Some people can't believe how much I organise around my Birthday but I think it is the perfect time to see everyone who means something to me. Normally I would have a week to plan all of this over but this year I had to pack it into two weekends.
However there is always one person who I make sure gets to spend my actual Birthday with me, my mother. I think it is only fair, after all she was the lady who birthed me and therefore really did all of the work that day. This year we decided to take a road trip to Bicester Village which is one of my favourite places to go. Today I thought I would share my Bicester Village experience and everything I purchased whilst I was there.
The Roadtrip
A roadtrip is the ultimate level of bonding as you are stuck in a car for a substantial amount of time. From Bristol it takes around an hour and a half to get to Bicester which is enough time for a good gossip and some tunes. As it was my Birthday I was in charge of the music so of course we had a soundtrack of Lizzo and Harry Styles. It is surprisingly easy to get to Bicester from Bristol, even though it is quite a drive.
Breakfast
We always try to get to Bicester relatively early so that it is easy to park and so that there are no queues outside any of the stores which can often happen. Last time we went (which was in August) there was a queue outside the Gucci store first thing in the morning. However as we went at the end of February, it is the down period for Bicester so it was incredibly quiet even though we arrived at 10:40. In addition China was on a lockdown due to Coronavirus so Bicester was struggling on the tourism front.
When we arrived we went straight to get breakfast which is definitely a Bicester tradition. Normally we just go to Pret but after doing a little bit of research we decided to be a little bit more adventurous and thank god we did.
I did a little bit of research before we went and I had a look at the menus for Cafe Woseley and The Farmhouse. The Farmhouse seemed like the better option and I am thankful I picked the Farmhouse, I mean look at the pile of waffles in the picture above. It had a cherry compote and a cream on top whilst being smothered in maple syrup. It was sugar overload but it was incredible and certainly a treat that I could not eat regularly. The Farmhouse was beautiful as well so I do highly recommend going there if you head to Bicester Village.
When we arrived we went straight to get breakfast which is definitely a Bicester tradition. Normally we just go to Pret but after doing a little bit of research we decided to be a little bit more adventurous and thank god we did.
I did a little bit of research before we went and I had a look at the menus for Cafe Woseley and The Farmhouse. The Farmhouse seemed like the better option and I am thankful I picked the Farmhouse, I mean look at the pile of waffles in the picture above. It had a cherry compote and a cream on top whilst being smothered in maple syrup. It was sugar overload but it was incredible and certainly a treat that I could not eat regularly. The Farmhouse was beautiful as well so I do highly recommend going there if you head to Bicester Village.
Shopping
We finished breakfast and then I was ready to start shopping. The Farmhouse is perfectly positioned at one end of Bicester Village so it is a good starting point. From there my mother and I made our way down the village and back. Typically we make our way down initially without buying anything major and then make our way back once we've decided on what we want to buy. That way we don't spend over our budget and we get the items that we truly want.
Karl Lagerfeld
We stopped in a couple of stores which were at that end of the village such as The Kooples, All Saints and Coach. The first store I actually purchased in was Karl Lagerfeld. I have been obsessed with Karl Lagerfeld for a while and I have had a constant rotation of Karl phone cases for over a year now. It only seemed fitting that I would try and buy something whilst I was in the outlet. I did look at the phone cases but they didn't have anything I liked, instead I ended up buying a top. The top has a silhouette of Karl and his cat Choupette. I didn't have to walk away and this about this purchase, it felt right to buy it and it wasn't that expensive so I went for it and I am so glad I did.
Happy with my purchase, we left and moved on. We went into Mulberry and they had the bag of my dreams. I have spoken about the Rosewater Lily Bag many times on this blog and I have included it in my wishlists multiple times and there it was in the Mulberry outlet. I raced over to see how much it was and I have to say I was disappointed. I had seen the bag go into sale and it was £636 in the sale and it was the same price in the outlet. I expected it to be a tiny bit cheaper but I was still considering buying it. Somehow I managed to pull myself away from the bag of my dreams and continued shopping with my mother.
Estee Lauder Companies Store
After stopping in a few other stores, I could see the Estee Lauder Companies store on the horizon. As a beauty junkie it is one of my favourite places to be and they had a good stock level. Surprisingly they had a lot of La Mer which is quite rare to see and my Mother picked up some products from the brand. Meanwhile I went straight to the beauty box stand.
A lot of the time Estee Lauder Companies create Beauty Boxes which they sell on their website with a variety of products from some of the brands they own inside. A few months ago they created a box with Nic and Sam Chapman (Pixiwoo), I wanted to buy it at the time but never got round to it so I was really impressed when I saw the boxes in the store. I picked one up and put it straight in my basket.
A lot of the time Estee Lauder Companies create Beauty Boxes which they sell on their website with a variety of products from some of the brands they own inside. A few months ago they created a box with Nic and Sam Chapman (Pixiwoo), I wanted to buy it at the time but never got round to it so I was really impressed when I saw the boxes in the store. I picked one up and put it straight in my basket.
The second item I purchased was a mini MAC Pigment in Rose. The MAC pigments are amazing, with such a good colour pay off. I do not need the large pigments because I simply will not get through them so I buy the mini ones. I had been eyeing up the Rose one for a while so when I saw it at the till I went for it. I have to say I was very restrained usually it is rare for me to leave with less than 5 items but this time I managed it. Don't worry I did go back in and ended up getting a few more pieces.
Saint Laurent
I feel like going forward from the Estee Lauder store, you get all of the designer stores which both excites me greatly whilst they remind me how poor I am. I can't even afford most things at outlet price. I saw some lovely pieces in Burberry, Alexander McQueen and even Prada but there were two stores where I found items I had to consider: Saint Laurent and Dior. When I say I had to consider the item in Saint Laurent, I think I considered it for a whole minute and then concluded that I was going to buy it.
Last time I went to Bicester, I found one of the Saint Laurent tops in there and I had always wanted one so when I saw it I knew I had to buy it. To be honest I haven't worn it a whole lot as it is white and I don't want to ruin it so when I saw a black top with the same chalk style writing on the top I knew I had to get it. Plus I had seen the jumper version on Net-A-Porter a few seasons ago and I had added it to my wishlist so when I saw the top version in the outlet I was ecstatic.
The reason I love this top so much is because it has the same chalk script as the previous top but instead of being a black top with white script, it has colourful writing with mixed animal prints which I think is slightly more unique and I love the small bit of colour. It also has the writing in the middle of the top instead of around the collar like my previous Saint Laurent top. I have already got more wear out of this top but it is purely because it is black. For a T-Shirt this was expensive but it was significantly cheaper than if I had bought it full price! I was incredibly happy with my top and the service was better this time.
On this first walk along the village, I didn't buy anything else. I had a lot to think about so I had to decided what I was going to go back for. To be honest I had decided but what I was considering was quite a lot of money and I really had to think about it. I was a little bit disappointed as I was hoping to get some work clothes in Ted Baker but I thought their stock was disappointing and I was yet to find the new Olivia Burton store and somehow I had missed the Jo Malone London pop-up which I had been keeping an eye out for. Essentially Mum and I had to do a second walk along just to find these stores.
We walked back along and popped into a couple of stores we missed on the way up. We went into Max Mara and my mother found lots she liked. I found the Teddy Coat I am obsessed with but it was still £900. I did try on a pair of trousers which you can see in the picture above but they fit all wrong. They were too tight around my bum and too wide around the bottom.
We managed to find the Olivia Burton store and they had a few pieces I had been eyeing up but not the main ones so I decided to give it a miss. There were a pair of earrings I liked but I had my eye on something else so I walked away. Agent Provocateur was incredibly disappointing and I think going in and looking at the stock all together you can see that the quality has diminished somewhat which was really disappointing to see.
After all of that we decided to make it our mission to find the Jo Malone London store. It is quite odd because they have a small pop up store but you can also buy it in the Esee Lauder Companies store but the stock is completely different. I actually preferred the stuff they had the in Companies store rather than the Pop Up. The Pop Up had a lot of the bridal lace patterned candles and fragrance with a couple of discontinued scents and that was it. I did consider a Peony & Blush Suede candle with a lace pattern but it was £39.50 which isn't a massive discount from the normal version in store which I actually prefer. I left rather disappointed to be honest and I know my mum did who would have bought more Lime, Basil & Mandarin but they didn't even have that.
Estee Lauder Companies
The Jo Malone pop up was basically back at the other end near the Farmhouse so we ended up back where we started. We were parked near Prada so one partial trip down the village and we were heading home. Of course a second trip into the Estee Lauder Companies store had to be done, just to make sure we didn't miss anything the first time. Turns out I could have missed out on one of my favourite items.
I don't know why but the first time we went in I didn't really look at the Tom Ford products so this time I went back and had a look and I could have missed out on buying the liquid lipstick version of my beloved Flame Lipstick. I adore Flame and it is one of my favourite Summer lipsticks. I was thrilled to be able to buy this as I have always wanted to try the liquid lipsticks from Tom Ford and this is bloody gorgeous. I have been using it ever since and it is so gorgeous. I love Tom Ford products and I am so glad that I did not miss out on this.
My mum picked out an item and you could get 10% off if you bought 3 or more items so to boost up our purchase I grabbed an Origins mask from the till. I love the Origins Rose Sheet Masks, they are one of my favourites so I was glad to get another one because they are surprisingly hard to find in normal stores.
Dior
We only made one more stop on the way back to the car and it was to get something I had been thinking about since our first walk down the village. This was a bit of a ridiculous purchase and it was something I really had to consider but I had had a dream a few months ago where I went to a designer outlet (a fake one in my dream that my mind has made up.) I went to a Dior outlet, had a look at the jewellery and I found a piece I loved which was around £150 in my dream. I ended up buying it in my dream and this actually ended up happening in real life, it honestly felt like fate.
I always look at the Dior jewellery after I really liked the Tribales earrings a few years ago but they had a pair of earrings I really liked and I had seen previously. They were expensive for a pair of earrings that are only costume jewellery but I loved the design and I wanted to treat myself for my Birthday. It is also my first purchase from Dior which excited me greatly as it is a brand I have loved for a long time.
The earrings are part of the Secret Cannage design which instantly reminded me of the 1920s which is my favourite era, it is also a design that Dior himself loved. I instantly liked them just looking at them and they came in gold or rose gold. I only wear rose gold jewellery so it actually seemed perfect to me. They were expensive but were not outside my budget and I decided to go for them. It was my Birthday and I had just been offered a new job so I was looking to celebrate and what better way to celebrate than a pair of Dior earrings! I have to say the service I received was exceptional and it all added to the experience.
After buying the earrings I was done. I hadn't blown my entire budget but I was pretty close to it and I managed to get some items that I truly wanted and that I had wanted for a long time which isn't always the case when you go to Bicester. I was thrilled when I left with all the pieces that I managed to buy and I instantly set about using them after I got home.
Tips for Bicester Village
Going to Bicester Village can be incredibly exciting but also daunting because there are so many stores and it is all quite expensive. There are a few tips that I have learnt over the past few trips I have made which have made it slightly easier shopping this time.
1. Fuel Up - There are plenty of places to eat throughout Bicester. My Mother and I usually opt for Breakfast and then we will stop at Pret to grab a drink and perhaps a cake as we feel like it.
2. Have a Budget - It is incredibly easy to get carried away and you do find some amazing reductions at Bicester but you really do need to consider what you can afford. I always have an amount in my head that I can spend when I go to Bicester or I will end up leaving with a Mulberry that I did not have the money for.
3. Consider Your Purchases - As I said, it is very easy to get carried away and blow your budget quickly. A good way of shopping at Bicester is to head to one end of the village so you have viewed all the stores you might want to spend in and so you don't miss anything you might want. Consider the items you have seen and like, decide which ones were your favourites within your budget and go back and buy them. It is much better doing that than making a purchase you regret and missing out on a piece you truly wanted.
4. Have an Open Mind - It is rare you find a permanent line as they can sell those full price in normal stores so a lot of what you see is seasonal. A lot of the time you will not find the exact item you may have been looking for but you can find something similar so sometimes it is good to go for these pieces. You honestly never know what you are going to find at Bicester and even in stores you wouldn't normally like, you can sometimes find a gem.
4. Have an Open Mind - It is rare you find a permanent line as they can sell those full price in normal stores so a lot of what you see is seasonal. A lot of the time you will not find the exact item you may have been looking for but you can find something similar so sometimes it is good to go for these pieces. You honestly never know what you are going to find at Bicester and even in stores you wouldn't normally like, you can sometimes find a gem.
Clearly no one is going to Bicester anytime soon but once C-Virus is all over, I highly recommend making a trip there because it is a beautiful shopping centre, as well as being a designer outlet. As I mentioned a bit earlier on, China were already in the lockdown when we went to Bicester so we were very careful with washing our hands and using anti-bac but it was no where near as serious as it is now.
Last week I posted my London Haul from February as I have been a little bit behind thanks to Fashion Month at the start of March taking up a lot of my time and content. However, I think this is the last 'travel'/shopping post I will have for a while. For a while it is going to be reviews and perhaps a post about the occasion online purchase I may make.
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