To think Zara is unreasonable

[Southwestrunningmum]

Heading on holiday and managed to quickly pop into Zara to buy shorts! I was in a rush on my lunch break and brought 5 pairs in medium size. Queue for changing rooms was crazy!

Got home, no too tight so take them back the following day and exchange for a large, closing rooms closed for cleaning.

At home and 3 of them are still far to tight (can’t breath). I’m I really therefore an XL!!

I am 5.8 and weigh 10 and a half stone!

My other frustration is the lack of consistency in sizing!

So I’m I being unreasonable to expect consistency in sizing and also not to be an XL at 10 and half stone at 5.8!

I thought you meant Zara Tindall...

[quote DifficultBloodyWoman]Even Zara knows their sizing is screwed. Check the labels. Apparently, a square indicates true to size and triangle means tiny. Or something like that.

www.tiktok.com/@officially_outfits/video/6951793087907695877[/quote]
That's not what the shapes means, it's to indicate they're from different collections.

I'm a small everywhere, a medium or even a large in zara. They suck.

@BurningRed

Made for European women who are smaller than the average size Brit.

I’m a small in there (occasionally a XS) but taller and over a stone lighter than you OP. I’d wear a size 6 everywhere else. My biggest bug bear (and why I struggle to buy much) is that everything isn’t long enough.

I think the medium in Zara is like an 8-small 10. Always has been, always will be.

They are catering, I think, to smaller, more petite women.

This isn't true. I am a size 12 and I have items from Zara in S M L and XL.

There sizing is completely off and each item is different. I have shorts from Zara that are M that fit well, my other shorts from Zara is an XL and that too fits well.

If politicians lived in the real world and cared about people, although you could argue sizing is a first world problem, using trade descriptions law to get consistent sizing in clothing would probably be a vote winner, if voters believed they would actually pass such a law.

YANBU, but sizing everywhere is nuts. I tried on a bralette/pyjama top in a size 18-20 in Primark this week (I know, but their nightwear is usually comfy and cheap!). Couldn’t get it done up. By the time I’d walked to H&M I was a size 10.

I've never managed to buy anything from Zara, I don't even bother trying. 5.8, size 12, large/strong build. Although it can be a pain, variety in sizing at least means some things will fit. If sizing was standardised, you can bet it would be a standard that wouldn't fit me.

@checkingforballoons

YANBU, but sizing everywhere is nuts. I tried on a bralette/pyjama top in a size 18-20 in Primark this week (I know, but their nightwear is usually comfy and cheap!). Couldn’t get it done up. By the time I’d walked to H&M I was a size 10.

This made me laugh sounds like a before and after for an advert. Did you swish your hair confidently and smirk proudly at your amazing weight loss as you entered H&M?

Although H&M are pretty terrible for sizing too - I've tried on a size 14 dress which was too tight followed immediately by an xs t shirt way too big. Why can't women's sizing be like mens, if it's 32 inch it's 32 inch no quibbling!

I’m 9 stone 3 and 5’7 and an ‘M’ in Zara sizes. I just always assumed the cut was for more petite Europeans.

That said, I’m a 6 in M & S (I wish!) and a 10 in H & M.
I just ‘know’ the sizing of the various shops. But come to think of it why should I have to bloody know? A size should be consistent!

I have small, medium and large from Zara. All fit. No consistency at all.

Their website is ridiculous too. I was hunting for a black tie dress last week and one "dress" just showed a model trapped in a cave with just her head and shoulders showing. I saw another on Instagram the other day of a model crouched on top of a cooker 🤣
Snorted out loud at the images that came to mind on this!

By the time I’d walked to H&M I was a size 10.

This made me laughsounds like a before and after for an advert. Did you swish your hair confidently and smirk proudly at your amazing weight loss as you entered H&M?

I'm a size 14 / 16. Bought a dress in Arket whic fitted beautifully... got home and discovered it was a size 8 .. my new favourite shop!!

I want to like Zara...i really do but its £££.

I love Zara, one of the few days affordable high street shops that still makes clothes in 100% cotton or linen. Most of my wardrobe is Zara!

I also have zero issues with sizing, bought a few shorts recently in an L (I’m a uk 12, 5ft5 and 11stone…)

I’ve bought a fair bit online too recently and have been lucky with sizing. Maybe as I’m used to it. It’s also true that Spanish women are more petite, and in when I lived in Spain and Italy it was the norm to buy teally long trousers and then the shop hem them to the right length fr you. I’m not sure that this still happens but might explain the very long leg lengths.

Their sizing is INSANE, I wear a size 10. Couldn’t get a large coat from Zara zipped up. XL was even a squeeze. I’m 5’ 6” and weigh 9 stone!

It just seems to go against sensible business, eg firms loose so much money through returns (wouldn’t return if it fit). Also reflecting on comments, I value a firm that values my time. I genuinely don’t have time to try on everything, but then who really does enjoy a changing room experience anyway. Wouldn’t need to for half of items if I knew the sizing was right.

You can even trust sizing on the same item in different colours!
It's completely ridiculous.

No wonder the "one-size items" have exploded during the lockdown. Easier for the shops, less risk of returns and baggy items are in fashion.

Vanity sizing was already ridiculous, but the inconsistency is on another level.

Not entirely helpful in this case, but maybe try this in future (hasn’t failed me yet): throw the shorts/trousers/skirt over your shoulders and wrap the waist of the garment around your neck like a cape. If it fits comfortably around your neck, it should fit comfortably on your body. Can feel a bit silly doing it in public, but I much prefer that to faffing about with change rooms 🤪Give it a try with some clothes you already have. Hopefully it works for you. It’s been a game-changer for me! Enjoy your holiday ☺️

My local Zara looks like a jumble sale, I never find anything in there.

I see Zara as being in the same category as H&M, Topshop, River island etc. I'd expect sizes there to run much smaller due to the target market ie younger women and teenagers. When I was a teenager I'd comfortably fit a small and it was great to have shops where the clothes actually fit. Now I'd definitely be a large in most of those shops but that doesn't really bother me - first because I don't really care about what a label says and second because I'll never forget how happy I was when I found clothes shops with adult clothes that fit me as a teenager (my mum always took me shopping to the places that she shopped in and everything just looked awful on my skinny teenage body).

Zara is fashionable, but in my opinion the same standard as Primark but much more expensive.

I would not be surprised if Zara and Primark were made in the same factory.

Could have written this myself

I am 44 kg and 5ft 1

Size 34 don't go up?? I also need to return some shorts

So annoyed
The crotch is really tight

It's useful to pop a tape measure in your handbag. That way you can measure the actual garments and pick the size that is likely to fit.

I don't mind the sizing in these shops - it's pretty much the sizing of the 1980s, so feels more familiar and predictable than the huge variations elsewhere