Quiet Luxury: Viscountess Doneraile’s Shopping as Elite Female Identity-Formation in Late Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Luxury items bought in nineteenth-century London’s fashionable
West End, and the time spent browsing there, were examples of
conspicuous consumption. This article uses a case-study of 200 bills
to explore the shopping preferences of Mary Anne St Leger,
Viscountess Doneraile, a member of the Irish peerage who lived
during the years of the class’ most dramatic decline. Building on
consumption studies, I argue that Doneraile’s shopping practices,
and her preference for London over Irish suppliers, were an exercise
in ‘quiet luxury’ as she used her cultural capital to make discerning
choices. She curated her membership of Britain’s social elite
through London-bought goods.