The street suffered heavy bombing during World War II, and several longstanding stores including John Lewis & Partners were completely destroyed and rebuilt from scratch.

Various traffic management schemes have been implemented by Transport for London (TFL) and others, including a ban on private vehicles during daytime hours on weekdays and Saturdays (in place since the 1970s), widened pavements, and improved pedestrian crossings.

[5][6] Tyburn Parish Church stood on the north side of the road, at the point where it crossed the river (which ran alongside what is now Marylebone Lane).

[16] However, it was not attractive to the middle and upper classes due to the nearby Tyburn gallows and the notorious St Giles rookery, or slum.

[9] The gallows were removed in 1783, and by the end of the century, Oxford Street was built up from St Giles Circus to Park Lane, containing a mix of residential houses, shops and places of entertainment.

147 in 1879; as D H Evans the business swiftly expanded, taking in more than a dozen properties either side of Old Cavendish Street and becoming one of London's largest drapery establishments by the mid-1890s.

[22] At the same time, smaller independent retailers continued to thrive alongside their larger counterparts, specialising in all sorts of different goods, trades, and services.

On 27 June 1900, the Prince of Wales (who became King Edward VII the following year) ceremonially opened the line and public services began on 30 July.

The line's route below Oxford Street made it the first railway to provide a direct service to the theatre and shopping areas of the West End and the City.

400;[26] it promptly had a 'transformative influence on Britain's retail scene, elevating the concept of a department store as a social and cultural institution open to everyone, with innovative window dressing, exceptional customer service and masterly advertising'.

Whether this was down to a preference for south-facing shop fronts, or there being better access routes to the north for deliveries and services, or something akin to coincidence remains an open question.

Many buildings were damaged, either from direct hits or subsequent fires, including four department stores: John Lewis, Selfridges, Bourne & Hollingsworth, and Peter Robinson.

George Orwell wrote in his diary on 24 September that Oxford Street was "completely empty of traffic, and only a few pedestrians", and saw "innumerable fragments of broken glass".

The line allowed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to make secure and direct telephone calls to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[12] Subsequently, the entire block between Holles Street and John Prince's Street was sold by the Howard de Walden Estate to Land Securities for redevelopment: designed by T. P. Bennett & Partners, it would provide small units of retail accommodation on either side of a central flagship department store (namely British Home Stores, until its closure in 2016).

[33] In September 1973 a shopping-bag bomb was detonated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) at the offices of the Prudential Assurance Company, injuring six people.

[36] On 26 October 1981 Kenneth Howorth, an explosives officer with the Metropolitan Police, was killed while defusing a bomb planted by the IRA in the basement toilet of a Wimpy Bar on Oxford Street.

[38] The human billboard Stanley Green began selling on Oxford Street in 1968, advertising his belief in the link of proteins to sexual libido and the dangers therein.

[40] In 1986 The Plaza shopping centre was opened within the walls of the former Bourne & Hollingsworth department store building (dating from 1925–1928), the latter having closed three years earlier.

Previously, the route into the City of London had deviated southwards at this point, to skirt around the ancient settlement of St Giles with its leper hospital.

[51] Centre Point, at the corner of New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, was one of London's first skyscrapers (designed by R. Seifert & Partners and completed in 1966).

The London flagship store of House of Fraser began as D. H. Evans in 1879; its current premises were designed by Louis Blanc and opened in 1937.

[67] The building was erected in four stages over a twenty-two year period, having been designed by a combination of architects including D. H. Burnham & Company, Frank Atkinson, Sir John Burnet and Thomas Tait.

It was thought to be safe from bombing threats because of its underground location, and played host to jazz musicians, including Glenn Miller.

[108][109] To prevent congestion of buses, most of Oxford Street is designated a bus lane during peak hours and private vehicles are banned.

[117] In 2014, TfL suggested that pedestrianisation may not be a suitable long-term measure due to Crossrail reducing the demand for bus services on the street and proposed banning all traffic except buses and cycles during peak shopping times.

[120] The plan was disapproved by local residents and the Fitzrovia Business Association,[121] and in 2018 Westminster City Council blocked it;[122] but in 2024 Khan, following his re-election as Mayor, announced a new scheme for pedestrianisation of the street between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.

[123] In 2014, a report by a scientist at King's College London showed that Oxford Street had the world's highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide pollution, at 135 micrograms per cubic metre of air (μg/m3).

[131][132] In 2021, police seized 17,500 items including fake designer goods, unsafe toys and incorrectly-labelled nicotine products as part of Operation Jade.

[133] In 2023, Oxford Street received much attention in the media over a number of import candy shops which had moved in, with it being alleged that the businesses were front companies for organised crime, particularly money laundering.