A couple weeks ago, I bought and reviewed a pair of white crops. Buying white clothing is pretty risky all by itself. But then I did something even crazier: I wore those white crops on a hike. Outside. In the dirt.
Yes, they got dirty, but nothing that didn’t come out in the wash. I wore them because I wanted to, and I tried not to worry about the fact that they’re white. (Side note: I also found out that the patterning actually hid dirt marks really well.)
When you buy nice things, it can be really easy to slip into the mindset that your things are “too special” to actually use. I’m guilty of this all the time. I bought an expensive candle only to have it sit on the shelf for almost a year because it was expensive and it felt somehow wasteful to burn it. What?? That makes no sense. What good does a delicious smelling candle do if it’s just collecting dust on my shelf? (If you wanted to know, it was this blue candle, and I did finally start burning it.)
It’s easy to do this with clothes, too. Maybe you bought an expensive pair of heels that you only wear on the most special of special occasions because you’re worried they’ll get scuffed. Maybe you bought a pair of lululemon crops that you only wear very, very rarely because you’re worried you’ll ruin them.
Here’s the thing: your clothes are meant to be worn! Your belongings are meant to be used and enjoyed, not hoarded and untouched. You own your stuff; don’t let it own you.
Yes, if I’m doing something where I think what I’m wearing could be irreparably damaged, I’ll choose something replaceable instead of one of my most cherished styles. I’m not going to wear my hard-to-find, white striped speed shorts on a mud run/obstacle course. There’s at least a little bit of strategy there. Sometimes I’ll go easy on my new items and wait until they’re at least a few months old before I start wearing it for the “risky” stuff.
But even if a tank top might get a little bit pilled from wearing with my backpack, that’s ok. Even if my pants might get dirty from doing burpees on the nasty gym floor, I’ll wear it anyway. If I don’t wear my activewear when I’m being active, what’s the point in having it?
Believe me, you’ll get so much more enjoyment out of actually wearing your favorite things than letting them sit on the shelf.
Outfit details
Alala crossback bra in skydiver
Alala captain crops in summer palm
Nike Metcon in black/hyper jade
Lululemon race to win run hat in sketchy palms
Love! What a beautiful looking walk! After all your marble inspired and white crop reviews I combined both looks and bought a pair of Varley white marble compression tights:-) was always scared of white but you’re so right, the marble patterning hides the dirt and feels so much better to be wearing nice activewear and enjoying it and being active than being worried about dirt and overwear.
Good choice! Varley’s marble print is very pretty. Since that one has a darker pattern than my pair it’ll be event better at hiding little marks. :)
Thank you so much for this. I really need to hear this. Had OCD of not causing piling to my lululemon.
I don’t like for my brand new stuff to get pilled, but if it’s a year or two old… I try to just let it go! And then once something gets pilled from a backpack, I don’t feel bad about wearing that same top again with a backpack. :)
Thank you!! I completely agree with this and just realized as I was reading this post that despite my agreement I still baby my stuff to a ridiculous extent. I even yelled at my sweet old dog last week because he jumped up to greet me after a weekend away and put his paws all over my light colored align pants that I had finally tracked down and had shipped from far far away. I was SO ashamed afterward. This stops now. For reals.
Your candle thing made me blush too. I literally have 10 “expensive” candles sitting in a bag in my closet to be brought out for special times. WTF?!?!?! I get them during the “extra 40% off sale stuff” at Anthropologie, so they are not even expensive. I think I shall burn one today as I work from home.
Again… thank you.
I hope you burned those candles this week/weekend!! :) And I hope you got the doggie marks out of your pants. :\ I’ve had my dogs damage a couple of my things, and it’s hard not to get mad at them, so I totally feel you there.
I have the same thoughts about doing something like burpees at my crossfit gym. I wore a pair of blue and white speeds during a wod that involved 40ish burpees, and they got kinda dirty. At first I was kinda upset, but then I realized that I have oxi-clean, and I would attempt to clean them. The dirt came out and they look perfect (probably even cleaner than before). I still worry about wearing items with white to the gym, but I’m getting over it slowly since I realize I bought these items to actually use, not just sit in my closet.
Oxiclean is like magic!! It’s gotten pretty much any generic dirt out from my shorts and tanks, too. :) And like you said, they usually end up looking even cleaner than when I started!
Thank you for reminding all of us who might be a little “too precious” with our stuff to “get on with it”. Life is too short. Stuff is just stuff.
But I am really leaving a comment to say: these photos are both gorgeous and amazing! And your outfit is appropriately perfect :)
Yesss exactly, stuff is just stuff!!! And thanks for the kind words! Little by little, I’m getting better at photos + editing. :)
I’m SO guilty of this. But you’re right that we buy these clothes to wear them, so why keep them shut up in a drawer? Thanks for the inspiration to get my gear dirty! Love the scenery in these pics!
Totally!! It’s kind of irrational, but can be such a hard habit to break!
Love this! I’ve always bought Lulu to sweat in and wear. I even toss it in the washer with regular Tide detergent and *gasp* it all goes into the dryer (on the lowest setting for 20 minutes). I don’t have time to baby my clothes much less hand wash and hang dry.
Wear all the things for all the activities!
Wow, living life dangerously. ;) I use regular detergent on mine too, but I do hang dry. That’s about as far as I go, though!
Hey Suzanne Ive been following your site for a while now and wanted to thank you for all the great things you care and write about however my favorite and always look forward to is all the pics and reviews of lululemon speed shorts. So far its only been about capris and leggings. Well anyway I was just wondering The last pair I saw you write about was the neon pink ones and that was a while ago.
Aw thanks!! :) You’re right, it’s been more capris/leggings lately, but that’s basically because I haven’t loved very many speed shorts lately. Neon pink is the only pair I’ve bought this season! I did buy the dottie tribal speeds this past week though, so look for a post with those soon! :)
Ugh, the guilt – I have this mindset! Thanks for the reminder though; I have TOO MUCH in my closet that’s hanging there “waiting” for a special occasion.
Yup! Personally, I’ve found that when I save things for a “special occasion”, it usually never comes. So it’s pretty silly! I’m slowly getting better at it though. It’s a process for sure!
Funny timing on this post. I literally just finished making a batch of muffins only to discover that I’d somehow managed to get a line of coconut oil across the front of my brand new white lululemon shirt! Wah!! I know– my fault for cooking without an apron or with athletic gear on!?! I poured boiling water on it, scrubbed it with a Sunlight soap bar. Nothing helping. Anyone have any advice? So sad. First day wearing it!!!
Oh no!!! :\ That would be so frustrating. I know you already tried a bar, but I would try liquid dish soap (like Dawn). Don’t go crazy and dump a ton of it on, just dab a few drops across the stain, let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse it out. It might take a couple tries but it usually works well for me. I’ve also had some luck with Carbona stain devils grease remover, which looks like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/17283469 Good luck!!! I hope something works!
I know I’m late here. But I stumbled across this blog searching for others wearing Lulu for mud runs. I thought about wearing my older speed shorts and swiftly tank. But I fear they might get ruined. So I might just resort to some random Nike’s or something. Do you have any experience or know anyone who wore Lulus to obstacle races?
I ran one mud run in speed shorts and a random tank top. I wore black speeds and they came out completely unscathed. As far as the mud, it seems like if you go for a darker color, it does not stain. The bigger issue is that depending on the type of obstacles in the course, the material could snag or tear, so I would definitely keep that in mind, especially with the swiftly material.
I don’t have a ton of insight beyond that, but I hope that helps a tiny bit. :)
Thanks for the heads up! I’m actually going to be doing the Warrior Dash- so it will be very muddy and lots of obstacles. I’ll actually do that and wear my older speeds and maybe a Warrior Dash tank they sell on site. Kinda nervous. But it should be tons of fun. Thanks again for your input!