Shopaholic in London

Hello everyone! I know I’ve been MIA since I got to London, but can you blame me? Between partying, strolling the streets and shopping, I just couldn’t find the time! Now I’m in Aberdeen and the husband’s busy with cricket, so I am back in action and LOVING it!

First things first, before I move on to doing more Resort reviews, I thought I could run you through some of the key pieces I shopped in London. Getting into each and every item I bought seems too long and boring, so talking about my favourite buys seems fine.

The day after I got there, my friend had planned on taking me to be to Bicester Village, an outlet village in Oxfordshire. At first I was a bit apprehensive as outlet malls are packed with tourists and boutiques have hoards of discounted items which are either pricier than luxury department stores despite being 4 seasons old or stock absolute rubbish. Eventually I thought why not at least check it out so were on our way. Anyways, the first boutique I entered was Jimmy Choo and for a change I was very pleased with the collection and their prices. I ended up buying an adorable pair of tropical print espadrille wedges for 175 pounds which in my opinion is dirt cheap for a pair of Jimmy Choos and considering the shoe was a few seasons old I thought the price was apt. The best part was that the boutique was literally empty!

Moving on, I checked out the usual Gucci, Fendi, Burberry, etc. and most of the stuff was garbage. I couldn’t seem to understand why these stores were so packed because apart from one or two select items, there was really nothing worth buying! Don’t even get me started on the Prada boutique. I saw people walking around with massive Prada shopping bags and I mean lots of them so I thought ooh, let’s check it out. It was no surprise I walked out in under two minutes because as predicted, the stuff was either too old or overpriced. If I have to pay 250 pounds for a pair of ballerinas, I might as well buy them from Harrods or Selfridges because that would be the SS13 collection as opposed to the ancient stuff being sold there.  Then I see everyone walking into Micheal Kors so I jumped on the band wagon and oh god, the store was literally a fish market. It seemed half the world was out to buy the MK crap. NOT impressed.

Anyways, I then spotted Sergio Rossi, virtually empty so I headed there. Other than the sales staff, not a soul in sight (happiness!!) and I spot a pair of adorable black ballerinas and only for 100 pounds! I’ve been wearing them ever since.

Just a tip for all those planning to go to Bicester Village if you happen to be in London; avoid all the overcrowded stores (if you have good taste like I do, chances are you won’t find a thing or are better off buying stuff from the Central London shops/department stores). The trick to outlet shopping is calculating mentally whether an item is worth the price it’s being sold at. Remember to first scope the scene at Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols along with the flagship stores. Chances are you might find something there on sale and from a more recent collection as opposed to the outlet malls.  Designer shoes on sale usually retail between 200 – 350 pounds on (also depends on the leather and embellishment on the shoes). So say for example you find a pair of Gucci shoes at an outlet store for 250 pounds from FW 2012, unless you are head over heels in love with them, I say ditch them because at that price, you will find something on sale from the SS 13 collection.

Remember, outlet shopping isn’t about randomly buying designer goods for the sake of it. Shop smart. Don’t come home with bags filled with impulsive and silly buys.

The last two things I purchased from Bicester were negligees; one from Agent Provocateur and the other from La Perla. I’m NOT attaching pictures of them!

Anyways, so that’s the end of my outlet experience. So a few days later my mom reaches London and the numerous never ending trips to Harrods begin. YAAY! I ended up buying this gorgeous Rag & Bone Sofia Dress and if you love it as much as I do, you can purchase the coral one from here and the green one from here. The green Sophia dress was also on the SS 13 runway. Please ignore how crushed my clothes are in the pictures; this is what happens when you are a dreadful packer.

What the dress looks like on a model as opposed to my photo!

Silk shirts are a wardrobe staple for me. I have them in all sorts of colours and just never get tired of them so of course when mom and I came across this peachy pink DVF silk shirt, it was a no brainer that I’ll be purchasing it. It is still available online, so if you’re interested, click here to purchase and to see what it looks like when it's not crushed like mine! BTW I’m so glad I didn’t end up buying the silk shirts at the DVF outlet boutique. They were around 50 to 70 pounds more expensive than Harrods!

Next up was another silk shirt I purchased from the fabulous brand Joseph. It’s a very longish type shirt made in heavy silk so the fabric is to die for. It has a little keyhole at the back which is adorable and I got it on sale for like 155 pounds (the original was about 265 pounds or something). Click here to check if it's still available online.

Now for the cherry on top and I mean CHERRY on top was the Celine trapeze bag! Yaay! I finally bought it. I can’t tell you how fast these babies are being bought. I was chatting up with the Celine staff at Harrods and he was telling me how they’re constantly running out of the trapeze bag. I was standing there for only ten minutes and everyone approaching the Celine counter at Harrods was only asking to see the trapeze. Anyways I got mine so I’m walking on clouds; literally. The one I ended up buying has a python shoulder strap and top handle. How stunning is she? I remember being miserable as it was on a waitlist in their Dubai boutique for the longest time last year so I ended up buying myself the YSL Cabas Chyc Tote to make me feel better. But somehow, nothing made me happier than the trapeze.

Well, that’s all I have to say about my London saga. Happy summer shopping people!