Bicester Village goes vintage

Hi guys,
I fell slightly in love with the vintage styling of this new Bicester Village campaign. It makes me wish I had the kind of decadent life that involves long summer holidays spent lounging around the pool indulging in deliciously expensive cocktails, wearing hand-delivered couture, and looking moody! And lets face it, any ad campaign that has a dog in its finale is always a winner with me!

I am long overdue a trip to Bicester Village: I really want a new Vivienne Westwood scarf (preferably the same as my red one, but in black) and I always spend far too much money in the Cath Kidston and French Connection stores. In fact, it might be the perfect activity for this weekend, given the rainy weather!

For a little vintage inspiration for your next Bicester Village trip (and gratuitous cute puppy shots!) check it out:

Viral video by ebuzzing

Love Tor xx

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Festive fun at Bicester Village

Hi guys,

Well my love of Bicester Village is well documented. Some of my favourite things are from there; including my Vivienne Westwood scarf (which I've worn every day for the last 3 months, making its cost-per-wear almost zero) and my Mulberry notebook. Last time we were there I went knitwear crazy, buying a lovely metallic cardigan from Karen Millen and a jumper with fur sleeves from French Connection. And don't even get me started on the Cath Kidston outlet: it's like heaven!!

Mike and I have already made our festive trip to Bicester, and picked up fab presents for everyone on our list. (Sadly those people read this site, so I can't ruin it by sharing more details!) It's such a lovely place to go at Christmas: they have lights, late night opening, and The Christmas Tree House, which is serving warm mulled wine: Yummy! I think the right Christmassy atmosphere is so important when you're doing your Christmas shopping: it helps keep you motivated when your feet start to get tired!

For the festive period, Bicester Village are launching a new campaign called Festive Secrets. This is an online competition where you can win 3 different types of prizes (by completing tasks associated with bronze, silver, and gold reindeer). I found a gold reindeer, which meant I was entered into a competition to win a shopping trip to Fidenza Village in Italy. If you share the Bicester Village Festive Secrets competition on Facebook you earn your bronze reindeer, which enters you into a competition to win one of 10 £100 Bicester Village gift cards. And you earn your silver reindeer by recommending the site to a friend: this gives you the chance to win gifts from some of the Village's most popular boutiques! Why not give it a go? As the old saying goes, you have to be in it to win it, and it would be a lovely Christmas treat to win one of the prizes (fingers crossed!)

Love Tor xxx

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Viral video by ebuzzing

Daily wear: Spring stripes and vintage shades

Hi guys,
I hope i'm not jinxing anything, but can you believe the incredible weather?! I can't believe it's only early April! Fingers crossed this holds out for the impending double bank holidays.

This is just a quickie post to show off what i'm wearing today. My first truly summery outfit of the year definitely needs to be documented-even if I did put footless tights underneath my dress for a reassuring burst of added warmth:

I'm wearing a stripey midi dress, that I picked up from the Monsoon outlet in Bicester village on Friday. I actually got this for my over bikinis on my honeymoon but I think it's perfect for hot days in the city too. The suede wedges are from River Island, the bag is from Debenhams (I haven't stopped using this since I bought it!) and I picked up the sunglasses from a car boot sale yesterday for a bargain 50p! They are original 70s one which a lovely old lady was selling because "they're too modern for her now." Love it!

I'll show off more of my Bicester buys in another post later today: I got plenty of great summer buys from the Monsoon/Accessorize outlet that I can't wait to share!

Love, Tor xx

Day out: Christmas shopping at Bicester Village

Hi guys,

Today my sister and I went Christmas shopping to Bicester village (although we ended up buying a few treats for ourselves whilst we were there!) This is my third trip to Bicester, and I really like shopping there; it's an outlet village just outside of Oxford. According to their website they are just a 60 minute drive from London, but from my part of London it is more like an hour and a half. Still, we just popped the radio on and enjoyed the ride: it was worth it! Here's what I picked up:

The Cath Kidson outlet was one of my favourite shops. I picked up a pair of Christmas mugs for someone's stocking for £8, a much-needed Oyster card holder for £3.50 and refreshed my kitchen with new tea towels and a replacement oven glove. This shop had everything: the bed linen, the sewing kits, the crockery... I had to be held back from blowing my savings on the lot! And all of the staff were so helpful and friendly too: that always makes a shopping experience so much nicer!

Bicester is mostly high end stores, but there are a number of high street favourites too, and these are much more in my price range! I got this great bangle for £2 and these flip flops for my honeymoon for £2.40 from Accessorize! The Accessorize is attached to a Monsoon store which would be the perfect place to go if you're looking for a party frock: they had a massive selection of dresses with up to 70% off RRP.

Finally, I got myself a new coat for £65 from the French Connection outlet. I was surprised they had so many coats with such great discounts at this time of year: The original price on this was £150, and I think it's classic enough that it will last a good few years. I'll show you what it looks like in a daily wear post in the week!

I also picked up a few Christmas presents that I can't write about - the blog has ears! Bicester is such a lovely place to walk around, and has such a great atmosphere. If I wasn't busy buying presents for everyone else (and paying for a wedding!) then I would have picked up a gorgeous Vivienne Westwood bag, some lovely bits from Crabtree and Evelyn, an Alexander McQueen scarf.... the list goes on. And the discounts are incredible: lil sis fell in love with a pair of gold Jimmy Choo shoes that had been reduced to £99.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? If not, when do you start? I've never understood people that can leave it until Christmas eve, so i'd love to know your present-buying rituals!

Love, Tor xx

Beautiful wonderful Bicester Village

On Monday Mike and I took a day trip to Cadburys world: it was a chocoholics dream and absolutely no good for my diet, but a very fun day out! On our way home we passed through Bicester and after much nagging from me, stopped off to explore Bicester Village (well, it would be rude not to!)

Did you know that the top two search terms on this blog are "topshop outlet" and "outlet shopping"? I didn't even realise I wrote about those two things so often, but apparently my reputation preceeds me; I love outlets and bagging a bargain!And if it's outlet shopping you're looking for then Bicester won't let you down!!

Without meaning to sound like a bad advertorial, Bicester offers something for everyone, and the range of stores means you can pick something up whatever your budget. In French Connection there are tops starting from £6 and dresses starting from £10. I got a lovely black smock dress with a thick waistband for £14. So you can get something for under a tenner or blow hundreds of pounds in Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen or Gucci/Dior if you like the more "traditional" brands. And either way you'd be getting between 50 and 80% off!! There are over 150 stores so there's something for everyone; I especially loved the Cath Kidson store in all its floral glory; Mothers day is coming up!

I have written before about how much I love Luella, and in the Luella outlet I got two casual summer dresses that had been £300 for £49 each; that's pretty much Topshop prices. Yup, my shopping ban is officially failed and over. I've never bought anything from Luella before, and didn't want to miss my chance now the label is no more! There was another dress, a bag, and a pair of shoes I wanted, but I was being sensible; how I regret that now!! I also got a lovely black 100 silk dress from Monsoon with lovely beading and tassling at the neckline for under £25. All in all I spent less than £150 (including the price of a cup of tea) and had a great afternoon out!

I love Bicester village; its like an American outlet experience, set on a faux street with al fresco drinking and dining and its pretty compact so its easy to hop from one store to another (and then back again to ultimately purchase when your willpower fails you!) I wish i'd taken more picutres to show you guys, but I was so busy thinking about shopping that I forgot the think about the blog!! There were so many other things I wanted to buy; lets just hope that more nagging and the lure of the Superdry store means the bf will take me again soon!

Oh, and because I seem to always be thinking about weddings (my sister is getting married) its worth mentioning that they had a great selection of wedding and bridesmaids dresses in Monsoon at 70% off: bargain! Actually I think it would be a fun day out for any bride and bridesmaids - my sisters and I are planning to go with our mum to pick up some bits for the wedding and raid Jimmy Choo for wedding shoes: 70% off and an occassion to wear them! What more excuse do you need?!

Love, Tor xxx