Know where to look and you can find fashion’s best bargains from high-end luxury to student chic in and around Oxford. James Mitchell points you in the right direction.
Try this thought experiment with me and let’s see where we end up. Imagine you are a successful member of China’s middle-class, with a growing disposable income and a taste for travel and fashion. Having toured extensively domestically – you’ve strolled along the ancient Great Wall, inspected the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, and lost yourself in Beijing’s Forbidden City – you decide that’s it’s time your family visited the UK. London first, and a trip to Buckingham Palace. Plenty of pomp and pageantry, but the King isn’t in, and maybe you’re not completely sold on the merits of hereditary monarchies. So where to next? If you’re thinking what most Chinese tourists are reportedly thinking, that would be Bicester Village.
Why? Well, everyone, at every point on the spending spectrum loves a bargain. And while other retail outlet destinations may be available, Bicester Village, which grew magically out of an Oxfordshire field just over 30 years ago, was very cannily positioned with the cost-conscious tourist in mind. It’s got its own railway station on the London Marylebone to Oxford Line, with onboard announcements thoughtfully being made in Mandarin and Arabic as well as English when you arrive at Bicester. You want to drive? It’s the location the phrase “ample free parking at rear” was created for. There are multi-lingual shop assistants, multi-lingual signage and almost every high-end brand you can think of. The prices are already mark-downs on RRPs and depending on where you’re from and how you send it home, you may even get your VAT back on top of that.
This formula has made Bicester Village extremely commercially successful. So, what’s the catch? For many there really isn’t one, but let’s consider a couple of things. Is it too busy for its own good? I’ve been there at peak times in the run-up to Christmas and ended up feeling as misanthropic as early period Scrooge – when he did his best work, before he sold out. I went recently on a weekday morning as their website suggests and was pleasantly surprised at the relative calm. Although that made the artfully curated queues outside Gucci and Dior something of a surprise. Doesn’t it all just feel a bit Disneyfied with its white picket fences and obsessive cleanliness? Well, yes, but an awful lot of people want exactly that. And let’s deal with the big one here: aren’t you still playing high prices for previous seasons’ product? A three grand men’s jacket at Zegna reduced to two grand is a lot of cash to drop when it ain’t that hot. I’ll throw that one over to The Guardian’s Jess Cartner-Morley, “as the trend cycle has lost its stranglehold on the consumer psyche, and the rise of preloved and vintage has elevated the cachet of clothes that are not hot off the catwalk, the status of outlet shopping has risen.”
Back in Oxford, there’s plenty of that preloved product hoping not to get lost in Oxford’s charity shops, but is it advantage vintage when it comes to value? If our Chinese family wake up the next day feeling refreshed and ready to bargain hunt more centrally, what’s on the agenda? Let’s start with a visit to a shop that is an Oxford institution. Just a short hop over from Magdalen College Deer Park, right on The Plain, is the Ballroom Emporium. As the name suggests, it’s got you covered if you’re picking an outfit for a college ball. Thankfully it’s not all strictly ballroom, they have fantastic pieces mainly from the 1950s onwards. Crombie coats? Too easy. A gold lamé suit like Martin Fry’s from 80s blue-eyed-soulsters ABC? They’ve got it. Actual leather cowboy chaps with fringed edges? You’re being silly now, but yes, they’ve got them too. “We’ve been doing business for more than 40 years,” says assistant Amerit. “Our customers are generally youthful. And yes, we did notice that business improved a few years back when sustainability began to get attention. We thought it might just be a trend but, fittingly I guess, it’s been sustained.” There is definitely value to be had here, with preloved (or just broken in) leather jackets in the £50-60 territory catching my eye. And for those of a certain vintage it will bring back happy memories of the costume shop in children’s tv series, Mr Benn.
Finally, I’d guide our visitors to what I think is the hotspot for the best in charity shopping. There are good ones all over Oxford, but the Summertown Strip consistently produces quality items at unbeatable prices. Within a few hundred metres of each other are the Fab Four: Helen & Douglas House (supporting local children’s hospices), Oxfam, Oxfordshire Animal Sanctury and Scope. It’s not just clothing of course, with plenty of books, vinyl, homeware and even electricals and furniture on offer at H&D. The turnover of stock is quick so don’t spend too long prevaricating over a purchase. Sometimes, though, it’s what you don’t see that forces you to arch an eyebrow, “The strangest thing I’ve had donated was a mummified lizard – we didn’t put it out,” says manager Chloe at H&D. “Anecdotally, I’ve heard of boxes of stuffed full of sex toys, but health and safety obviously wouldn’t run with that either. Clothing and our furniture are the big sellers for us, and they’re always at great prices.” Across these four shops, I’ve seen mint condition Brioni shirts at £20, this season’s Acne jeans for £8.50 and a brand new with tags Ganni dress reduced to less than a third of its original price.
You need a bit of luck when you are charity shopping to land the really good stuff; across Summertown’s Quad of Quality you’re pushing the odds right back in your favour. But does competition ever get fierce? I’m a big fan of the Ron Burgundy movies where San Diego’s rival news crews tool up and face off in a carpark to protect their professional pride. I find myself wondering whether the volunteers for each of the four charities grab their weapons and head out to settle their grievances in a similar fashion. “No James, they don’t” says Chloe a little too dismissively for my liking, “But I do think customers are drawn up to Summertown because we’re all up here, so close together. We cross pollinate, if you like.”
On my way out, I have a quick rummage through the men’s section. A Paul Smith navy cardigan made of merino with a touch of silk and cashmere for a tenner. Made in China. I’d like to think that the father in our visiting Chinese family spots this later and takes it back home on a circular journey of sustainability, alongside that Zegna jacket and the fringed chaps. All of them, in their own way, bargains.
