I Just Tried On Zara's Autumn Collection—These 4 Pieces Will Earn Me So Many Compliments

Welcome to The Great Try-On. With autumn well and truly in the air, we seized the opportunity to try on some of the best new-in pieces from some of your favourite brands, documenting the process along the way. We believe that the best way to shop online is to see an item IRL and to read candid reviews, so we hope that this leads you to your most successful purchases of the year.

A new style moment has arrived in the form of autumn. As the sharpest shift from one season to another, the break between summer and autumn can feel like a quick rush to pack up the linens that worked hard over the warmer months, and steadfastly return our trusted knits, denims and outerwear to pride of place. Like many, I found myself rejigging my wardrobe for October, and in doing so quickly found there were clear gaps where mild weather heroes should be. As the cold days have set in and will stick around until milder spring days break into sunshine, now is prime time to make clever additions to my hard-working wardrobe.

When it comes to making space for new buys in my wardrobe, I often look to investment pieces, but with so many strong collections on the high street, this is my first port of call. As ever, when I part with my hard-earned cash, every piece has to meet my high standards of being easy to style, timeless in design and expensive-looking no matter the price point. So naturally, I headed to Zara.

Shopping at Zara, whether online or in-store, is always something I look forward to. For many, it can feel overwhelming with waves of new styles, but I find that it means there’s plenty of real gems to be found, that will earn their keep in my wardrobe for years to come. Most of the time, I shop online for ease, but as you may know, I do a lot of in-store try-ons to give extra guidance to our readers. I’ve tested out new high street coats, a selection of the very best jeans as well as trending footwear, and now I’m sharing my autumn Zara finds.

After a quick scan of the shop floor, I’d already honed in on four key pieces. The perfect forever coat, the easy co-ord, the layering piece with a twist, and the standout shade. With my eyes drawn to these, four outfits quickly came to fruition, moving back and forth between either side of the shop, pilling pieces onto my sister’s outstretched arms as she offered to accompany me on my shopping trip. Even editors like to get a second opinion, and few are as honest as a sibling’s.

Like most, a feathered piece or sky-high heel can instantly turn my head, but in the spirit of adding only truly worthwhile pieces to my basket, wearability and versatility of styling were forefront of my mind. Alongside, I’ve styled these with pieces that can be mixed and matched with the renowned staples already in our wardrobes, like a great white shirt or knee-high boots, that consistently prove their worth in timeless appeal. But if you’re yet to have these basics in your arsenal, I’ve linked them below, too.

For guidance, I am 5’2″ and tend to wear an 8 or small in coats and jackets and a 10 or medium in bottoms. I’ve also included the sizes I’ve tried on, with advice on whether to size up or down depending on each style, just to make adding to your forever wardrobe even easier.