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‘Orange is the New Black’. ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’. ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’. When it comes to strong female leads, Netflix has left some big shoes to fill this year.
Stepping into those sky-high heels is ‘Girlboss’, a sassy 13-part series that loosely follows the life story of directionless twenty-something-turned-entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso. She famously went from selling cheap vintage finds online to founding fashion label Nasty Gal, and was later named the world’s richest self-made woman. Simple, right? Nope.
Going from eBay to clothing empire doesn’t come without its highs, lows and hernias. ‘Girlboss’ shows that even if you’re skint, single and in need of surgery from straining too hard (really), success is still in reach. This is the television equivalent of Beyoncé’s ‘Run the World (Girls)’ – it might not close the gender pay gap, but you’ll feel really good about being a woman who takes no shit.
Here are the sassiest moments (inc. #SPOILERS) from the start of ‘Girlboss’:
1. The soundtrack
Emanating estrogen-laden angst, the ‘Girlboss’ soundtrack is 2017’s answer to ‘I Want You to Want Me’ from ‘10 Things I Hate About You’. The playlist includes Le Tigre and Bikini Kill among a string of shouty female vocals that you almost definitely overheard in your university hall when someone went through a break-up. Get ready to regret selling that acoustic guitar in 2004: ‘Girlboss’ is going make you relive one of the golden ages of girls in bands.
2. Finding the jacket that started it all
Our introduction to super-human Sophia: she barters for a vintage jacket in a thrift store for ‘$9 and some free business advice’. The advice? It’s a rare vintage designer piece, and the store owners had no idea. She’s played them and resells it for six times what she paid. This is a loose retelling of the true story when the real Sophia Amoruso bought a Chanel jacket for $8 and sold it for $1,000, giving her the whole idea for Nasty Gal. This isn’t just a jacket: it’s the start of an empire.
3. A grandma bitch slap
You’ve probably once heard a gnarly grandparent say that our generation needs a good hiding – and now one of them’s put it into practice. Sophia’s self-absorbed speech on the futility of adulthood is interrupted by an elderly woman who smacks the smug off her face. While we wouldn’t normally condone physical violence from strangers, we’ll allow it when it comes from an OAP who’s hard AF and has had enough of millennial bullshit. A small part of you will want to cheer her on, until you start craving an artisan coffee and realise you’re just another one of them.
4. ‘Kiss my ass, world’
Whether it’s a promotion, pregnancy or potential match on Tinder, we don’t often shout things out of windows. That’s not the case for Sophia. Her lightbulb moment that sparks her ‘Girlboss’ movement means a lot. So much so that instead of calling her mate to share the good news, she’s compelled to scream ‘kiss my ass, world’ out of her bedroom window at the crack of dawn. Is it kind of cliché? Sure. Is it totally obnoxious? Yes. Do we wish we’d ever done it? Absolutely.
Feeling psyched? Series one of ‘Girlboss’ lands on Netflix UK on Friday April 21. Watch the trailer here:
Find out which Netflix shows Londoners binge the most.
Or line up your next TV obsession with our list of the best Netflix TV shows coming soon.