Sorry, Middle America: You’re Too Fat for Zara

I freaking love ZARA. Except their clothes, mainly jeans are a little on the big side :( If you are too fat for the clothes, even if you try to squeeze you lard covered ass into them, they will not look good on you. EVER.
I mean, could you imagine someone like Kate upton wearing a pair of Zara leather jeans.

No. Just No
 
I love zara. but their cloths don't usually fit me. unless it's a jacket or sweater and it's ok to a bit loose.
but I wish they do smaller sizes. I love their dresses. this one in particular
 
I was actually fortunate enough to be on a plane to Barcelona with one of the Zara designers. :) We actually had a chat about this type of thing (being an Aussie and having just got our first Zara stores).

She said that outside of Europe, it's very much a hit and miss because the market and demographics are far different; a huge amount of research and "weighing up" of the pros and cons goes on behind the scenes before even considering opening another branch. Then there are the tailored collections, etc.
 
A realy fine decision!

Like half of my clothes are Zara clothes, but sadly most of them from a time I was skinny and had more money. :(
 
How much more does Zara have to vanity size?:(

Like my cousin who thinks she's thin but she's actually chubby, anyways she had this size small jacket from Zara and it actually fits her. I thought to myself, if a chubby girl like her can fit into a size small in Zara, then what about actually thin people?:hmm:
 
jbeyes said:
wow, businesses falling apart because "regular people" from those places don't fit into the clothes? I can only imagine walking down a street in these cities and 8/10 people being completely overweight. Is it really like that girls? Here in my country it's not that bad...
Click to expand...

I live in the Midwest US, and yes, it's pretty bad here. Being on the lower side of a "healthy" BMI for your height is fairly rare, and to be "underweight" even more so. In my area, 25% of the population is obese, and a far greater number are simply...chunky. It is a safe bet to say that for every 50 girls who are at the high end of healthy BMI to the overweight category here, there are maybe 5 people who are of the lower end of healthy BMI or actually have a lower BMI than the "normal" range. It is not uncommon to see large people in very small clothes, and it is scary.

I'm trying to think of how I can best describe this in a very relatable way, and I think I'm failing. I can't say I blame Zara for deciding it's not worthwhile to expand into the middle US markets - it's not exactly a terribly fashion forward place to begin with, and the population that could fit into the clothing appears to be a statistically small group. If I think of my circle of acquaintances, I'd say that including myself, out of the 25 or so people I can think of, about 3 of them would wear a US size 6 or below, most (16) would wear a US size 8-12, and a remaining 8 or so would be above a US size 12, with maybe 2 of them being above a US size 16. That seems like a very average split compared to what I see in the general population of younger females in my area. It's slightly better in more affluent communities, and way, way worse in many others. I'm currently hovering at the low end of healthy BMI for my height, and my friends have always called me the "skinny one" even when I have been of a completely average, nothing special, fat to me weight.

I guess my somewhat regular trips back home (I grew up out east) will remain where I do most of my shopping!
 
I'm in Ohio, and like salander said, everyone is so big. I'm at the upper end of BMI for my height, and I'm considered "thin" but still "curvy," when in reality, I'm fat. It's always surprising to see a real skinny, since you're just conditioned into seeing chunky as the new "normal." I can see why Zara decided it just wasn't worth it.
 
I actually found it weird when I read that article, I'm from Canada and I shop at Zara and I find that their clothes actually run pretty large o.o
And their pants are always way too baggy on my thighs.
 
Their trousers are so short. I have the feeling it got a bit better, but I avoided the stores for years because everything was so short and thats frustrating. Now I find some shirts and jackets sometimes, but still only rarely trousers with legs long enough to cover my ankles, haha. As they are from Southern Europe its no suprise, when I went shopping in Rome there was always this "pants at half mast - problem" for me.

Indeed their sizes are not that small. Normal I would say? We might not have that many really obese people, but the chubby girls can definately go to Zara (if their legs and arms are short enough :p)

I also have made very different experiences when it comes to quality. Some pieces were literally falling apart within weeks and I was bringing them back. But I also have a beautiful dark blue dress that is a few years old already and still looks very good.
 
Zara know their market well and to be honest, i can''t imagine their clothes being very popular in Middle America, even if bigger sizes were available. That region of the world seems to live in jeans and t-shits and not much else. Whenever i travel there, Ryan Gosling's voice pops into my head on loop: "Be better than the Gap...Be BETTER than the Gap!"
 
It's not even about the size, but the length. Their trousers run awfully short.
 
I remember doing a case study on Zara in business school in my class on Supply Chain Management--what they did here was smart business. Their supply chain model is exemplary as well as their growth strategy. It makes no sense to enter into a market where their direct competitors (Benneton) have failed, as well as having to spend the money to change their entire infrastructure to make larger sizes. Deciding to save that money and spend it on opening more stores in China where they are sure to make a profit WITHOUT having to mess with their business model? :highfive:
 
Zara is great! Their work skirts are ever so flattering AND comfy :) Still, pencil skirts probably don't look too good above a UK 12, absolute max.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back