Blogging Woolf

We have all speculated about what Virginia Woolf would do if she were alive today.

I once wondered whether she would surf if she still summered at St. Ives.

Now I am wondering whether she would wear the designs of Nicole Farhi, who is said to be a favorite of the “British intelligentsia,” a group to which Woolf definitely belonged.

An article in the Telegraph thinks so. And since it notes that French fashion designer Farhi “creates clothing that women who don’t want to think about fashion don’t have to think about,” I may agree.

After all, Woolf  felt quite insecure about her own sense of style. She ascribes this sort of insecurity to the character of Mabel in the short story, “The New Dress.” Woolf writes, “of course, she [Mabel] could not be fashionable. It was absurd to pretend it even — fashion meant cut, meant style, meant thirty guineas at least.”

If Woolf felt the same way about herself, she may have been eager to wear one of Farhi’s designs, even though it would set her back more than thirty guineas.

This is my personal Nicole Farhi fashion pick for Virginia. It seems the perfect outfit for her to wear while exploring the London scene on a chilly December day.

Check out Farhi’s fall fashions and see which of them you think Virginia would wear. Then take the poll.