The Bloomsbury Look

By Wendy Hitchmough

If you are familiar with the prestigious Bloomsbury Group, this in-depth study of their collective identity will pique your interest. However, if you are a newcomer, the Bloomsbury Look is the perfect starting point. It is hard to define the Bloomsbury Group, as author Wendy Hitchmough discovers. Essentially, they were one of the most successful and influential interdisciplinary collectives of the twentieth century. Members of the group included the esteemed Virginia Woolf and E.M. Foster, and their radical beliefs, economics, and politics changed the course of twentieth century culture in a multitude of ways.

Through drawing upon a wealth of unpublished photographs and archival material, Hitchmough attempts to define the self-fashioned aesthetic of those who refused to be defined. The art and dress of the Bloomsbury Group derived a coherent group identity and through using the family album, she examines how this aesthetic drove forward their radical influence. Along the way are gorgeous photographs and self-portraits, which help disclose to us this indefinable style. A truly fascinating read like no other.