Chelsea Girls

Catherine Lloyd’s novel set in “swinging London” jumps ahead in time to develop nearly twenty years of the life of It Girl Mary Quant, but Quant’s voice is never heard directly in Chelsea Girls. Instead, the novel is told through the voices of three women in Quant’s life: Chrissie, Daphne, and Fern.

Chrissie is the main voice in the novel and the longest friend and collaborator of Quant’s. Her excitement and joy at their successes in the fashion world—after meeting in college—is tempered with some resentment that Mary doesn’t always act responsibly. Daphne and Fern model for Quant, and their POVs are starkly different due to their different social classes. I really enjoyed reading their navigation of fame as well as their interactions with the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

The time jumps weren’t my favorite, but the pace and detail, especially for those who love fashion, make this one worth reading.