Burberry Outlet

In the last few years, Burberry in the UK has taken a bit of a reputation battering, cheapened as a luxury goods designer due to it's popularity with Chavs.  Prior to living in London I had never heard of this slang term.  Wtf is a Chav?  A 'Chav' I would say is akin to a 'Bogan'.  (See here for the Wikipedia definition and here for the more funny Uncyclopedia definition.  Here you'll find Bogan.)

They are alike in many ways; traditionally of a lower socio demographic, ill-educated (and usually not desiring of more education) and low income earners in an unskilled labour force.  With the advent of reality TV and the ability for almost anyone to become wealthy in a given environment (or choose to abuse the social benefits system), the chavs/bogans have re-emerged as a nouveau-riche crowd.

Why did the Chavs take a liking to Burberry?  Who knows.  Maybe to do with the fact they do have a decent warehouse in London?  It is also fairly cheap when compared to the likes of Louis Vuitton which never goes on sale.  However, this is not an analysis about Chavs.  This is just to request people not call me a Chav for going to the Burberry outlet.  The above was merely exploring the mystery to the Chav-Burberry affinity.  Hey, before Chavs got to it, Burberry made and still make decent luxury goods!

Anyway I trotted off to the Burberry outlet in London today.  I had kinda forgotten that the outlet existed, always thinking that the closest one was in Bicester Village.  I was mainly coming here to check out quilted jackets.  Ma, after seeing her friend donning the jacket, wanted one for herself.  I stopped her from purchasing one in Oz after having had a heart attack at the extra $150-$200 she would be dishing out above the UK retail price.

The outlet.  A little bit out of place with the surrounding buildings... of which I did not photograph.  

I had to google the location as it is not listed on the official website.  For the curious, the address is 29-53 Chatham Place, London E9 6LP.  The closest tube/overground station is Hackney Central, but smart lil' me took a National Rail train from Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs.  A slightly longer walk but a quicker journey overall from where I live.

I thought it was a little odd to have the outlet in Hackney.  Hackney... who on earth said Hackney was gentrified?  It didn't look all that funky in this part of town.  It's an area where many a snob would never endeavour to go.  In a way it makes sense - Burberry wanna keep it low key and discounting designer good rubs a certain sparkle off the product.  However, this location?  Well, a good proportion of Chavs live in the East End.  I have to admit I felt a little paranoid walking here alone (maybe I'm a bit sheltered?), however I was in the safety of daylight.  I was reassured I was on the right path when I saw a few others come out of the non-descript street with unmarked shopping bags but translucent enough for me to see an iconic tartan handbag.

Once inside, I was pretty impressed at the size of the outlet -  a fair bit larger than the Bicester Village store.   I wasn't expecting much from the outlet so it's good to be surprised. :D  For any diehard Burberry fan, I would definitely recommend visiting this store instead of Bicester as I felt the range was better, sizes were well stocked, the discounts are the same and it was not crowded at all.  Also, the shop assistant said that I could return/exchange any goods within 28 (or was it 30?) days even though they were on sale - awesome!

In the end, I actually had to restrain myself after being in the store for about an hour.  Yes..... I was in there for an hour.  I had to whittle down the number of scarves to three, deny myself two handbags and forgo the quilted jacket for myself.  I had never really liked the quilted jackets - the typical design makes me look like a grandma - but I had tried on a design which looked really, really good.  Believe it or not!

So the final haul comprises the following:

Three cashmere scarves.  There were many more I liked but one had to exert control.  Also, they seemed to have ceased production of the cheaper, wool scarves.  Oh and if you're wondering, they're not all for me.  

Ma's quilted jacket.  Which looked absolutely horrible on me and aged me about 100 years.  Looks fine on Ma though!

So yeah.  Burberry outlet in Hackney - pretty freaking good!