She’s well-dressed, well-spoken, and always has a book in her tote. The modern It Girl doesn’t just care about how she looks — she curates how she thinks. Whether you’re building your confidence, refining your taste, or just looking for something to underline, here are the books every It Girl should have on her shelf (or bedside table).
1. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
A witty, raw, and painfully relatable memoir about friendship, heartbreak, and growing into yourself. If you’ve ever felt like you’re the only one still figuring it all out — you’re not.
Read when: You need to feel seen in your 20s or 30s.
2. The Paris Review Interviews (Vol. I–IV)
An elegant collection of conversations with the world’s most iconic writers and thinkers. Stylish, intellectual, and endlessly quotable.
Read when: You want to be inspired by how creative minds work.
3. The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane von Furstenberg
Part memoir, part manifesto — this is about femininity, fashion, and finding power in vulnerability.
Read when: You’re reinventing yourself or carving a new path.
4. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
An unexpected essential. This isn’t a book about art — it’s a book about being a vessel for creativity, and allowing beauty to come through you.
Read when: You’re feeling stuck or disconnected from your voice.
5. How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by de Maigret, Mas, Diwan & Berest
Chic, cheeky, and completely unbothered. This book is both a style guide and a life philosophy, written with humour and just enough detachment.
Read when: You want a reminder that effortlessness is an attitude.
6. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
For the deeper thinker. It’s not light reading, but it’s a timeless feminist lens that shaped modern identity.
Read when: You want something that lingers after the last page.
7. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A story about culture, race, identity, and aesthetics — told through lush prose and flawed, human characters.
Read when: You want to read literature that feels like fashion and philosophy had a love child.
Final Thoughts
Read what makes you think deeper, feel fuller, and become more you. Being an It Girl isn’t about trends — it’s about having taste, curiosity, and a point of view. And nothing shapes that quite like the right book.
Stay curious, always.
— Hailey
