Bicester Village haul

For those that haven’t been or never heard of it before, it’s a shopping outlet pretty close to Oxford and about 40 miles outside of London.

Rather than have the shops enclosed like a big shopping centre, the shops in Bicester Village are very much like a little Village shop.

The shops are Bicester are very much at the high end of the fashion market, with some High Street favourites like French Connection and Ted Baker mixed in with Mulberry, Prada and Gucci. But it is a great place to go if you want some seriously high end goodies at seriously low prices.

I only go to Bicester about once a year and I do save up for the trip, I think that it’s one of those places that means that sometimes you can go and see loads that you want, and than sometimes go and find nothing that you like. Bicester also works about a season behind so do bear that in mind if you go and visit.

For this particular trip, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just looking for inspiration really, but I did manage to pick up some gorgeous gems.

The first thing I picked up was some of my favourite candles from the Ralph Lauren Home Store, these have the most amazing tropical smell and are an absolute bargain at £9.99 each. I actually picked up four of these, as they’ll make great presents for people.

 

 

The next shop I went in was Paul Smith. It’s my dad’s birthday this week, and like most men, he’s really hard to buy for. But in Paul Smith I decided to treat him to a blue tie and two pairs of socks. The tie was reduced from £65 to £29 and the socks were £8 each. So much cheaper than if I have popped into the Paul Smith store in London.

Next on the list was The Cosmetics Company. I love this store, as they have so many amazing beauty and hair brands under one roof and you never know what you’ll find. I only picked up one item this time, but it’s a gorgeous Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Twilight Night. Instead of the recommend price of £17, this beauty was only £12.

Then I headed into Lulu Guinness. I love her bags and hope to one day own a lip clutch but on this particular day, it was a suitcase not a clutch bag that caught my eye. I’ve got a few trips planned for the coming months and haven’t booked hold luggage for most of them as they are only short weekend breaks. It seemed like a good money saving idea at the time, until I realised that I don’t have a suitable or big enough bag for hand luggage. This is where the new Lulu Guinness suitcase comes in. It has two compartments, one on each side and enough space to store a pair of shoes or two along with a few outfits – perfect for a weekend away.

The final shop I went in was French Connection where I picked up this really cute beach dress. I still have one more sunshine holiday left this year and thought this beach dress would be perfect for Marbella in a few months.

 

Have any of you been to Bicester? What bargains have you picked up there?

Merry

XXX