Charlie Porter's 'Bring No Clothes' Examines Bloomsbury Group's Fashion as Political Statement

In 'Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion,' fashion journalist Charlie Porter delves into how the Bloomsbury Group utilized attire to challenge Victorian conventions. Released by Particular Books for £20, the work highlights figures like Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, who opted for loose-fitting clothing over restrictive corsets, symbolizing their quest for intellectual freedom. Porter investigates Woolf's concept of 'frock consciousness' from her 1928 work 'Orlando' and features archival images of bold fashion choices. Woolf remarked on the consequences of eccentricity in 'The Voyage Out' (1915), while Bell designed painter smocks. Porter connects Bloomsbury's fluidity in gender expression to modern fashion, sharing his own clothing trials and including Roger Fry's critique of Victorian patriarchy.