I’m a massive fan of the high street chain Oasis. I first discovered them about six years ago when I worked near Russell Square and wandered into one of their shops there during my lunch break. I bought the puff sleeved red jersey polkadot top that features in my social media profile pic and that is still in my wardrobe. Since then, they’ve been my go to shop for easy to weak basics and comfy but flattering dresses. So when I discovered that they were collaborating with the Victoria and Albert Museum on a capsule collection, I was ecstatic! Having seen a very small selection of the massive archive of garments, prints and photographs held at the V&A, I was very excited to see what they had come up with.
The first of these mini collections, which launched in spring, was full of beautiful garments in stunning archive prints that had been carefully reproduced but sadly none of it was really my style. So you can imagine how delighted I was when I discovered that they’ve launched a second collection, featuring different prints, that is crammed full of stuff I absolutely love! My absolute favourite print that they’ve chosen so far is a wonderfully detailed floral design by William Kilburn which, from my Google searches appears to be called ‘midnight blossoms’. Basically, I wanted this entire collection the moment I saw it.
Yesterday, I popped into their flagship Argyll Street store to check out the collection in person, and ended up taking so many pieces into the fitting rooms that I had to leave a few with the assistant and swap them out after I’d tried a few on. To be honest, I liked so much of it that I had to narrow it down or my bank balance would never have forgiven me! In the end, I chose this wonderfully soft t-shirt (in both photos), a pencil skirt with a side split (see left), and an a-line skirt with a box pleat centre front (see above). The a-line skirt is my absolute favourite due to a) the slightly stiff jacquard fabric that gives the skirt texture and volume, b) the placement of the print with the black towards the bottom, c) the fact it looks like a dress when paired with the t-shirt, and d) IT HAS POCKETS!!!
I really do love everything about this collection, including the swing tag which reminds you that your purchase is supporting the V&A and also says: “Once upon a time, our print designer Daisy got lost in one of London’s most iconic buildings – the Victoria and Albert Museum. After picking from 1000s of prints in the archive, she fell in love with a lucky few; including this one…” I love it so much that I think I might also get the cotton scarf that they’ve printed it on. You can find out more about the collection over on the Oasis website.