After a week when safe spaces for our little old community have been in the news, it was lovely to return to the monthly sanctuary of our very own special Oasis.
On Saturday 20th April, we Oasisers were joined by a beautiful team from the Norwich branch of John Lewis. Led by Jack, we also welcomed Personal Stylist Chloe, Skincare, Makeup and Fragrance Specialist Chrissy, Colleague Sen and their friend Ash.
Through Jack; John Lewis reached out to Oasis nearly a year ago and we agreed on an objective of working together to support John Lewis as an inclusive business and spread the word that JL is a safe and respectful environment both to shop and to work for the Transgender community. On Saturday we brought the ‘out-to-in’ by inviting JL to attending the evening, and in September we will take the ‘in-to-out’, when Oasis will have a special visit to the Norwich store.
Chole took us through the concept of a capsule wardrobe, explaining how a few well-chosen hero pieces can be styled up and down to suit every occasion. Our Oasis models had previously visited the store and both enjoyed a delicious hour long styling experience. Choosing the theme of wedding guest, Alex selected a fabuloso vivid blue wrap dress, which is perfect for a summer wedding, with the addition of a white wrap, fascinator, clutch bag and heels. Replace the heels with flats, the blue dress is ideal for a day in the office, or pop on some white pumps and grab a nice tote bag you are ready to head off for a picnic on the beach. What could possibly go wrong; perhaps the British weather!
Amy chose a green dress to ‘head out to dinner’, which is not a colour that she would usually wear. She enjoyed her hour in the store guided by Chloe, as it allowed Amy to experiment with colours and styles she ordinarily chose. The John Lewis Personal Styling experience can be simply booked online, the whole service is free, with no obligation to buy, no minimum spend and is highly recommended by Oasis. Use this link to find out more Women’s Personal Styling at the Norwich store. I’m always available to hold your hand, if you hadn’t heard, I just love shopping.
Our styling session was the highlight of a busy and convivial meeting enjoyed by a full house and a full car park. We were served a wonderful meal by Serena , who provided us with Serena’s famous Spring Salad, which included possibly the best and healthiest coleslaw ever. This was followed by magnificent legendary Tina’s Trifle which was quickly disappeared by our sweet toothed members. Amongst our happy dinners we had great pleasure in welcoming back to our fold Claire and Jules, and nursing her way be to full health, our delightful friend Joy. We always miss our absent friends, you are always in our heart.
We rounded out the evening with a conversation about shoes and a prize draw. One area that John Lewis, and many other stores are unable to help many members of Oasis are shoes. Most High Street shops don’t stock shoes bigger that size 8, so online is the only option. Top recommendations came the ubiquitous Amazon (Serena favours ‘Only Makers’), Long Tall Sally Online (up to size 13), Vinted UK and ASOS.
Thanks to the generosity of John Lewis our prize draw featured top notch perfumes and some other treats. As ever our wonderful members raised £100 that will find it’s way to The LILAC Ladies charity for cancer research. Our winners were Jane, Lauren, Sue, Theresa and Jaqui. Our meeting reports always conclude with lots of thanks, and as usual there are too many to mention, but I must highlight Claire and Jules, who at their first meeting for a while rushed into the kitchen and started the washing up!! Fab!! As you all know, Oasis just wouldn’t work without everybody pitching in. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.
Looking ahead to next month on Saturday 18th May, she’s back! Do not miss Jane Does Disco!
We are the Oasis Preservation Society!
Love
Lilly
x
PS to help you with your make-up, you might like to know that Boots No7 offer a free Beauty Service. No7 offer ‘Your Skin Your Way’, ‘Your Complexion Your Way’ and ‘Your Eyes Your Way’; all of which can be booked online at No7 Beauty Services (boots.com) . I recently spoke to the lovely people at No7 in Boots at Chapelfield, and they gave me the no 01603 629208, so you can also phone them directly to make an appointment.
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