Lululemon Review: Runderful Pants + Heathered Forage Teal Cool Racerback

I have a quick recap of my latest lululemon order today, including a review of the heathered forage teal cool racerback and the much-awaited (by me) runderful pants.

Btw, for anyone who might be wondering: lulu problems is on vacation this week for the holidays and will return next Sunday. :)

Heathered forage teal cool racerback

After the color came out, I was hoping we’d see a forage teal cool racerback, so I was happy to order this one when it popped up!

Like most heathered cool racerbacks lately, the fabric is pretty flimsy.  It’s fairly similar to the material of my heathered jeweled magenta CRB from a few months ago, though I think it’s a tad less soft.  It’s quite lightweight and slick, not cushy.  Still, it’s comfortable enough to wear, and the dark color means that it has good coverage and doesn’t show your bra color or your stomach underneath.  The one thing to consider a plus side when it comes to this thinner fabric is that it’s nice to work out in when it’s really hot.

Despite the lackluster fabric quality, the color is nice enough to convince me to keep this one anyway.  Deep teals/greens agree very well with my skin, plus it’s a nice change of pace from a lot of my other top colors that will still match a lot of my wardrobe.

Runderful pants

I was really looking forward to the release of the runderful pants.  My dog runner pants, while not the prettiest, are one of the most functional and well-loved pieces in my winter wardrobe.  I bought a pair in black grape.

Although a lot of people said that they were having to go up 1 or even 2 sizes on these, but I took a chance and went with my true size.  The waist was slightly inconvenient to get around my hips, but overall, I wouldn’t call these too small, though they definitely fit slimmer than my dog runner pants.  I noticed that on the dog runner pants, the waistband is just a plain, uncomplicated elastic waistband, and the leggings are attached under that.  On the runderfuls, they used a double-layered waistband.  The leggings waist, which is more like a wunder under waistband, actually sticks out on the top, and the waistband from the additional layer falls under that.  I think the extra waistband action going on here is part of what made these slightly difficult to maneuver into.  It doesn’t have as much give as a more typical elastic waistband.

I was hoping that the more tailored fit of the runderfuls would be more flattering and sleek compared to the dog runners, but honestly, I actually prefer the easier, wider leg look of the dog runners.  It’s possible the runderfuls would be better in a size up, but these are the only ones I ordered. (Here’s an older pic of how the dog runners look for comparison.)

A common complaint with the runderful pants was crotch bunching, which you can see in Katy’s review here.  There wasn’t really any bunching on me, but I have a theory on why this is.

In the dog runner pants (and the similarly fitting dance studio pants), the seam runs straight down the side of the leg.  However, because of the side panel with the ruching and reflective stripe on the runderfuls, that means the front seam is moved several inches more to the front of the thigh rather than the side.  The seam placement means the pocket is positioned pretty awkwardly.  For one thing, this means it’s a bit odd to actually use the pockets.  I also think that this center seam, paired with the bulk of the pocket lining at the inner thigh, is what creates crotch bunching.  Since the seam is more centered, the fabric basically has nowhere else to go.

All told, I decided to return these.  They weren’t as problematic on me as on some others, but for $128, they just weren’t quite there.  Back to stalking eBay for black grape dog runners.

Btw, if these pants are too long for you, here’s my solution.  First, tighten the drawstring in the hem so it’s fairly snug around your ankle.  Tie it off so it stays cinched.  Then, tuck the now-cinched hem up a couple inches on your ankle, and pull the leg fabric over top of it, creating a new “hem”.  Adjust the position of the tied off hem as needed so that there’s just enough inseam leftover to fall at a length you like.  This is a “DIY hemming” method you can do with any pants that have a hem drawstring.  It’s always worked well for me and once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t look funny at all.  Bonus: it helps keep cold air from going up your legs!

As of this writing, both the runderful pants and the heathered forage teal CRB above are still available in all sizes online.

Planning to do some try-ons in-store tomorrow!  Look for a post later this week with a recap.