Did Woolf carry a handbag when street-haunting?

Emma Watson with Burberry's Woolf bag

Emma Watson, star of the Harry Potter films, is the new “face” of Burberry, and Burberry’s new fall/winter collection is said to be inspired by Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury set.

But I don’t think Woolf would have opted to spend £1,095 on the roomy suede tote with embroidered overlay that Burberry has dubbed its ”Woolf bag.” 

Nor can I imagine Woolf, who wandered so many miles around London, schlepping along carrying such a huge bag. I picture her using roomy pockets, not a handbag, to carry what she needed. Cast your vote on the issue by taking the poll below.

However, I do wish I had managed to attend the fashion panel, “Bloomsbury and Fashion,” at Woolf and the City.

Here are the intriguing presentations it included:

• “Clothes Make the Flaneuse” – Catherine Mintler, University of Oklahoma
• “The Language of Shop Windows in Virginia Woolf’s Novels” – Katarzyna Rybinska, Wroclaw University
• “Cities of Fashion: Sartorial Topographies in ‘Street Haunting,’ Mrs. Dalloway and The Waves” – Randi Koppen, University of Bergen
• “Self-Fashioning Identity: Clothing and Subjectivity in Orlando: A Biography” – Ula Lukszo, Stony Brook University. 

Read more about Woolf and fashion.

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