The High End Haul #1 – What Was Bought

Hello My Lovely Readers!!

So, finally finally I’m uploading the huge high end haul that my friend went on in Bicester Village almost a month ago now!

Goodness, if that’s how long it takes me to post up a haul from my friend’s visit I’ll never get around to posting about Paris and Lisbon =P Does the post about the Spring/Summer Louis Vuitton Champs-Elysee display count??

Anyway, looking through my pictures that I took of our day at Bicester I realised there were just so many, I was wondering back then why my phone battery seemed to be running out so frequently (I’d brought my charger along, thank goodness, and every chance I got I was sneakily charging it, even in the shops!). Well, mystery solved.

By the way, for those that don’t know Bicester Village, it’s basically a chain of outlet shopping villages and there’s one sort of in-between London and Oxford ish. It’s a pedestrian mall, which means each store is a separate little house-like building but the streets in between are vehicle-free. Bicester tends to have quite high end brands stocked in there, like Burberry, Gucci, LV, Prada, Versace, D&G etc. but also things like L’Occitane, Superdry, Miss Sixty etc. etc. Outlet shopping, of course, means that almost everything there will be discounted and probably quite a high discount at that as they’ll be either last season’s items or just the last few items left that were sent on to the outlet. You can check out where’s your nearest Bicester outlet and what brands they stock here.

Bicester on an ordinary day… photo not taken by me by the way, it was chucking it down the day I went unfortunately so couldn’t get a lovely shot in!!

Due to the insane multitude of pictures there are I’ve decided to turn this post into a series and this is Part 1: What Was Bought. Next week I’ll put up Part Two: What Was Not (geddit?) which is basically the stuff we saw that she really liked but decided not to get in the end. They’re really pretty and I wanted to take you through the whole shopping process with me, what you decide not to get is sometimes as important, isn’t it? You like to look back on it and think ‘Oh I saved her money!’ LOL.

However, back to the topic at hand! May I first of all say this: I am a very good friend. LOL. Sorry for blowing my own trumpet there but I literally was my friend’s PA/Personal Shopper the entire day we were at Bicester. She had a ‘plan of attack’ which made the trip much more productive and probably less expensive and I was there taking down all the info, this will be in Part 3 of the series, probably a post about how to shop at Bicester.

RIGHT, enough of all this faff that you’re probably not interested in reading anyway, time for lovely pictures of the HAUL!!!

Vivienne Westwood Hollywood Clutch/Bag

Right, first up is my absolutely favourite purchase of the day! This is the 2nd trip my friend’s made to London and the last time (about 2 years ago) she went to Bicester too and she got a lovely tartan-y patterned Westwood wallet, she said it’s a must-stop shop for her now, haha. She was eyeing a bright red wallet when I spotted this extremely gorgeous clutch in the display!! The picture does NOT do it justice. There is only want way to describe what this bag looks like and it’s a GALAXY. Yes, a whole damn GALAXY, for the rest of the day I kept referring to this as ‘The Galaxy’.

The whole bag just looks like it’s a slice of the stars in space and that planet floating in the middle… I can’t think of when the Westwood logo has looked more amazing!

Don’t you want to own your own galaxy too?!?! I was pretty tempted to get this myself as it cost about £93 down from £140., quite a steal for what could pass off as a wallet, clutch and evening bag (the chain comes off) but I restrained myself because, well, I don’t need it… my friend and I are polar opposites when it comes to shopping by the way! Which is why I’m grateful for her visit as I’d never have a high end haul to write about otherwise!

Dolce and Gabbana Bracelet

Another item where the picture doesn’t do the item justice! A D&G bracelet that was £120 down from £185.

My friend was critically perusing the selection of bracelets the D&G outlet had in stock and they had absolutely nothing that caught our eye until the sales lady brought this baby out. It’s a petroleum coloured leather stretched over a gold base and that seaweed-ish, fluid green-and-black colour is what makes the item magical! When I saw it I knew she’d get it…

Also, isn’t the box gorgeous? It’s a very lush lining. I would totally keep that as a special jewellery box or something.

Tory Birch Ballets

Sorry, I realise now that this picture has the boxes from the other things in it too! Whoops. But it’s still the best pic that I have of the ballets so…

I think the design of the ballets are just so lovely and classic, they have a scalloped edge too which adds a bit of a girly, frilly feel to it! Also, I like that you can see the Tory Birch logo on the back! It might just be me but I think if you shell out so much for a branded item might as well have the logo on it, right?! Amright?! Obviously not a whopping big tacky logo but, well, something.

These were £100 down from £175. However, I personally still wear my flats from Primark >_<

Prada Sunglasses

These sunglasses were £120 down from closer to £200! Still too expensive for me personally but if you’re into branded things then it’s fast becoming obvious that you might as well get them at Bicester than anywhere else.

Versace Zip Bracelet Black and Gold

Versace Zip Bracelet Gray

Right, the reason why there’s 2 pictures above is that my friend got the black and gold bracelet but I didn’t want to have her take it out of the lovely wrapping just for a picture!

So, if you will, please imagine the grey bracelet (which we didn’t get) with black leather instead and gold studs/zip. Gorgeous, right? The colour was simply amazing. The funny thing is we went into the store in the morning and they just had it in grey and white, we popped it twice that afternoon to look at them again but just weren’t convinced. Finally we went in a 3rd time but to look at the sunglasses for my friend’s friend (okay, the friend chain is getting confusing now!!) and the sales lady literally legged over to us to say that they just received new bracelets and they now had it in black!! You should have seen my friend’s eyes sparkle… I felt sorry for her wallet…

The bracelet was £162 which is so terribly expensive but it was down from £360… so… well, it still doesn’t justify it in my eyes but I am a firm believer of never judging how others want to spend their money, so I’m just glad my friend got a good high end deal here!

L’Occitane and MAC

There was a L’Occitane store at Bicester too and, best of all, a little beauty/skincare outlet too!! Eeep!! They stocked brands like Clinique, Estee and MAC amongst others, that must have been my favourite store haha. I feel I still get a better deal during a good sale but if you’re in the area no harm popping in!

We picked up a lot of L’Occitane products because even at a store in the high street L’Occitane is way cheaper here in the UK than back home for my friend. The conditioner’s been getting a lot of good reviews so she got a few bottles of that, plus the body lotion and hand cream. And of course that lovely little MAC powder you see right there!

Sorry, can’t remember the exact prices of these (bad blogger, I know!!) but I do remember everything was 25% off =)

Just Cavalli Tote by Roberto Cavalli

Versace Men’s Sunglasses

Right, these last two weren’t for my friend herself but were items she helped a friend of her’s back home pick up. Have you ever tried ‘distance shopping’? It’s stressful I say!!

Because you’re constantly snapping pictures and then whatsapping them to another person *headache*, I’m so glad he picked out these items which he really loved though!

The tote is £250 down from around £400, which is super expensive to me but then again branded bags always are! It isn’t even a ‘brand’ technically because it’s not Roberto Cavalli, it’s Just Cavalli… eep the world of branded items boggles my mind!!! The sunglasses cost around £100 but he absolutely fell in love with them in the picture…

Disclaimer!

Anyway, to end off I thought I’d write a little disclaimer of sorts… my friend isn’t exactly a super-rich, daddy’s girl, in fact she’s NOT at all! The only reason she could even afford this haul is because she works and she shops, like, once every 2 years. Which is why I don’t judge her spending 😉

I could spend like that too, anyone could, if we’re just willing to save up for it. Personally, I’d rather keep my savings for something else, which is fine of course. I think the bottom line is that you do manage your money (ie. save or invest) and you do it for a purpose that will give you happiness and satisfaction. Don’t save it all up for a huge shopping spree if it’ll only leave you feeling empty!!

Right, that’s that from me today! Hope you enjoyed the haul pictures 😉

LOVE,

Penny

ps: OMG I forgot to mention! Actually, there was one other buy she made which I thought was a GREAT BUY but not very interesting… she picked up a Samsonite luggage bag which was only around £300 and if you’re familiar with Samsonite that’s not expensive at all. If you love travelling please invest in a good luggage bag, I have a light blue one from Pierre Cardin that’s been my best friend for over 6 years now and that’s been 6 years of heavy-duty usage with at least 4 to 6 long haul flights a year, ah my poor bag what have I put you through!! So yeah, invest in this, it’ll be worth it, trust me!

Which of the buys above is your top pick? Let me know!

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