“Is Zara OK?”: 30 Pics Of Bizarre Items That Are Being Sold At Zara Right Now
When it comes to the world of fashion, some people feel in the know and others see it as fully alien. But every now and then, a brand will release a selection of items so baffling, regular people and fashion enthusiasts will be brought together by the question “what were they thinking?”
TikToker Caggiebaby dove into the depths of the worst items she could find from Zara. Denim where denim really shouldn’t be, unhinged pieces for cheap-looking items, and simply bizarre designs all feature. So prepare yourself, get comfortable as you scroll through, and be sure to upvote the weirdest piece you see.
More info: TikTok
Image credits: caggiebaby
This post may include affiliate links.
This is the art project of a small child. This is a wind chime after a hurricane that was outside and this is what remains. Those beads that you put in front of your doorframes but cheap and so scraggly. $129? I could make this and spend negative $5.
NGL, I thought it was someone’s first attempt at making a dreamcatcher (either that or a very brittle birdcage)! 😂
I don't think they're going to like what they catch with this dress
Load More Replies...Well cheap chains at spotlight are $10.40 a metre currently in aus and those kind of sequins are usually $3 for 15g (maybe 30 sequins). Clasps to do it up, cheap ones are $1 for 100 pack but if for this you’d need the good ones which are $14.99 for about 20. So no it’s not cheaply made and the effort to make chain and bedazzled clothing is way more time consuming than you think. I don’t think you’ve ever made clothing or chain art 😂 so I’m not sure how you think over 40hours of work and supplies equals negative 5
It’s clearly meant to go over something, like a lbd. I don’t think this one is that bad.
Not too bad. Could go over like a black dress to add some flair. However, that’s an outrageous price.
I immediately thought "oh, nice wind chimes for a kindergartener!"
Something those 'famous' American women with the Star Trek name would wear. (There's like a thousand of them and they all have Highlander baddie names. Kanis, Kurgan, Kanwulf, Korda, Kalas, Kristin...)
I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be layered over a cocktail dress.
I feel like they're taunting me. This is not a real item. For real people. This is not for a human being. It's labeled as asymmetric. That is the Zara translation of half of something.
Already I'm getting the feeling that they made altogether too many pairs of pants and are now chopping them in half and trying to flog them off.
Of all possible whacky scenarios I imagined to be behind this madness, this seems plausible.
Load More Replies...Fashion companies are increasingly coming up with ways to re-use/recycle/upcycle fashion items. Not because they are "trying to capitalise" on things, but because increasingly people will have to think in terms of these. People are being intruduced to new aesthetics and new ways of looking at "getting dressed."
Zara is not a company without its share of controversies. From pollution to child labor, the fast fashion industry seems to be attempting a speedrun of all the unethical things a company can do. Its factories in Brazil faced accusations of slave labor, while some customers in Turkey and elsewhere have purchased Zara items, only to find notes inside demanding people actually get the wages they are owed.
So imagine you actually spend your hard-earned money on one of the items here, then get a little guilt note inside, telling you that you are supporting a company that refuses to pay its workers what they are owed. If you wonder how much that could be, employees in Bangladesh are sometimes paid less than $40 a month.
For $46 you can wear a man's crotch as a top.
I actually really like that people are trying unconventional ways to wear clothes, bUT that being said, companies trying to capitalize off of it for wayyyyyyy overpriced items is just awful. Plus it totally misses the point. Gen Z are finding new creative ways to wear the clothes they already have as to not give into hyperconsumerism as a fight against fast fashion and waste. This is the opposite of that
If that’s what you paid for, get your money back … clearly no sign of male organs in this pic, just bits of grey/black flannel (& you should at least expect to get your money’s worth)! 🤣
Good idea. I would so sew this for myself from an old/unused pair of pants.
And for a bit of decollatage, undo the zip. Perfect for work AND evenings....
This is like the reverse of another awful idea from years ago. Shirts as bottoms. They had models wearing the sleeves on their legs.
This must be what they do with the crotches left over from the crotchless jacket above.
If I saw someone wearing this out in the world, I would speak to them a little bit slower. I would assume something's going on. This is what would happen if you gave a small child full reign over a sewing machine and their own sewers. Told the three year old "look, design your own line, whatever comes to your mind, whatever you can imagine and just instruct these sewers on what you want and how to make it". You're going to wear this once for Halloween if you want to dress up as an escaped mental patient that has a sewing machine. That's going in the landfill guys!
I wouldn't mind if it was a bit tidier, more intentional looking
Load More Replies...It's like someone wore an extra pair of jeans under the first, just in case the first got damaged, which they did.
Hah hah, I think that even a Medieval peasant would have more dignity.
Load More Replies...In their most recent attempt to taunt me they have released the asymmetric denim cape. They are taking selling their factory swept floor scraps to the next level.
I thought this was going to be about the pant-turned-skirt....it looked like they opened op the seam and cut off the other leg. As for the top, you can get that look too when you get two regular, normal denim jackets and put one on without you arms in it, attach the buttons to the holes of the second jacket.. I think it could be great fun to challenge people to recreate this look without sewing (cutting is allowed!)
I can certainly see why Zara is a fave of Princess Kate. Such chic clothing...
Not gonna lie. I'd wear this with a pair of leather leggins, a turtle neck and some killer boots. Big chunk accessories too!
You would think that all these “savings” could be used to hire more competent designers, but Zara seems to have a cost-limiting strategy there as well. Both MaXhosa by Laduma, an African brand and designer Tuesday Bassen have accused the company of stealing their work. So it’s not entirely clear if Zara can be blamed for the items in this list, as they may have just copy-pasted a design from someone else.
For $45.90 you can now be the proud owner of half an apron.
Ooh, yes! Look at the size of that pocket! I'd buy this solely for the pocket.
Load More Replies...Honestly, I love it. Keys wallet, phone. Looks difficult to pick pocket and definitely hard to rip off of you and run away with. It’s also cute and looks adjustable enough to fit well. Slays stupid f***y packs.
I'm with you on this one. If only I was stylish enough to pull it off 😂
Load More Replies...Can't decide whether to put on a coat or not? We have the 1/2 a piece of clothing for you.
Dollarama bracelets for $30. I used to get these packs of bracelets in loot bags at Laser Tag birthday parties.
Looks like a 2 dollar bracelet at Claire's or something 😞
That’s honestly how much they should cost yet these fast fashion brands only care about making money.
Load More Replies...I feel like I got a few of these for free, along with some glow stick bracelets, at the school dance last year… I mean, they matched my suit so 🤷
For a mere $40 you too can look this ridiculous. This is to be wrapped around your waist over your other clothes and perhaps... other denim.
Looks like something I would make. I'm not too good at sewing and I get lengths wrong. (Cough cough listen up Zara)
Tbh I think this will look good on those tshirt and sweatshirt dresses.
This is something we (or, I) might actually have worn back in 2000 😅
That's what I thought to but I'm not sure it's actual pockets. Look at the model, she can barely put the tip in her fingers in it.
Load More Replies...The processes involved in fast fashion might be enough to limit any real feedback on these items. Zara’s one business model states that once a design is finalized, it should be up for sale in a store (generally multiple) within ten to twelve days. It’s quite easy to see poor customer satisfaction with an item is unimportant. After all, everything is cheap and Zara can bet on at least a small portion of the items becoming fashionable.
This is what I would get for Christmas when I was five years old and there would be like a little girls makeup set in a package and this was like the carrying case. This is out of a gumball machine in Tokyo. Who's buying this? Not you. Not me. This is a social experiment to see how far we'll go just to buy new s**t.
I’m going through menopause, this looks like the packaging Mother Nature might send me To return my uterus
If this gets popular my normie friends are gonna all have one lol
If someone gave me a dollar and this bag I'd give the bag to a thrift store
This was made in a jewelry class called "Make jewelry in the dark".
And this is before it even has a chance to get tangled in the bottom of your handbag?
HEY! Don't ick on little kids! Put that back up on the refrigerator where it belongs!
What do you expect for $29? But more importantly, no one going to comment on the "d**k pearl" at the bottom of the necklace?
You know what I don't appreciate? They try to make it look runway when you see it in a picture like this, but then you see it on its own - without the lighting, and the model, and the perfect hair cut, and the makeup artists - this is what you would borrow from your Uncle Carl, if you sh*t your pants at Uncle Carl's house and he's a mechanic. This is what he would lend you.
This is an item that will look great on some people, and like "borrowed from Uncle Carl" on others. Depends on your body type imho!
I don't know, I can see the potential of these overalls. They look pretty good to me.
As it produces around half a billion (with a b) items a year, they can’t all be winners. Indeed, one of the main criticisms of fast fashion is that it has huge carbon emissions producing poor-quality clothing that will end up in a landfill anyway. Zara isn’t alone here, its rivals like H&M operate with a similar model.
The wind chime also comes in the bra version for the same price. This looks like it was made in the dark by a monkey. $130 is groceries for a week.
It's too low on the model, it should fit snugly across a bra. Also, this isn't new. The chain work is nice though. The dangly bits of are horrible, I assume they are plastic. If they were real metal it would be nice.
It would look so much better if they removed those dangly plasticky stuff and replaced it with something, like as you suggested, actual metal and not dollar tree craft supplies
Load More Replies...I see nothing wrong with this, except that it's not very well-made. (And maybe that it can be seen as offensive because of cultural appropriation.) Such items are standard in dancers' outfits. To me, this is not bad taste, just a typical example of borrowing from a very specific style/culture/subculture, and introducing it into mainstream fashion, similar to what boho and hippie fashion has been doing for decades.
I agree, but there are so many gorgeous Belly Dance accessories that are so well-made by craftspeople. This top looks very poorly made for what they are charging for it.
Load More Replies...This is the amniotic fluid of an alien spacecraft. It is one of those stretchy tops from the 90s that would be the size of your hand and then it would magically fit anyone. If this is already in your house, throw it in the garbage, donate it.
"Coming soon"? "Join the notification list to get this"? I would add my email to a waitlist to guarantee that I never have to see this bag again.
I would probably buy this, not for that price, but it’d be a fun thing to keep in my collection of stuff I have but never use. Also pineapple
It looks like an exotic fruit that you say you love, but have never eaten or even actually seen in person.
This was an extreme jumpscare for me. For $55.90 you can now wear the red alien vines from "War of the Worlds" that gave me nightmares for three years straight.
Because hopefully it will be in the bargain bin by then. I love War of the Worlds, would definitely want to dress up as something from there!
Load More Replies...Yes, I think that's what it's supposed to look like. I have the impression that this woman is seeing lots of things for the first time but they've been around forever.
Load More Replies...Why did this remind me of stranger things? I don’t even watch stranger things
This is what expensive coral looks like. She sounds like she doesn't know anything about jewelry.
If they weren't so expensive I might actually wear that (never watched the movie they just look cool)
Many of the items here look like they were taken straight from a collection of first-draft ideas. Zara itself reports that most items are designed in less than a week. And it shows. This only makes sense when you realize that Zara, by its own reports, aims to add 12,000 new items to its collections every single year. Reportedly, around 30,000 designs are rejected. If these were the winners, we are dying to see what were the losers.
If you buy this, you'll buy anything and your bank account information should be monitored and your card should be taken away from you. Your money spending habits should be put on like a Britney Spears kind of control hold that her dad had on her.
i suppose it’s a solution to the women’s pants pockets crisis
Yeah apart from their capitalizing on the fact that they themselves refuse to give us decent pockets
Load More Replies...Tbh I kind of like it. In the fantasy setting you have prettier hip bags though. (Probably not the right word). These here look awful with the rest of the models outfit though.
Something like this (steampunk style): il_fullxfu...9_6k95.jpg
This isn't bad. But I love hip bags anyway. Her comments are getting a bit rude though...
Forty five dollars seem steep for just pockets.
Load More Replies...I have used similar product from different fabric while I was actively wearing my babies in carriers. I needed pockets for wallet, keys, phone, because backpack was not easy accessible.
Yeah, I have something sort of similar that I use for snacks and stuff when hiking. I don't delude myself that it's in any way stylish, but I get lower back pain with even a small daypack, so this way I can carry the basics.
Load More Replies...A melted ball of molten lava just dangling on your head.
So, we’re no longer playing “The Floor Is Lava” … they’ve now upped the ante & decided your FACE is now lava?! Good luck winning THAT round! 🤣
I]f you could only see how that heavy clump of an earrings is pulling and stretching their lobes. :(
This is awful. It took me a while to accept that these were real. Okay, this is what I would imagine, like, a group of scientists in school, they're learning how to be scientists, and they're given a 3d printer. And their first assignment is just f**king make something, it doesn't matter what it is. But as long as it sounds like this is your first project. This is what the guy that missed all the classes made last minute. These are earrings for an occasion. What is the occasion other than trying to deflect a BB gun pellet?
Why does it look like a chocolate Pac-Man is about to chomp on this person’s ear?! 😂
Zara waves off the criticism of its process by stating that it can modify existing designs within two weeks to match shifts in demand. Executives argue that a shorter product life cycle helps them match consumer preferences, although we would love to hear and see what a focus group said about some of these denim monstrosities.
Reminds me of those birthday parties where you would paint a mug or a plate and then they'd put it in the oven and caramelize it and then deliver it to you after one to two weeks and you'd give it to your mom for Mother's Day.
They are so poorly trying to cater to Gen Z. We don't want it. We make it ourselves
the point of things you make yourself isn't that they LOOK like you made them yourself, it's that you DID make them yourself
Load More Replies...Bracelet? Let's talk about the red cable knit underwear in photo 2!
Stopping here 😆 this chick is just a b***h 😂 downvote me all you want.
I was thinking the same, this one is a bit mean.
Load More Replies...Weird, but acceptable. Tiny amounts of weird, bracelet size or smaller, are okay.
Double buckle matrix glitch wide leg double waistband jeans. This is making me feel really weird. First thing I thought of when I saw this was the Black Cat in the Matrix. You know how you see it twice and you know there's been a glitch. Like, why am I seeing it twice? Why is it a little bit slanted but why is it still identical?
When you were five and tried to put all of your jeans on at the same time:
I don't hate them, if it wasn't for the double waist bit I may even buy them, but the double waist ruins it for me. I wouldn't hate in someone for wearing them, but they're just a bit much for me and I'd be too self conscious
Load More Replies...These are soooo weird that they have gone full circle and I actually love them!
When people with hangovers get dressed and forget that they already put their pants on
The uncircumcised heeled denim ankle boot for $119. Oh, God.
Same, actually they’re kinda cute if you wear the right outfit
Load More Replies...Why exactly denim features so heavily is unclear. Certainly, workwear, in a case of blue-collar stolen valor, has become fashionable, however, denim is just one subset of materials that fit into this category. It’s entirely possible that Zara knows it can make denim very cheaply and is trying to boost its popularity. Cynics might also argue that these items make the rest of their collection look better in comparison.
The gold denim spray painted maxi skirt. What even is this? Where are you wearing this? What does this mean?
There are a lot of designer brands doing like pre-dirty jeans? Like they come looking like they're covered in dirt. Why do rich people wanna look like the working class so bad?? And then treat the working class like garbage??
I wonder if I could make a business wearing jeans on the farm for people for a week. Unsure if they would agree with the smell though
Load More Replies...it looks like something you’d wear whilst doing an art project, then subsequently ruined with the paint
I mean, I kinda like it. It works ok with the gold top like the model is wearing. I just think the "fade" on the gold should be a little better. It cuts off too suddenly.
It means that you used to shop on shein but then got into more expensive things for the same s**t quality.
I refuse to shop at Zara because their quality and customer service are terrible.
Load More Replies...I hate their denim line so much. First of all, denim is the most atrocious, hard on the environment, material to produce in the world. There's enough vintage denim to go around for 17,000 lifetimes. We do not need to be creating new denim at all even for jeans. But for these trend purses that are just going to end up in the landfill? Get two pairs of your dad's old 90s jeans and make a purse. Get your friend that sews to make this purse for you. Don't buy this, we need to stand against this. The amount of water and energy that it takes to create denim to use it on THIS? No. Go thrifting, get a pair of $5 jeans and make a denim tote bag and then donate that when you're sick of it in 10 business days.
I got several bags made from old jeans. I use them as grocery bags.
Your dad's old 90s jeans. Man I feel old, also no one is taking my jeans they are still good thanks!
This is absolutely the worst denim tote bag I've found so far. For $60 you can get a bag that looks like you rummaged it out of a dumpster. This looks like the reusable grocery bags that they sell you in the desert. It looks like it was recovered from a sunken pirate ship.
Oh my, that looks exactly as my friend's bag! She sew it herself from old military fabric which was used to cover helicopter fans 😄
At $60 you could buy fabric and make 30 of these to your personal liking. But running your mouth about how horrible this particular one is obviously easier.
This one wouldn't be that bad if it was $10-15 instead of $60!
The non-denim items are, generally, not as horrid, but do suffer from a bizarrely inflated price tag. The entire appeal of Zara is just how cheaply you can get the items, it’s not a brand that one spends on. Even the most loyal Zara-heads don’t walk around with the company's logo emblazoned on their backs, chests, legs, or wherever else brands advertise.
You don't need to buy this for $46, you can just go back in time to the dumpster behind the Ardene at the mall and dig this out of the trash.
So many of these things I'd like...if they weren't from a corporation with no soul
I'm pleased to announce that I have found the matching bag for the Sultan 3000s.
For $60 you can now rock the Sultan 3000s.
I have a pretty athletic body type so that little heel would be broken the first step I took. Honestly, who the hell are these going to fit?
The items are so cheap, in fact, that prior to 2020, they used major amounts of toxic chemicals as part of the manufacturing process. In theory, these should never reach the buyer, however, neither should the notes from angry factory workers. Since then, Zara has become a major advocate for detoxification in fashion, a somewhat cynical attempt to save face.
What is happening, what point of the recession is this? I understand that nostalgia came back during COVID, that's why everyone was buying their old perfumes from the 90s. This isn't nostalgia. This is "give me $60 and I'm going to laugh at you because you'll buy anything that's for sale."
Exactly! Makes me shudder just looking at it
Load More Replies...You know those dolls' eyes that have eyelid and blink? I want some of those in some of these holes
Their latest denim bag - $55.90 for an a*s.
Upon first inspection this looks like just a regular ugly cargo bag. But then you see it on the model. They want $80 of your hard earned money for this melted garbage bag.
They had a team of visual merchandisers working on this photoshoot. And that team could not make it look like this bag stays in place when you're wearing it.
If a team couldn't do that, what's going to happen to you, in your everyday life? You put this bag on and it melts into an eight foot long sleeping bag. Who's helping you? What visual merchandising team do you have? They couldn't even do it. Look at this picture. They couldn't even do it for the photoshoot. For the lies of the website and the app. They couldn't even make this bag look good.
Almost $100. This is Dollarama that you use as a lunch bag when you're going camping because you're like "if this drops in the mud, I'll just leave it behind. It's fine. It's served its purpose for the two day camping trip. And if I leave it in the woods for a bear, it was worth every penny, it held my sandwiches for 48 hours."
Me too. It’s the absolute best part of this post. People’s comments are a close second best… XD
Load More Replies...If you like the style, I recommend the Volganik Rock crossbody purse, which is $20 on Amazon. (Yeah, I know. Don't give me a hard time; I'm poor.) It comes in 2 sizes and 26 colors, has loads of pockets inside and out, and is waterproof. I've had mine for 6 years and it's still in perfect condition.
I’ll go check that out, thank you for helping those of us who liked it out 👏
Load More Replies...tbf this actually looks like it could carry a decent amount of things, unlike the other "bags" on this list, but at that price the "designer" is clearly suffering from a concussion or something
This actually looks like the sort of bag that should be modeled with a guy. Or with a professional model - by that I mean the model looks like someone in a profession. Like they're a scientist or a photographer and the bag is full of equipment.
If you are still in the mood for fashion, Bored Panda has got you covered, you can check out our article on fashion fails from the even cheaper Zara, Shein, or you can scroll through some very questionable boomer clothing choices. If you want something a bit more educational, we have an article exploring the history of why women’s clothes don’t have pockets.
$60. It's a practical joke. This isn't real. You guys aren't buying this, right?
Is make this, but not buy it because why would you buy something so easily makeable
i have never heard of this store til today on here and honestly i havent missed anything this stuff is beyond ugly
If you cut up a pair of thrifted jeans you could make all five of these denim bags for like $5.
But then somebody'd yell at you for thrifting jeans just to cut up.
Load More Replies...What is up with all that denim? Did they buy a denim factory that had suddenly closed down and they wanted some profit so they took all the denim leftovers and did some vague attempts to make wearables from it? (I may be biased with hating the denim items.... I just really hate denim and always have).
Same! denim should all be thrown away at this point why is everyone obsessed with denim and jean everything??? I saw on a different bp story that someone made joots (jean boots) and a jouch (jean couch). what's next? jean oven?
Load More Replies...When I used to live in Spain about ten years ago, Zara was pretty darn trendy and actually had some nicer, quality clothing. Now it’s just another horrible fast fashion brand. Most of this “clothing” will just end up in landfills now.
What is it with the disembodied head in all these? Do we really need to see some shiny-faced Essex girl in every post?
I kept scrolling down thinking: "Come on there HAS to be at least one good one, right???? Please????" So, uh, I was wrong and it just kept getting worse 😀
I kind of liked the red vines from War of the Worlds for Halloween, but I don't think they're worth the price.
Load More Replies...If you're a bit older, most of these are familiar. Bags/skirts made from old jeans have been fashionable several times, and so have premade items that *look* like self-made from old jeans.
Would have been fun without the tiktok person's giant face and head in every picture. Please don't post tiktoks. It just encourages them.
I feel as though they accidentally added 2 digits to a denim jeans order, and now they are trying to find clever ways to get rid of them.
Zara has been on a steep downhill for a few years now. For the c**p they sell, it's pretty expensive.
What is up with all that denim? Did they buy a denim factory that had suddenly closed down and they wanted some profit so they took all the denim leftovers and did some vague attempts to make wearables from it? (I may be biased with hating the denim items.... I just really hate denim and always have).
Same! denim should all be thrown away at this point why is everyone obsessed with denim and jean everything??? I saw on a different bp story that someone made joots (jean boots) and a jouch (jean couch). what's next? jean oven?
Load More Replies...When I used to live in Spain about ten years ago, Zara was pretty darn trendy and actually had some nicer, quality clothing. Now it’s just another horrible fast fashion brand. Most of this “clothing” will just end up in landfills now.
What is it with the disembodied head in all these? Do we really need to see some shiny-faced Essex girl in every post?
I kept scrolling down thinking: "Come on there HAS to be at least one good one, right???? Please????" So, uh, I was wrong and it just kept getting worse 😀
I kind of liked the red vines from War of the Worlds for Halloween, but I don't think they're worth the price.
Load More Replies...If you're a bit older, most of these are familiar. Bags/skirts made from old jeans have been fashionable several times, and so have premade items that *look* like self-made from old jeans.
Would have been fun without the tiktok person's giant face and head in every picture. Please don't post tiktoks. It just encourages them.
I feel as though they accidentally added 2 digits to a denim jeans order, and now they are trying to find clever ways to get rid of them.
Zara has been on a steep downhill for a few years now. For the c**p they sell, it's pretty expensive.
