Yesterday, me and Thandie Newton did our bit for British fashion. This was on a trip to Bicester Village to see the latest pop-up shop for the British Designers Collective (a collaboration between the British Fashion Council and Value Retail). Thandie officially opened the boutique saying, 'Wow, it's my first time at Bicester Village, it's like Disney for grown-up Cinderellas - I'll shut up now because I'm sure you all want to shop.' And I drank the free champagne.
The chairman of the British Fashion Council, Harold Tillman, probably the smartest man in British fashion, was in attendance...
Lovely Scottish designer Holly Fulton was there in one of her very own Art Deco print outfits. Check out the fabulous upside-down Chrysler Building skirt:
Top journalist, Avril Groom liked the Jean-Pierre Braganza collection and homed-in on a gorgeous beaded Markus Lupfer top:
Fashion historian, Colin McDowell - a vision in plum corduroy - discusses the perfect trouser width for spring:
This was my first time at Bicester too, and though I'm not generally a fan of retail outlets, this is a superior* shopping experience with plenty of grown-up fashion on sale at very attractive prices:
Thandie then went off to Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant, so That's Not My Age gave British fashion a little extra support by buying this lovely Markus Lupfer knitted top:
The British Designers Collective runs for six weeks from the 31 March.
*TM Faux Fuchsia