CUSTOMERS who called in at a boutique in Oxford city centre got a free makeover from fashion students.

Fashion boutique Booty, in St Aldate’s, invited 24 fashion, hair and beauty students from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College to visit the store and offer the makeovers.

Louise Trueman, the owner of Booty, said the four-hour session was a great success.

She said: “We went round local shops and businesses in the area and gave out flyers to let people know the makeovers were taking place, so we had a steady stream of people in the store, and the feedback from customers was very positive.

“We’re a fashion boutique doing skin care and make-up, and people who came along got a 10 per cent discount on our products.

“We opened the store in July last year and stock partywear dresses for young people, and high-end dresses for older women.”

Ms Trueman said the makeover session was arranged after Maria Skoyles, fashion course leader at the Oxpens Road college, gave students an exercise to come up with an outfit for a certain customer type.

“Maria then thought it would be a good idea for the students to come into the store and do something practical,” she added.

“We also set this up to celebrate International Women’s Week — I think it’s been a great success.”

Ms Skoyles said the 24 students who took part were aged 16 to 19. She added: “The students spend a lot of time styling themselves, but I thought this would be a very good opportunity to put into practice the theory they have learned in the classroom.

“We spend a lot of time talking about how merchandise is displayed in a fashion store, and they were able to get a close look at how this is done.”

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