NI Life & Style A Zara is (re)born in Belfast

Store return will breathe new life into city centre

DRESS £99.99, BAG £79.99 DRESS £19.99 DRESS £79.99 BLAZER £29.99, TROUSERS £19.99

YDRESS £29.99

ou may have heard an unusual “swooshing” sound reverberate across the country this week. It came out of nowhere and lasted a couple of seconds. Wondering what it was?

Well, I can tell you, it was the sound of every woman in Belfast and beyond breathing a sigh of relief as the date for Zara returning to Northern Ireland was revealed, and it is a lot sooner than we thought – this Thursday!

The fact is, since the Bank Buildings fire last August 28 us female shoppers have been lost, because we lost two of the biggest pulls to the city centre. Thankfully we got Primark back pretty quickly, but not Zara.

The store had only re-opened after a huge expansion and refurbishment before it suffered extensive damage in the blaze.

Zara likely spent the past eight months weighing up whether it was worth their while re-re-opening in the city – particularly with all the cordons, reduced footfall etc. For those months we waited with baited breath, but this week we were finally able to exhale.

We can now breathe easy because Zara stores are great. Zara’s website definitely isn’t. It’s pants. And if it’s specifically pants you’re looking for, good luck finding SHAWL £29.99 TOP £15.99 TROUSERS £17.99 them in that labyrinth of clothes, accessories and endless images of models looking like they are playing a very stylish game of Twister. In some of the pics you can’t even see the clothes. It’s so bizarre.

The fact is, browsing the Zara website is not for the fainthearted and if you have ever actually managed to buy something off it I would ask you to get in touch so I can applaud you, and so you can teach me how to do it.

But I don’t need you now because my girl will soon be back in town...and she’ll be bringing a whole new wardrobe with her. Here’s some new season treasures you’ll find in store...and breathe! TOP £25.99 DRESS £39.99,