I got stuck in a dress.. in a Zara fitting room this week!

Yes you read that headline correctly. My endless “research project” I gave myself this year was to find more size friendly options in Zara. So in doing so I’ve to keep an open mind. The dress in question looked like it would be reasonably workable. Alas, when it came to pulling it across my bust.. it felt like I was in an epytian maze. Something you’d imagine would be in an Indiana Jones movie. I instantly started getting that horrible claustrophobic feeling like I’d never get out of it.

I wiggled, I hopped, I wondered if I just broke the zip and paid for the dress could that be an option, but it was made of some sort of bizarre zip of steel infrastructure they must have built the Eiffel Tower with. Could I do a Mel Gibson in Leathal Weapon and pop my own shoulder blade out to get out of this nightmare dress? No, too gruesome!

My last resort was to call for help. It wasn’t of course Harrison Ford coming to my rescue, it was a Zara sales assistant who got to see me in my lovely high waisted maternity underwear ( I bought them when I was pregnant last year and they’re just too comfy to discard- don’t judge me! haha!). To say this is up there in my top ten most unpleasant fashion or life experiences ever in general would be an understatement.

However the sales assistant ( I’m not sure if it’s part of the Zara staff training programme ) didn’t seem to bat an eyelid. she had no facial expression and or emotion , I tried to make a joke of it, because I looked like I was well wrapped ham at this stage!! The dress was pulled off me within seconds ( like you see those fancy waiters on holiday pulling old white tablecloths off with rapid speed) and the curtain pulled back across immediately!

But to add to it, I had my 7 month old in her pram with me. She’s the kind that adores white noise, could sleep through a hurricane. It was the akward silence that of course woke her up. And for a baby, something I never expected.. my own child gave me the side eye… a complete look of oh god mum you’re so embarrassing. I had hoped it would be at least a good few years before I hit the embarrassing mum stage but it looks like I’ve started her off early!!

So why am I sharing this story, some of you might ask? Well, firstly, if I can’t share my fashion fails and embarrassing moments as they happen then what kind of online friend would I be? And secondly, if it’s ever happened to you, please know you are absolutely, categorically, not alone! So to every Hangers & Mash friend who’s ever gotten stuck in a dress, broken a zip, popped a number of buttons off, or done the Changing Room Shuffle while trying not to cry - I’m here in solidarity with you girls!

Photo by Alyona Yankovska on Unsplash

And if you feel like sharing your embarrassing dressing room story too, well the more the merrier! Just leave a comment below - I’d LOVE to hear them 💌

Lou xxx

( p.s - I went overboard with the GIFs this week didn’t I? haha!)