Eileen Myles’ novel Chelsea Girls discusses identity and belonging in a way that is more raw, personal, and emotional than most novels and poems. Myles recounts stories about their childhood, such as their father dying, to more recent events, such as them assisting an elderly man in between intimate rendezvous with another woman. In Chelsea Girls, Myles’ explores what it means to define and discover yourself, which can also be expressed through clothing.

In the chapter “Madras”, Myles’ discusses how some of their clothes during her teenage years defined their social and economic status. They recount how people became interested in them because of their clothing. They recall...

“My Madras shirt was maroon with peter pan collar and three quarter length sleeves that you had to roll up… As the summer passed and my shirt hung on the line, naturally it faded and the maroon became a dull muted red and the chains became more evident and pronounced… This is the moment when people gained interest in my shirt.”

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Myles then goes onto to describe the importance of brand names with clothes to their family. They describe how names like “Madras”, “Evan Picone”, and “Ship and Shore” made almost any item with that on the tag justifiable and worthy of purchase.

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Myles says that wearing brand names like these“indicated that you would probably go to college, drive a sports car, have a career and probably go to Europe at some point.”

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They go onto to describe the clothing trends that were popular during their young adulthood, such as women wearing work shirts and how the collegiate preppy style, which made tennis skirts and penny loafers trendy, was the height of fashion.

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What bearing does this information have on the “Madras” chapter and the overall novel? At the end of the chapter, Myles is asked by Gary, a boy they went to grade school with, whether they are “gay or bisexual”. “I’m gay I said, puffing my cigarette”, they reply. Like the labels on their clothes, the confidence in labeling her sexual orientation is powerful move of confidence from a person who found it hard to label their identity as a young person that grew up in an unstable environment, due to her father’s alcoholism. In a world where labels and out ward appearances instantly define you, having the outward confidence that your clothes exude, as well as the inner confidence that your determination of identity and sexuality produces allows Myles to express themselves in a way unlike they had been able to before.

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However, in an interview with Trop, Myles explains that this matched confidence was not easy to find. They say…

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“I spent years walking a funny line where when I thought about clothes, if I could see something being worn by both genders I wanted it. If I saw a piece of men’s clothes and I wanted to wear it, I had to wait until I saw another female wear it so that I wouldn’t be playing my cards too strongly.”

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 “Madras” details the beginning of Myles feeling both comfortable and confident in the her clothes and her identity, which is a pivotal part in the novel. Many of the chapter after this, such as the titular story “Chelsea Girls” , details Myles owning their sexuality and identity. It is much easier to feel good about your insides when you feel good about your outisde.

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Click to read Myles' full interview with Trop.

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