Bicester Village, The Ultimate Luxury Shopping Experience Without the Hefty Price Tag

By: Irene Widjaja

If you ever had a chance to come to London and have a spare day to go for a ultimate luxury shopping experience without breaking the bank, you have to visit Bicester Village. A little information, Bicester Village is a member of Chic Outlet Shopping. Villages are home outlet boutiques of world-leading niche and international luxury brands in fashion and lifestyle, offering up to 60% savings, and sometimes more, on the recommended retail price, all year round. There are villages around Europe such as Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Dublin, Munich and many other location. The only thing is these villages are usually located on the outskirt of the main city, however some of them have shuttle bus running from city center area, which is very convenient.

Luckily for me, I have my lovely friend Mia, who drove me there. She has been raving about how good this village is for shopping. Bicester Village is located about 1 hour away from London. You can get there using trains or the shuttle bus service that pick you up from Marble Arch which is very central London (near Oxford St) for around £19.

There are around 130 luxury boutique outlets in Bicester Village that house designer brands such as Bally, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Valentino, Burberry, Furla, La Perla, Bose, Fendi, Versace, Marni to name a few. Check out their website www.bicestervillage.com to check all the available designer brands boutique. I was blown away with the selection of brands as well as the reductions on the price tags. It’s not the place for the faint-hearted or if you are having black period. They even have cosmetic outlet shop selling brands such as MAC, Bobbi Brown, Origins and other big name cosmetic brands.

The reductions starts from as low as 20% up to 60% depending on which season the items were from. Sometimes they even gave reductions on new collections too. Agent Provocateur corset was down to £50 from £200 although there are only limited sizes and collections. La Perla lingerie sets starts from around £25. Marni accessories,bags and shoes has reduction up to 50%. I was eyeing a Marni belt that has been reduced to £50 however it was not the right size for me. Burberry Men’s shirt was down to £50. Ferragamo shoes start from £80 however the styles are limited and so does the sizing. There were so many good bargains it’s unbelievable. However I think it’s a matter of luck as well, so if you find something you like you better buy it straight away, if you want to think about it and come back some other time, you might not be able to find the same thing again. (That happened to Mia, a piece of advice that she’d given me during this shopping trip). I think I will definitely be back for more designer shopping spree that doesn’t hurt my pockets.

Below are what I’m leaving Bicester Village with that day:

• Anya Hindmarch canvas beach bag tote from £70 to £42
• Hugo Boss Men Leather Watch, reduced to £100 from £200
• Mulberry Men’s Wallet £56 (couldn’t remember the original price)
• Nicole Fahri belt £27 from £65