Guest Post from DisneyRollerGirl, an anonymous fashion insider and blogger whose observations and opinions on fashion, lifestyle trends and popular culture have a huge cult following.
I have made the trip to Bicester Village four times now and each time I forget quite how fantastic it is. It’s not just the excellent value on offer (although clearly, that’s a huge pull) but where else can you find this concentration of high-end brands in one easy-to-navigate place, minus the annoying mobile phone shops and banks?
Luella Boutique
I know it’s a bit sad but for me, the excitement of going to Bicester is on a par with a trip to New York. No seriously, it’s because I know I’m not going to come back empty handed nor with that why-did-I-buy-this regret that can easily result from other frenzied shopping trips. The fact is the selection and quality at Bicester is such that you will find plenty to suit your taste whether it be classic, trendy or off-beat. It does help to have some sort of plan beforehand though because otherwise your spending can spiral way out of control. Partly it’s that sale-shopping mentality of ‘it’s so cheap, I must have it’ as well as the holiday feeling of the setting whereby your money feels like toy money (or is that just me?).
The temptation this time was to bowl into Ralph Lauren, buy ten sweaters and be done with it but that would be tragic. Instead I decided to split my spending in two halves; one half would go on luxury basics, while the other half would go on something more impulsive. What fun!
After a cappuccino at Prêt to get my energy up I wasted no time in getting on with it. Of course, I had to fall in love with something in the first shop I went into. Here’s another tip: don’t dismiss any store as ‘not me’ because at Bicester, every shop has potential. My first stop was MaxMara, even though I’d normally consider it a bit too classic for me. But I gave it a go and immediately clocked a pair of brothel creepers, a million miles from the grey and camel cashmere I’d expected of MaxMara. Alas, they were a size too big and the next available size down was too small. C’est la vie, onwards and upwards. More impeccable luxury to be found in Burberry (trench coats at £350, extremely tempting), Mulberry (including Giles Deacon’s patent clutch with giant gold studs) and Celine (iconic Boogie bags ago-go). Bally and Salvatore Ferragamo were perfect places to invest in this season’s New Bourgeois trend – you couldn’t move for Bally’s round-toe court shoes in stealth-chic neutrals and the cult patent-leather Varina shoes at Ferragamo. (By the by, if you like your Italian labels, you need to know that Gucci, Armani & Moncler are all opening at Bicester Village within the next few weeks.)
Shoes at Marni
The reason for the extreme discounts at Bicester is that what’s for sale is mostly one or two seasons old but this can actually be a bonus. Marni (yes, there’s a Marni!) and Luella both elicited grasps and greedy grabbing from me as I recognised key pieces from seasons past. How could I resist Luella’s plain black sweaters monogrammed with ‘Love, Love, Love’ for only £37.50 instead of a-hundred-and-something? Fact: I couldn’t. So I snapped one up, and took in the surroundings while my purchase was tissue-wrapped in Luella-logo-ed paper and handed to me in one of her bubble-gum pink carrier bags. Each and every store is fitted out in the brand’s house style (Luella’s comes complete with vintage furniture, stickers on every surface and neon heart installation) and service is top-notch, plus merchandise is perfectly arranged and there are no nasty sale signs so you wouldn’t even know you were in an outlet village.
After a leisurely lunch at Villandry, I embarked on the second leg of my expedition with renewed vigour. I had to do Smythson very quickly indeed otherwise I really would have bought the entire shop and as for Vivienne Westwood, well, ‘accessory heaven’ probably sums it up very succinctly. I didn’t buy ten sweaters in Ralph Lauren but I was sorely tempted by a mannish wool coat that I dithered over for a good twenty minutes but decided to leave as the sleeves were a touch too long. That said, Bicester Village offers an alterations service so if I’d wanted it badly enough I could easily have fixed that. As I predicted, I couldn’t leave Ralph Lauren empty-handed so I invested in a khaki green canvas tote bag which will serve me well as an everyday bag for all year round. That ticked one of my ‘luxury basics’ boxes. Next, to Wolford for the black long-sleeve body I’ve been wanting to buy for months. I entered with an open mind, thinking I might have to settle for less. But no, they had the perfect piece, in my size at a very good price. Another tick in the ‘luxury basics’ box.
My Purchases
Happy with my three purchases, I decided to look more and buy less. Into D&G, a brand that’s totally ‘not me’ but whose understated evening bags, jewel-coloured flats and black lace booties made me reassess. Valentino was breathtaking (the coats!) as was pop-up shop Bulgari (fur handbags – naughty but so old-school elegant). And then I couldn’t resist it. Something had been playing on my mind, so back I went to MaxMara, to the shoes-that-didn’t-quite-fit. I ummed, I aahed, I tried to reason with myself. And finally, impulsively, I bought them. Mission complete.
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