"I tried 10 items in Zara and was five different sizes"
Have you ever been so many different sizes in one shop that you just don't want to shop there any more? Remember when one angry customer scolded H&M for creating size 16 clothes that her usually-size-12 frame couldn't fit in to? Or how a different customer berated the same brand for their 'unrealistically small' jeans?
"Should I just accept that accessible and affordable high street and on-trend fashion isn't for people like me?", she wrote.
Not only is it soul-destroying when you fluctuate between an S and a L or a 12 and an 18 without any kind of explanation, but it's also impractical to carry three options of every top to try on whenever you hit the changing rooms.
Although size doesn't matter, and girls, it truly doesn't, it would be silly not to admit that most of us - this girl included - do care what size dress/skirt/top they wear. And that suddenly going from your normal size to + 3 higher all in the space of a lunch break trip to Zara is nothing but a confidence-breaker.
But that's exactly what I did, armed with my phone and a whole LOAD of different trousers and skirts, to try and get to the bottom (geddit?) of this seemingly mindless sizing situation.
Before I launch into it, here's how sizing works at Zara. Although to be honest, I challenge you to find any sizes at either end of the scale actually on a rail in a store.
XXS (UK 6), XS (UK 8), S (UK 10), M (UK 12), L (UK 14), XL (UK 16), XXL (UK 18).
Here's everything I tried on...
Floral print culottes (pictured in a M)
I thought I'd start the experiment in a safe place - with a comfortable pair of culottes in a comfortable size medium. And while I wasn't let down on the comfort front, these culottes would probably lack in the 'sophisticated' department on account of me having to hike them up every five minutes.
The size I should be wearing: SMALL
Printed culottes (pictured in a M)
I then took a pair of similar printed culottes in exactly the same size - you know, expecting the same oversized disaster as the pair before only to find that - yep - these mediums fit like a glove. Perfecto.
The size I should be wearing: MEDIUM
Dual skinny jeans (pictured in a 12)
Seeing as the culottes were such a disaster, I turned my attention to jeans instead. I'm generally a size 10, on a good day an 8, but apparently in Zara I'm not even a 12. Still, just look how I always do my job with a smile. #ModelEmployee.
The size I should be wearing: 14
Frayed jeans (pictured in a 10)
Determined that it must just be that style of jeans that doesn't agree with me and my thighs, I tried on a pair of inoffensive-looking frayed hipsters instead. And guys, the size 10 did up! It felt like I was being constricted at every angle, but it did up! Maybe a 12 would have been better...
The size I should be wearing: 12
Embroidered jeans (pictured in a 12)
There's got to be ONE pair of jeans in Zara that fits me right? And look! Look at this pair I'm wearing in a 12!
They look great right? Well, looks CAN be deceiving people, these were so big around the tummy I almost felt like I was wearing maternity jeans... Maybe I'm a 10 after all?
The size I should be wearing: 10
Flowing frilled trousers (pictured in a S)
If you don't want to see an awkward picture of me in my pants trying to do up a pair of trousers that are too small for me, don't scroll up. If you're into that shit, I'm glad I could help...
The size I should be wearing: M
Fuchsia gingham skirt (pictured in an XS)
I decided to try something in the smallest size, thinking that considering my inability to pull a pair of jeans on under a size 14, I'd probably barely get an XS skirt over one thigh. Now I won't lie, this skirt wasn't exactly the easiest to pull over my hips, but once on my waist, it looked (and felt) fine which is confusing when some of the bigger sizes in other items felt so tight I couldn't breathe.
The size I should be wearing: XS
Asymmetric ruffled skirt (pictured in an XS)
As the style of this skirt was slightly more fitted around the tummy area I didn't expect to be able to zip up the extra small but, it seems, in Zara miracles can happen. (Yes, yes I am wearing odd socks).
The size I should be wearing: XS
Floral skirt (pictured in an S)
Based on the success of all the other high-waisted skirts, I gleefully tried this floral number in an XS only to feel very aware of the lunch I'd just had at my desk. I quickly switched it for a small, which fitted snugly enough to stay up, without cutting off my digestive system.
The size I should be wearing: S
So, what did all of this getting hot and sweaty in a dressing room teach me?
I have no size.
Truly.
Not to be all dramatic about it or anything but there is no way I can tell you that I'm a size 'X' in Zara when during that one fitting I was a size 'X', 'Y' and 'Z'. In fact, across all the different items I tried on in Zara that day, I fit sizes 8 to 14. That's FIVE different sizes.
Surely, before we tackle consistency across the high street, brands have to get better at consistency in their own shops?
Because I'm sure I'm not alone in being fed up with the fluctuation.
Zara were contacted for comment at the time of publishing.
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