so quickly. Bart reveals Rufus’s lie, and Lily chooses to stay Mrs. Bass.

For her decision, she wears turquoise earrings and a multistrand necklace with a printed dress. There’s a strange symmetry to her choice, the same gemstone she wore throughout her happiest days in her Humphrey marriage, now weighing her down. In the next and final season, turquoise disappears from her jewelry collection. She’s finally chosen money and security over romance and rock and roll, and her gems are rendered useless, devoid of whatever nonconformity she once thought they imparted.

Season Six

Having renewed her vows to Bart, Lily attempts to patch up the relationship between her husband and his son, Chuck: a difficult task, as season six Bart is ridiculously villainous, rather than simply controlling and emotionally constipated. For brunch with the Bass men (6.2), Lily chooses a purple dress—their favorite color. Chuck is beginning to expose the illegal activity that sent Bart into hiding; Bart covers up any trail with a lie: he tells Lily that he had an affair during their first marriage.

His apology present, per usual, is a diamond necklace, one made of a million little solitaires. Unlike the emerald necklace, this one is eagerly received by Lily. The diamond strands match her studs and wink becomingly under her sweater.

In episode four, Gossip Girl reveals that Lily slept with Rufus the night before her wedding to Bart. Bart believes Chuck is behind the blast, but the source is actually Ivy, who is newly loaded and dating Rufus. (Lola signed over Carol’s share of the Rhodes inheritance to Ivy.) When Lily sees the post, she is wearing a bright plaid dress with emerald drop earrings: a little bit Humphrey and a little bit Bass.

As the season carries on, so does Lily’s war with Ivy and Rufus (6.6). The couple buys their way into cohosting Lily’s charity art auction, leading Lily to donate one of her most iconic art pieces, Richard Phillips’s Spectrum. Lily’s dress is graphic, the pattern almost mod, tying her to her painting’s blocks of color and sixties feel. Unlucky for her, Bart hid important records in the back of the painting, ultimately won by Ivy and Rufus. Ivy, we soon find, is only dating Rufus to take Lily down; she’s secretly in love with William.

By Thanksgiving (6.8), Lily finally realizes that Bart is up to no good. Though she destroyed the microfilm hidden in the painting, she still remembers most of its information: “I carefully read each film with CeCe’s jeweler’s loupe,” she tells Chuck. “She always said that was the best way to catch a husband in a lie. I know she was referring to low-grade diamonds, but still . . .” Isn’t it fun to bond with your mother over your lying bastard husbands? 

After Bart dies for real, William swoops in (6.10). He was playing Ivy the whole time, using her scheme to remove Bart and Rufus from Lily’s heart. Now, he tells Ivy, he can be with “the love of [his] life, the mother of [his] children.” Ivy tries to tell Lily the truth, but she dismisses her.

Five years later, Lily and William are together at Serena’s wedding. Like the rest of the main female characters, she wears a spangled dress; her color is purple, linking her to her adopted son and grandson. Did Lily ever realize the truth about William, or did she always know Ivy was right and just didn’t care? Perhaps she even found his scheme romantic.

No matter how awful Lily can be, her last appearance strikes me as a little sad: She’s back with the husband whom her mother loved best, their relationship built on a pile of manipulations and lies and fake illnesses. A true Rhodes, through and through.

[A profile of Rufus Humphrey is coming Thursday, 1/14.]

DP on GG

My partner, Daniel, spent 2020 overhearing episodes of Gossip Girl from various rooms of our apartment. He still doesn’t understand the show and he doesn’t care.

DP: I don’t know what to tell you. Everyone’s white and rich. There’s no stakes.