Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What has happened to Zara?!

106 replies

Shinyflecks · 02/02/2022 13:51

Nothing to buy, weird awful acid colours
Rows snd rows of discounted crop tops. They’re on the way out surely?
I’m 39 - I have an event tomorrow evening
AIBU - Am I now too old for Zara?

OP posts:
lomoloko · 02/02/2022 14:04

In general they are well equipped to supply you for attending Coachella 2018 and that's about it.

Thatsplentyjack · 02/02/2022 14:07

I've always thought zara is weird. Some of the stuff looks relatively normal on first glance, bit in closer inspection will have something weird going on. I've never got the appeal but it's strangley popular here. In the closest shopping center there's always people queued outside waiting for it to open Confused. Although they do tend to open just slightly later than the other shops.

Cheeeesecake · 02/02/2022 14:08

It has all gone a bit Scooby Doo, hasn’t it. It’s weird because I don’t see anyone actually wearing those mad jumpers so I’m not sure who they are aimed at.

WeAreTheHeroes · 02/02/2022 14:10

@lomoloko

In general they are well equipped to supply you for attending Coachella 2018 and that's about it.
I'd add "if you're a size 6 or 8" to that.

I used to buy lots from Zara, but can't remember the last time. Nor do I still have any if it.

DrManhattan · 02/02/2022 14:25

It's really hit and miss. Strange shop.

unchienandalucia · 02/02/2022 14:29

It's not what's happened to Zara. One day you wake up and it's just all wrong.

Nitgel · 02/02/2022 14:30

scooby doo Grin

sea of polyester like the rest of the high street, though did get a good oversize green denim shirt there which I love

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 02/02/2022 14:30

agreed!!!
35 went in the other week- not one single thing to buy, all the normal knitwear tops, no existent- all jeans super small and high wasted- no thanks!
Cropped cropped cropped- even if I had the figure I like clothes that cover.

londonrach · 02/02/2022 14:30

It's always been strange

EmmaH2022 · 02/02/2022 14:35

@lomoloko

In general they are well equipped to supply you for attending Coachella 2018 and that's about it.
This made me lol, thanks!
ilkleymoorbartat · 02/02/2022 14:36

I remember the day when they used to do really lovely classic blazer and jackets.

LeQuern · 02/02/2022 14:40

They’re trying to compete with the likes of Boohoo and PLT, not realising there’s a raft of women who want them to be different / to cater to the market over the age of 30 (give or take) and that we’ve got ACTUAL cash burning holes in our pockets, if only they’d give us something wearable to spend it on.

I hate the polyester cropped crap they are selling.

BRING BACK ZARA OF 5 YEARS AGO!!

SartresSoul · 02/02/2022 15:01

It isn’t just Zara. I think there comes a time when people just outgrow certain shops. I used to buy things from boohoo about 5 years ago but I wouldn’t dream of it now.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 02/02/2022 15:06

ilkleymoorbartat LeQuern i feel like you are my people

I do not think its me getting older, I think its Zara stupidly trying to lower itself to a PLT market and like others have pointed out, I want to shop. H&M already deserted me, and my budget, although more than a fiver, hasnt quite reached Reiss levels yet.

alexdgr8 · 02/02/2022 15:09

i thought you were talking about princess anne's daughter ...

BedisBliss · 02/02/2022 15:41

agree with PP about the polyester - it's everywhere and it can't just be me that ends up so static my hair stands up and I shock everyone I touch!

JassyRadlett · 02/02/2022 15:45

My experience is that nearly everyone goes through this with Zara as they ‘age out’ of it and the transition from ‘hey, there is some decent stuff in amongst the crazy’ to ‘WTF actually is this place’ usually only takes a season.

You’ve lasted a good long while OP! I think I was mid-30s when I finally accepted it was over.

LeQuern · 02/02/2022 15:51

I disagree @JassyRadlett. I’m 52 and have only really stopped shopping there in the last two years. I do still find the odd piece I like but I have to hunt to fuck. I tend to go in, but anything that looks vaguely decent, drop £500 knowing I’ll be taking at least £300 (probably more) of it back. It used to be I’d spend £300 and keep £200 of it (I refuse to use changing rooms. Ain’t nobody got no time for that lighting).

LeQuern · 02/02/2022 15:53

But I do agree there are some items not suitable for my bra requiring, stomach hiding needs! However the day I shop in Joules, Fat Face or White Stuff is the day I die! No to dull, muted lilacs, rusts and tunics!

Thedogscollar · 02/02/2022 15:55

@alexdgr8

i thought you were talking about princess anne's daughter ...
Me too🤣🤣 but I don't shop in Zara as I'm too old.
MyNameIsAngelicaSchuyler · 02/02/2022 15:55

I’ve got a beautiful wool skirt from Zara that I bought in 2003. Now it’s piles of absolute tat.

GiantHaystacks2021 · 02/02/2022 15:55

I think its supply chain issues.

The normal textile manufacturers are not available easily due to covid so they've got all this lurid shit from elsewhere.

GetOffTheTableMabel · 02/02/2022 16:02

I’ve always struggled there. They don’t increase sleeve size so you put on a size 12 shirt and the sleeves are the same width as the size 8 top. Nobody is that shape.

JassyRadlett · 02/02/2022 16:03

@LeQuern

I disagree *@JassyRadlett*. I’m 52 and have only really stopped shopping there in the last two years. I do still find the odd piece I like but I have to hunt to fuck. I tend to go in, but anything that looks vaguely decent, drop £500 knowing I’ll be taking at least £300 (probably more) of it back. It used to be I’d spend £300 and keep £200 of it (I refuse to use changing rooms. Ain’t nobody got no time for that lighting).
You must be one of the exceptions to my ‘nearly everyone’!

I reached my ‘I’m too old to spend this much time hunting for a hidden gem amongst all the nasty-feeling crap’ quite a while ago now.

I’m with you on FF/WS (can’t bear buying things that look they’ve already been through the wash a hundred times, and all purples as an anathema to me), though Joules has kept me in decent navy parkas for the side of a football pitch on a Saturday morning for a few years now so I’ve a soft spot for them.

ThatsWhatHeSayid · 02/02/2022 16:06

I just went on their "what's new" section and I honestly don't see how they're competing with PLT / Boohoo / Isawitfirst etc?

I'm 30 and haven't really religiously followed fast fashion for years, but a lot of my friends do, and I can't think of a single one who'd be seen dead in any of that?

It would look horrendous on all of them, and even if it didn't - where does one actually wear a bright green oversized suit tailored for Jacob Rees Mogg and designed to sook up every drop of puddle within a ten foot radius?

While I agree the polyester is similar to the places mentioned above, last time I checked they took pictures that actually showed the clothes (as opposed to a woman strangling(?) a horse showing only the waistline of the jeans she's supposed to be advertising and an ongoing game of "guess the colour" while you scroll through black and white shots of clothes they claim to be selling?). They also tend to use models who don't look like drug addicts / severely vitamin deficient to the point I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY'RE OKAY.

Straaaaaange shop.