Oxfam Boutique Fashion Show

Last Thursday I met my friend Nat in town for a spot of dinner, drinks and a fashion fix at the Oxfam Boutique 2nd birthday bash fashion show.  So we had a bite to eat in Pizza Express thanks to Vouchercodes.co.uk which had a deal for dough balls and two classic pizzas for 12.95 which is a pretty amazing deal, however once we added a large glass of the old vino each it came to just over £20 which is still pretty good for a very filling and pretty tasty meal (i was a bit hungover from the night before so actually it was the perfect choice).  

After dinner we had a potter down St Mary's Street in search of the Oxfam Boutique. As we got closer we could see crowds of people gathering round the entrance and music blaring from the store. It was a very cool layout as the models were coming out of the side exit/entrance of the boutique and strutting down the Morgan Arcade to the junction with St Mary's Street and then back again. It was almost like they were just strutting down the street, as at first we found it difficult to actually distinguish between the models and the audience. In contrast to the fashion week shows I saw at LFWeekend, the models were an extremely normal looking bunch of gals and guys, I suspect some of them actually worked as volunteers in the shop. 

However, the outfits were an eclectic mix of vintage dress, skirts and blouses with funky hats and fascinators adding a retro vibe to the outfits with some more modern, simple skater dresses. 

The show lasted about 30 minutes after which we were invited in store for some Lambrini and a look around. We happily obliged and on entering the store it has a very cool vibe about it, with the words Oxfam Boutique written on the wall in vinyl records and old fashioned retro pictures on the wall, it is very welcoming and very well laid out in colour code order, much like my own wardrobe. As we took a strategic approach to looking round the store starting in the far corner, starting with the collection of black items they had in store, and then working our way round to the white and then gradually more colourful garments.  While rummaging eagerly through the rails we were accosted by a member of staff and coxed into buying a raffle ticket for their prize draw, which included a very enticing hamper, however much to our disappointment neither of our tickets were drawn.  After a good look around, and in this instance, not spotting anything that took our fancy (in our size anyway). We headed to Barocca for a few more glasses of wine and a natter. 


I would certainly take a visit back to the store and am actually thinking about volunteering at the store so am going to take a little trip to the boutique next time I am in town and have a chat to the staff to see how I might be able to help out. I don't know about you but I often forget St Mary's Street as I don't think there are any clothes shops on it but I would definitely recommend making a detour next time you are in town.