I don’t like shopping. At all. As in, I can’t actually remember the last time I voluntarily spent a Saturday or evening after work trawling the shops. Like you, I’m time poor and there’s a whole number of things I’d rather be doing on the weekend (namely Netflix and chill) than pounding the pavement. So I shop online (a lot) and occasionally indulge in an impromptu splurge when a Zara is in close proximity and I’m considerably early for a meeting.
You can understand then why getting ready for fashion week sends me into a spin. You see, fashion week (read: month) throws up more sartorial dilemmas than you could possibly imagine. First, there are the tens of shows each and every day. You want to feel ‘fashion’ without looking or feeling uncomfortable. That’s before you start factoring in swanky dinners each night, parties, not to mention dressing for the climate in each city. In other words, it’s a minefield. In the days running up to leaving for New York, counting sheep before bed had been usurped with mental outfit planning. It’s partly why I did something I almost never do. I left the office, moved away from my growing to-do list and hotfooted it to Bicester Village for an afternoon of, well, shopping.
An outlet store dedicated to discounted past-season designer fashion, it has an obvious advantage over online trawling: I could see the clothes, touch them, feel them and try them on. I was leaving for New York two days later so that was a must. And as outlet shopping is concerned, Bicester is pretty swish – the boutiques are arranged along a expansive perfectly primped outdoor boulevard, so there’s no bright lights, rummaging and fighting with a hoard of bargain hunters for space. Readers, it was bloody brilliant.
Clothes here are often half, if not less, of the price that you might buy them now. Think, a Stella McCartney bag for £300 rather than £750, or a Tory Burch dress for £150 instead of £400. And what’s particularly good is that each shop is beautifully laid out, which means that if, like me, you have zero shopping patience and cannot stand TK Maxx-style rummaging around among racks of random stuff, you’ll actually really enjoy the process. Granted you might not always find your size but if there’s a piece you missed the first time round that you can’t find on the shop floor, chances are they’ll have it out back in a variety of colours and options to choose from. I’m an agonisingly slow shopper. My online shopping routine consists of find, love, add to basket, debate a little, remove from basket, case closed. It’s the reason why I’ve lusted over and lost countless pieces over the years. The prospect of being reconnected with an old love, instantly appeals to me.
Okay, so what did I get? First up was a Coccinelle handbag, big enough to carry my wallet, hotel room key, a notepad, make-up, phone and a small Dictaphone. I have since worn it almost every day in a bid to downsize from my trusty Rebecca Minkoff tote, which I adore but goads me into filling it to the brim with things I don’t need. Without sounding like a fashion cliché, investing in key accessories can instantly elevate an outfit so I had my mind set on snapping up a few great pairs of shoes too. To run around in the day, I bagged two pairs of flats from Prada, a black pair of Mary Janes (think patent version of the shoes in The Wizard of Oz and you’re nearly there) and a simple pointy toe style with an elegant ankle strap in silver. Céline is my weakness so I walked away with a pair of open toe boots with the signature metal heel that I hated myself for not buying the first time around. I was tempted to buy a fab glitzy dress from Saint Laurent too. Luckily I remembered just in time that my version of getting dressed for a night out doesn’t extend further than swapping trainers for heels, lip balm for lippie so that ruled that out. There was even a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes that I was tempted to buy before remembering that tottering around in 6inch heels is not actually my life. What I do regret not buying though is a Stella McCartney blazer. Classic but updated in that in that way she does so well, I concluded that for right now at least, the shoes were more practical although I do still wish that I had bought it.
On the off chance that discounted Stella and Céline aren’t not enough to persuade you to take the journey, the newly opened Soho Farmshop is reason enough to make a visit if you’re closeby. While it’s not to be confused with the new celebrity hotspot, Soho Farmhouse, the restaurant is part of the Soho House group and features all the nooks and quirks you would expect from any of their outposts. Nestled between Gucci and Stella McCartney, it’s the perfect place to decompress after a morning of giving your debit card a workout and the food is really good. Think hearty but healthy salads, incredible gourmet sandwiches made on the freshest of breads and puddings served to you straight from huge, homely crockery.
Chloe, Burberry and DVF are all there, Balenciaga recently followed suit and Penelope Chilvers is on the way too. Come 2016, a whole host of new names will be joining the roster that I’ve been sworn to secrecy not to reveal. In a nutshell, they have the good stuff and, shopping phobe or not, you owe it your wardrobe to make the journey.
On Monday, Chiltern Railways opens a new train line that will whisk you from London Marylebone to Bicester Town in just 45 minutes, with a direct pedestrian link to the village. For more information, visit the website here.