I recently visited Bicester Village for the first time. I’d heard so much about it, it seemed everywhere I looked people were mentioning Bicester Village as THE place to shop and so I was very excited to get there myself.
From Plymouth it’s a fair old drive - 4.5 hours each way with slight traffic delays. I was attending a wedding in Oxford in September and so it was the perfect opportunity to visit Bicester.
And I left empty handed!
For those of you who know me, that must be quite a surprise as I love shopping, and I love THINGS! All things! Everything! But I left Bicester that day empty handed for the following reasons:
Bicester Village is a designer outlet, but these are still designer prices, so as I’m unfortunately not made of money, I carefully considered anything that caught my eye. And managed to peel myself away from them!
I do love an occasional splurge item (I count my Chanel handbags amongst my prized possessions), but I try not to buy things for the sake of it, or because it is a good deal (I have done this SO many times in the past and am really working to refrain myself in these instances!).
There were no Chanel or Tiffany shops there (these would have been my weak spots). Haha.
If you follow my Instagram you’d know I’ve been trying to sort through my storage container FULL of clothes, shoes, bags, any other things that my awful magpie-hoarder-self has collected for the last 12 years. As a result of my hoarding-detox I’ve been really trying to use the things I already have and not buy more!
In short, I’ve made a resolution with myself to be less wasteful and only invest in pieces that I genuinely love and/or need.
Pics below from my Instagram stories on the day
My favourite shops there were Furla (I was very tempted by a bag but refrained myself), Coccinelle (the softest most gorgeous handbags), Fendi, Kate Spade (which had VERY good discounts!), Molten Brown and the cosmetics outlet. I was also toying with the idea of buying the Tom Ford Soleil Blanc travel set, but again, I didn’t NEED it. (WELL DONE SADIE! haha)
The village was really busy, but parking wasn’t too difficult and we managed to grab a seat for lunch as soon as we got there too (I also had a margarita!). My tip would be to skip the restaurant and opt for one of the many little eatery stalls instead - they’re much quicker and cheaper, so more time and money for shopping!
Bicester Village is definitely worth a visit, and had I seen something that I really absolutely loved or needed, I’d have bought it. On this occasion, that wasn’t so. I left the village feeling a mix of disappointment at not buying anything from the place i’d wanted to visit for so long, and pride in the fact I’d not bought anything just for the sake of it.
Have you been to Bicester or any other shopping outlets? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below :-)
Sadie x
