‘Conventionality is Deadness’: Unlocking the Wardrobe Collection of Lady Ottoline Morrell

Lady Ottoline Morrell was an aristocratic patron of the arts throughout the early twentieth century, best known for being on the periphery of the Bloomsbury Group. She was famed — and often mocked — for her eccentric style of dress, but her surviving wardrobe collection has never been studied in any detail. By combining the multi-disciplinary resources available it has been possible to contextualize many of the pieces within the collection, which will be revealed through several case studies which have benefited from this wide-ranging study. The collection itself spans several hundred items of textiles, dress, and accessories, and reveals numerous insights into the taste of this famed unconventional dresser, from which a different story of her style can emerge.