Bond Street, on the West End of London’s Mayfair district, has consistently held a reputation of exclusivity due to its luxury brands and wealthy clientele. The street has often been referred to as the city, and the world’s, best high-end shopping (Botziou). Bond Street was first developed in 1680 when a group of royal bankers and merchants came together to develop an area exclusively for the affluent (Goddard). The street originally housed Sotheby's auction house and was widely visited due to connections to the world's top arts dealers (“Old Bond Street, Mayfair”). With these connections, shop owners often lent out the top floors of shops for residential purposes to wealthy visitors such as Jonathan Swift, Laurence Stern, and William Pitt the Elder (“Old Bond Street, Mayfair”). Bond Street not only attracted influential political figures and writers, but also London’s active socialites of the time assisting to develop a highly social environment where many visited to be seen. By the end of the 18th century, an upper-class social group known as the “Bond Street Loungers” had appeared and were identified by their expensive wigs and pretentious attitudes (“Bond Street”).
Despite a shift in motivation for visitors of Bond Street from social aspects to retail shopping, the street continues to be consumed by a privileged, aristocratic group. Virginia Woolf’s, “Mrs. Dalloway on Bond Street” provides insight into the average shopper through the lens of Mrs. Dalloway as she travels down Bond Street to purchase a pair of gloves. It becomes clear to the reader that Mrs. Dalloway is of a high class, as her problems and thoughts are consumed by her possessions. She references her uncle's assertion that a “lady is known by her gloves and her shoes” (Woolf). This would not necessarily be a priority of a member of a lower class who can not afford to act frugally with their expenses. The short story gives insight into the aristocratic nature of the shoppers on the street, as Mrs. Dalloway states, “A hundred years ago her great-great-grandfather, Seymour Parry, who ran away with Conway's daughter, had walked down Bond Street” (Woolf). The history of her family shopping on this high-end street, suggests the wealth and familial history of visitors. This further emphasizes the exclusivity of the group that shops in this area.
Recently, Bond Street has become less restricted to only the highest class in London and is now more accessible to visitors from around the world who are willing to pay the high prices. New Bond Street hosts around 600 retailers and is often referred to as, “the highest proportion of ‘haute couture’ stores per square mile in the world” (Conlin, Jennifer). Bond Street hosts a collection of luxury shopping, including stores such as Chanel, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. Bond Street's origins of exclusivity and luxury have remained and adapted to modern definitions and understandings of what it means to be of “high class” in society. The street reflects London’s social class stratification and this is constant throughout history.
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