Alala is a new brand to the luxury activewear realm–their first collection was this past spring, and their second collection for fall ’14 is slowly trickling in. I love to try new brands, and their aesthetic really resonates with me, so I keep a close eye on their new releases. Cobalt is one of my favorite colors ever, so when I saw their captain crops in this color they had to be mine. Their first dress, the weekender dress, started seriously calling my name too.
From a functional perspective, I’m drawn to Alala’s collection because most of their bottoms are made of slick, friction-resistant nylon, like lululemon’s luxtreme. Yoga brands and supplex are all over the place, but stylish bottoms in this type of fabric are a little less common.
Alala’s orders come thoughtfully packaged in a custom mailer, tissue paper, and even included a hand-written note.
Captain Crop in Cobalt
I was drawn to these pants mostly for the color, which is a true cobalt. It’s a little lighter than lululemon’s pigment blue, but ultra-saturated and doesn’t have any purple/red undertones to speak of. I’m in love with this color, it’s seriously so gorgeous.
My pair is a size XS–I usually wear an XXS, but when that’s not an option, XS sometimes works for me too. These fit beautifully through the waist and hips, but the legs felt a little more generous. If your legs are muscular, you definitely will not feel constricted in these crops. The length on mine lines up perfectly with my wunder under crops, measuring 20″. Overall, I would say these fit true to size, maybe with slightly bigger legs than most.
Although the waistband doesn’t have a drawstring, it’s lined with powermesh, so these did not budge AT ALL when I put them through the paces of squats, running, and double unders.
Seaming details in the back hook you up with booty flattery.
In terms of coverage, you’ll definitely need to be mindful of the color of your underpants. Standing up, all is well, it’s just the deep squats and bends where you’ll need to check yourself. Darker colors will show through, but with light colors/nude, you’ll get enough coverage.
The fabric is lightweight–definitely lighter than lululemon’s fullux/iplux, but probably about the same as regular luxtreme. The plus side of this is that it’s very cool and performs extremely well in super-sweaty workouts (I’m lookin’ at YOU, crossfit gyms with no AC). The downside is that, if you’re looking for serious compression, these may not fit the bill.
The mesh details in the back wrap around the back of the knee, so they’re not just a style feature, but also functional for sweat minimization. My one concern with the mesh (it’s your garden variety mesh, not the thicker funky kind you see on lulu’s inspire crops, etc) is that it’s thin, and I’m a little wary of it getting snagged on a bush/branch, dog claw, or really anything pointy. To be fair, though, snags are a perpetual concern with just about any of my delicate activewear, and I haven’t had any major incidents yet.
Design details: reflective trim at the waistband, signature matte gold brand plate, mesh-lined zip pocket at back waistband, and a mesh-lined front key pocket wide enough for a credit card. Worth noting: they are made in Canada.
Overall, I am loving these crops and I’m sure they will be in heavy rotation through the fall. The only slight negatives are the delicate nature of the mesh and the slightly thin fabric (which is both a positive and a negative), which are outweighed by all the things I love. In the future, I’d love to see Alala experiment with different fabric weights.
You can find a bunch of different colors of Alala’s captain crops and full-length captain tights here. And if the sneak peeks are any indication, there should be more colors coming soon!
Weekender Dress in Black
Ok, the weekender dress isn’t exactly activewear, but it’s from an activewear brand and I do what I want.
Since I am particularly small through my shoulders and waist, I emailed Alala to ask for measurements on the XS dress before jumping the gun, and they got back to me very promptly with helpful answers to my questions (+1 for customer service!). Sure enough, I was in luck! The dress is meant to be slightly relaxed as opposed to skin-tight anyway, which allows for some sizing wiggle room, and the proportions worked out really well for me.
The brushed jersey fabric (poly/lycra blend) is seriously to die for. It’s soft, thick, cozy, generally luscious, and–bonus–the dog hair doesn’t stick nearly as aggressively as I thought it would. You don’t need to worry about a slip, either–no show-through here.
The drawstring at the waist gives you options to play with the length and structure. With the drawstring loose, it sits just below my belly button, and the hem of the dress falls to my lower mid-thigh (I am 5’3″). As I tighten the drawstring and bring it up towards my natural waist, it becomes more of a tunic–a little too short for polite company if you go the bare legs route. The length options will work really well with my smorgasbord of leggings.
And I foresee some variation of this outfit getting a lot of abuse this fall.
The dress has mesh inserts at the front shoulders…
…cozy thumbholes…
…made-in-USA style, and Alala’s signature matte gold hardware details.
Overall, I am certifiably obsessed with this dress. I have no critiques at all, and I got tons of compliments when I wore it out. It’s versatile, comfortable, and so freakin’ easy for those of us who sometimes struggle to dress ourselves. It would probably be trite to call it “effortlessly stylish”, but it is.
You can find the weekender dress on Alala’s website right here.
P.S. Leopard booties are by Sam Edelman, bag is the Jet Set Tote by Foley + Corinna (currently out of production), and figs and dahlias by Arizona farmers.
*Disclosure: I may receive a referral bonus for purchases made through some links in this post, although this does not change the price you pay.
Excellent post with beautiful pictures! Thanks for this review and the great modeling pics! I am tempted to order both items especially now they are having 20 off. You look great in that dress! I was surprised to see you in something other then workout clothing!
I just bought the dress and the Victory bootcut pants bc the crops were sold out in my size. Hopefully I used your link correctly ;)
Funny, I was surprised to see me in something other than workout clothes too–hah! It’s poopy that the crops were sold out. :( I’ve noticed some of their unusual colors tend to disappear fairly quickly. These were only added to the site 2 weeks ago! Craziness. I hope your goodies work out beautifully!! Glad to play enabler, as usual. :)
P.S. If you end up still pining for the blue, Carbon38 still has them in stock, XS-L: http://bit.ly/1wqFOGw
Thanks for your suggestion for carbon 38. I never heard of them. And as an aside I got a shipment notification from Alana and my order is coming tmrw! Talk about instant gratification! I’m psyched.
Dude that’s awesome! Instant gratification indeed!!
You look fabulous! Love the dress. I am 32C and size 4 in Lulu tops. Do you think XS would work for me? How do you get 20% off? I clicked the link to their instagram and it did not seem to work. I am always a bit slow. Thank you for the awesome blog!
Thanks! I think you’d still want to go with an XS on the dress, yes. I have a little bit of room in the top half of the dress (my bust measures 32″/size 28E and waist is about 23.5″) so I think a lulu 4 would do just fine in the same size. The fabric is plenty stretchy, and the pit-to-pit measurement is 15″ across, if that helps. :) The instagram deal is still showing up for me, here’s another link, hopefully this one will work for you: http://instagram.com/p/tDJ4Orj6qa/?modal=true
The new link worked – thank you!!! Ordered the dress and the open up mesh tee. I am more excited about these than my recent lulu purchases, lol.
Hooray!! :) I’ve been curious about the open up mesh tee. If you think of it, would love to hear your thoughts when you get it!
Wow, you are selling these! I just can’t decide between crops only, or crops and grey dress. I don’t wear dresses too often, but I *do* struggle with dressing myself. Hmm…
Haha, sorry? I think? :) Trying to keep it real around here, but it happens that this time I have pretty good things to say, lol.
You are doing such a kick ass job with this blog. I love it. Better than LLA – LLM – really value added. Thank you!
I totally agree! I love it! Your try-on/modeling pics are so much better. Maybe you can do some more in-store pics though? Or maybe you don’t go to the store that often. Either way I like how you cover other brands/lines as well as Lulu. Big thumbs up from me.
I would love to do more store pics. Buuuuut my closest store is a 2.5 hour drive, to say nothing of the gawdawful gas mileage my old inherited Jeep gets. So, yeah, I definitely don’t go that often. :( I’ve jockeyed for a store up here but we can’t even get a stupid showroom. Bleh.
Thanks so much! :)
I agree.
I like that you share your opinions, your fit reviews, and your own personal pictures in addition to the regular LLL/FB photos.
Great review! Love both on you but trying to stop myself from going to Alala & ordering both, ha ha!
Me again!!!! Sorry I keep posting but OMG I got the dress and Victory pants today from Alala and I am beyond thrilled with both. They both fit like a glove and are flattering to short girls! The pants actually will not need to be hemmed, which I am so happy about and the dress isn’t too long like a lot of Athleta tends to be. If the 20 off is still active I am going to order a couple more tops tonight I think. I love this line!
Welcome back. ;) I agree that the stuff I’ve tried seems to be pretty short-lady-friendly–I can totally get behind that, it’s so rare! I think the founder is on the petite side so maybe that helps, hehe. Now I want the pants too. :P Anyway, YAY! Thanks for the report. :)
Oh, s(*& they just added a bunch of new stuff today too! FML. :P
I saw the new stuff – love that new Sophisticate jacket! It’s gorgeous, the white and black one is my fave. The Flash tee is calling my name, too. I am wearing the Victory pants today. You should def try these if you are in the market for a bootcut pant. It’s more of a slim bootcut, not a flare. They are what I wish the Lulu Skinny Grooves were. So soft and cozy too. I am obsessed….LOL!