Haulin' at Zara

Evening all! What a glorious day its has been - I'm all sunned out and sufficiently burnt so I'm happy! 
Apart from the glorious weather, what also makes me happy is the fact that my floral Zara pencil skirt which I have been drooling over for ageees finally arrived in the correct size!! *happy dance...*

Keep reading for further info regarding my skirt fiasco...

I haven't ordered from Zara online before (in actual fact, I haven't bought anything from Zara before, but to be fair, there isn't one nearby to where I live...) so I was pleasantly surprised to see how beautifully packaged my order was...serious brownie points!! 

The only thing I knew about Zara via word of mouth, is that the sizing can be quite bizarre. With this in mind, I dutifully checked the size chart provided on the website, measured myself and I settled on a size M on the skirts and an S on the tops. 

Diaster :(

The skirts were far far too big (tops were spot on though), and with Zara's fickle return policy (has to be to store or a courier comes to collect it) I was disheartened to say the least! But I perservered, went back online, requested a return via courier and ordered both skirts again but in a size S. 
When the goodies arrived this time, the tribal/aztec printed mini fitted me (happy days!), yet the floral pencil skirt was still too large and I had to repeat the courier return, reorder online process. 
Eventually, the skirt arrived in an XS and it fits like a glove! 
Therefore, I would like to advise anyone who has easy access to a Zara store to just buy from there instead of online, and avoid this whole hoo-haa!! My second piece of advice is if you are keen on buying the floral pencil skirt - downsize to get a good fit! 

 All in all, despite the carry on, I love love love my purchases and cannot wait to wear them this summer! 

I'd be interested to hear any online shopping experiences you've had? What do you think of Zara's clothing?!