Chelsea Girls by Catherine Lloyd ~ A Review

by Susan Roberts

A glamorous and revealing biographical novel starring one of Swinging London’s defining figures, Mary Quant, who made history with the miniskirt, slashed hemlines, and transformed more than fashion, for herself, for her friends, and for a generation.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.  A free book was provided for an honest review.

June 2026; Kensington; 978-1496756619
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); biographical fiction

Because of my age, I have a problem considering the 1960s to be historical fiction, but I have finally realized that if historical fiction is considered anything over 50 years old, even the 1970s are considered historical fiction!  Now that I’ve recovered from this fact, I will say that I loved this book and learning more about the background of the designer, Mary Quant, and the models who revolutionized style in the 1960s.

It’s 1951, and post-war London is still recovering from the ravages of World War II.  Two totally different girls meet at Goldsmiths Arts College, and their optimism for the future helps them become best friends.  Mary Quant and Chrissy Walker are both at art college despite the protests from their families, but both know that they want more from life than to find a rich husband and spend their lives doing charity work and raising children.  Mary designs and sews her own clothes, and soon Chrissie and other women at the college want to dress in a similar fashion.  Mary soon catches the interest of a very rich young man who becomes her partner and helps her open Bazaar in 1955.  Bazaar was the first catalyst of the new fashions in London and then in the entire world.  The clothes were all designed by Mary Quant and were a rebellion against the formal, rigid fashion of the 1950s.  Soon, Bazaar, the Chelsea district of London, and Mary Quant’s clothes became the center of ‘swinging London’.  With the introduction of the Beatles into the world, everyone wanted to dress in the new youthful clothes from London, and Mary’s fashions became well known all over the world.  She introduced the mini-skirt and different fabrics and designs than what had been available in the past.  She also introduced new makeup and hairstyles to the young who wanted to set new paths in fashion.  Not only were her clothes different, but they were affordable enough that everyone could afford them.  The first US store that she got a contract with was JCPenney.  

Not only does the book give the reader a look at Mary and her growing fashion explosion, but we also get to know Mary and see some of the stresses that she was under as she worked with so many different people to revolutionize fashion.  Her friend Crissie became a key person in her life and helped Bazaar become popular.  The book also does a bit of name-dropping as we learn how Mary’s fashions helped the rise of various models – such as Twiggy – and there are mentions of the Beatles, and Patty Boyd, and other famous musicians of the time.

This is a book about fashion and a new fashion revolution that was started by Mary Quant, but more importantly, it’s a book about women learning to become successful in areas that they had never been allowed to enter in the years before.  Chrissie broke away from her parents’ plan for a good marriage and upper-class life to become one of the main parts of Mary’s empire. Daphane went from life in the upper class to becoming a world-renowned model and eventually became a well-known photographer in war zones.  Fern went from a very poor life to becoming a well-known model and becoming a writer for Vogue US.  All of the female main characters became well known in areas that had been for men only!  As the women fought to become successful, they found that they were stronger than they'd ever believed before.

Buy Chelsea Girls at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

 

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