I still can’t quite believe that part of my job legitimately involves spending the day shopping at, sorry I mean researching, Bicester Village in Oxfordshire! (http://www.bicestervillage.com/en_GB/)
I arrived early and got myself a coffee and muffin from Starbucks (the skinny variety of course) and sat down to study a copy of the Village Directory in order to plan my day. There really is a fantastic selection – around 90 clothing shops and a further 25 shops dedicated to shoes and/or accessories.
The original reason for my visit was to see the British Designers Collective but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Being a big fan of Erdem in particular (see for yourself http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/show.aspx/catwalk-report/id,8791#) I was really excited to see his selection. I was expecting something a bit more spectacular than an empty shell of a shop with a few rails of clothes in it – a slight exaggeration perhaps but you get the idea.
I think all the good stuff must have gone, or never made it there in the first place, and the shop assistants were obviously dying of boredom. I overheard them talking about how slow it was and how they “sold 2 items yesterday” – not exactly flying off the shelves then!
Luckily the other shops weren’t as underwhelming.....
Highlights:
· Gerard Darel
Classic, beautifully made, feminine clothes. Great fabrics – everything felt luxurious from silks to wools and would no doubt feel fantastic to wear. Particularly well suited to style conscious 40 something’s who want to look great.
· Reiss
Wonderfully tailored suits, especially the jackets. The place to go if you want to feel sexy wearing a suit – sometimes harder than you’d think. Also have tops, blouses and dresses in great colours and fabrics.
· LK Bennett
Amazing selection of evening / occasion dresses. Love the colours and the way they group their clothes according to colour, making it very shopping friendly for people who know the colours that suit them. Lots and LOTS of shoes – really good discounts.
· French Connection
Exceeded expectations as I’ve been disappointed in the past by obvious poor quality. Clothes are very affordable without looking cheap and they offer a variety of different styles.
· Nicole Farhi
Feminine, original and classy. Expensive but still within reach.
· Theory
Fabulous selection of clothes, bright rich colours which reminded me a bit of Boden. Really stylish work outfits and some great classic cuts. Not overly expensive.
Lowlights:
· La Perla
The over powering stench of perfume hit me between the eyes as I walked in and made me want to walk straight out again. It was too strong to be a customer or shop assistant and must have been deliberate. I really can’t understand why it’s done – it gives the overwhelming impression of cheap and nastiness!! ( I’m not that keen on Abercrombie and Fitch for the same reason). Some quite nice silk nightwear though.
· Loro Piana
Something about this shop made me leave after 30 seconds. The range of clothing depressed me, dull colours and styles and I felt like I’d walked into a time warp!! (not least of all because of a very formal, headmistress-type woman who asked me if I needed help and called me madam!). Having since looked at their website they actually have some quite nice items so perhaps it was just the selection in the outlet store, combined with poor presentation.
· Gucci and D & G
Oh dear... in my opinion both are very depressing shops where people devoid of imagination, but with money, go to try and buy a personality! I got the impression that the customers hoped that by spending money there they would instantly become classy and more exciting.
· Alexander McQueen
I expected to like his clothes a lot more than I did. The truth is that I found them tarty and predictable – a bit like Karen Millen on a bad day (but more expensive).
· Guess
One or two nice items in amongst overly glitzy, garish and cheap (but still overpriced) tat!
Best Reductions:
· DKNY – offering a further 50% off already reduced priced items
· Amanda Wakeley – great offers on evening dresses and occasion-wear (have a lovely v neck dress which comes to the knee in various colours reduced from over £400 to around £100). Would particularly suit an inverted triangle or an hourglass body shape
· LK Bennett – lots of items less than half price
· Hobbs – good reductions on all items – great colours
· Jigsaw – lovely clothes for children, particularly girls, which are discounted by 50% or more
· Ted Baker – good reductions on all items – great colours
· Monsoon – some very heavily reduced items
Shops of Interest:
· Luella
Garish but strangely alluring clothes, many asymmetrical styles and probably aimed at the young - the store was full of mums helping their daughters find dresses for special occasions. But if you’re in your thirties, have lots of confidence and a sense of fun it’s definitely worth a look.
· Mulberry
Bags still very expensive, as you’d expect, but they had a surprisingly nice, although small, selection of clothes which were reasonably priced.
· All Saints
I find their clothes really creative, full of imagination and fun. However I can’t help but feel they mainly cater for the young, perfect and beautiful as some of their designs would be quite tricky to pull off. Having said that they have some great tailored jackets and suit which are more accessible to the rest of us!
· Clarks
I was surprised to see Clarks have a presence at Bicester but the shop was packed and it seems to be thriving. The selection is huge and the shoes are very clearly laid out grouped by size making it very shopper friendly.
My Best Buy:
A large, pure wool scarf from Matthew Williamson http://bit.ly/a9G9Aw. The moment I saw it I had to have it – it couldn’t fail to brighten up the dullest of outfits and was £100 reduced from £200. Having searched on-line it looks like this particular one is only available from Bicester Village although there are some serious bargains to be had on E-Bay if you’re in the market for one of his scarves.
All in all Bicester Village is well worth a visit but due to the huge number of shops it’s well worth narrowing down your choices before you start. Otherwise you risk wasting time in the wrong shops, running out of steam and potentially missing out on some great buys.
Alice Treanor © 2010
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