You don’t need to be a shopping editor to know that certain high-street stores do certain items best. Personally, I find Mango always has the strongest coats. Arket is where I automatically head to stock up on knitwear, and & Other Stories dresses are easily my favourite. As for Zara? While I could talk at length about its excellent shoe selection and could-be-designer arm candy, there’s another piece for which the brand is known: blazers.
It’s almost impossible to think of a time when blazers didn’t dominate my wardrobe. Sure, I’d worn them at school. (I was probably one of the only students who dutifully did so and, dare I say, enjoyed it.) However, after I left high school and enrolled at art school, they served no purpose in my closet. That was until I landed my first magazine internship in London. Unlike my hometown, which, at the time, had no Zara to speak of, it felt as if there were a branch on every street corner. As such, during my four-week placement, my love of Zara only grew and grew, and subsequently, so did my blazer collection.
For the purposes of this feature, I decided to count how many blazers I have in my wardrobe. In total? Thirteen. And how many of them are from Zara? Nine. This may sound excessive, but please bear in mind this collection is now 11 years in the making.
With the power to dress up my jeans or give even my fanciest frocks an effortless spin, barely a day goes by when I don’t reach for a Zara blazer. From the perfectly tailored and the oversized to bouclé weaves and faux leather, my collection of Zara blazers is as versatile as the brand’s current line-up. On my wish list, you’ll find a grey pinstripe number and a khaki double-breasted option, but rest assured there are plenty more where those came from.
Scroll below to see and shop the best new-season Zara blazers, and in the meantime, I’ll get started on forming a Zara blazer appreciation society.
This story was originally published at an earlier date and has since been updated.
Next Up: I’m in the Mood for Something New, and These Zara and H&M Items Are It
