| Abstract (about 50 words): | Our paper is a case study dealing with the role clothes play in the shaping of gendered identities in Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, Orlando: A Biography. It is well known that identity is one of the leading themes of the Woolfian narrative, interwoven within the textual binding and placed at the very core of the novelist’s creation. As for the matter of gender, Woolf’s prose is probably one of the most discussed by a variety of directions of the academic spectrum, including women's and queer studies. The matter of dress however, hasn’t been as fashionable, and has only known a true blooming in recent years. A profusion of works ranging from articles and studies to PhD dissertations and books emerged as to promote the links between Woolf’s fiction, her biography and sartorial practice as an intriguing subject of outmost interest.
In our paper we come to put together three of Virginia Woolf’s main obsessions, investigating the links between identity and gender, and clothing. We approach this subject through the close reading of one of her most popular novels, following three directions, as stated in the title. Causality refers to the way clothes determine the gender identity of a character, shaping thus their entire persona (from manners and way of acting to status and their role in society), as well as to the fantasy of self-fashioning one’s identity. Robes can reveal a character’s personality, and they can also dissociate between male and female genders, though more often than not, they have the exact opposite effect, creating ambiguity. This perspective implies aspects concerning cross-dressing, costuming, disguise, self representation and the other’s perception, etc. Finally, the contradiction referred to in this paper deals both with the contradictory role of clothes (hiding / revealing, constraining / liberating), as well as with Virginia Woolf’s own contradictory approach, hovering between satire, self-indulgent mockery, and addressing crucial issues and the professing of profound believes through symbolism and allegory.
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