I made a quick stop into lulu this weekend during my day trip to the city to do some try-ons. I can only go to lulu on weekends (since it’s 2.5 hours away), which means it’s always mobbed. So, my patience for doing try-ons in a crowded store is limited, at best. At any rate, I still managed to convince myself to try on a few things. Here are my fitting room reviews of some of the latest from lululemon.
Reviewed in this post:
If you’re lucky LS ii – white
Seek the heat crops – bordeaux drama
Real quick tights – regal plum
Real quick crops – deep green
Rack pack bra – paradise geo regal plum
For reference, I am 5’3″ and typically wear a lululemon size 2 in both tops and bottoms.
If you’re lucky LS ii
This if you’re lucky tee is the second iteration after this style proved to be extremely popular last year. Last year’s version was made of a solid swim fabric in the front, but this time lulu opted to go with mesh all over. The mesh is very fine, so you can’t see the holes, but the overall effect is still fairly sheer. The mesh is also surprisingly soft and comfortable, not scratchy at all. It has a loose fit through the body with slightly more fitted sleeves. Note there are no thumbholes. You could potentially size down for a tighter fit, but the sleeves might look and feel funny if you tried.
Seek the heat crops
The seek the heat crops are another fairly popular style from last year. They have a simple but cute mesh panel, plus a small thigh pocket and some ruching at the back. The long crop length works for just about any height. On me, they’re dead on ankle length. The waistband is extra wide, which I found flattering. I was most interested in the inkwell color, but that’s not available in the US yet so I settled for a try-on of bordeaux instead. They were not sheer at all in a bend. They fit me true to size. Overall, lots to love about these.
Real quick tights
So… This weekend was not a good time for me to be doing try-ons. My diet has been a bit abnormal lately, and I’m carrying some extra weight/bloat. I pulled on these tights in a size 2 and immediately regretted it. Since it’s a tad lighter color, regal plum isn’t a particularly forgiving color. The tights were quite tight on me. Yes, I was a bit puffy for my normal size when I tried these on, but they did look and feel tighter than the seek the heat crops above, so they seem to run just a little bit tight. I could see a bit too much sheen in the fabric as well as some whiskering (i.e., strained fabric) across the crotch. Moral of the story: if you’re between sizes, go up on these. I’ll bet if I had tried on a size 4, they would’ve worked much better, but I frankly didn’t have the patience.
Aside from sizing, these tights do have some cute details. The side accent is nice and reminds me a little of the side ruffle accents lululemon used to do (example here). The curved hem and light ruching is nice, too. Also, they passed the bend test with flying colors, even in spite of them being a bit too small. Overall, pretty good tights as far as seasonal styles go.
Real quick crops
After the tights, I did my little pants dance to shimmy my way into the crops (that I already knew weren’t going to be a great fit). As you’d probably expect, the notes for these crops are very similar to the longer version. They also run a little on the tighter side. The length is a little longer than I expected. Based on the website photos, I was expecting them to hit just below the knee, but that obviously didn’t end up being the case. The deep green color is beautiful and fully opaque even in a bend. No complaints about these in my try-on session.
Rack pack bra
There’s been some specualtion that the rack pack bra is going to be made instead of the run: stuff your bra this year and people are Not Pleased. The rack pack bra has bra pockets and a similar back strap design, but many say the fit and overall look can’t hold a candle to the beloved RSYB. Some of us Americans are still a bit bitter that we didn’t get as many good RSYBs as Canada and other countries last year, so failing to hear our cries and replacing it with the rack pack is already stirring up some discontent.
Anyway, preface aside, I decided to try out the rack pack bra for myself.
The bra fits true to size with both high coverage and medium-high support. The coverage is definitely considerably more than the RSYB–there’s a lot of fabric on the rack pack. Still, I was surprised that the proportions ended up looking decently reasonable on me, despite my petite frame. Although it isn’t nearly as fun as the RSYB, it’s actually not a bad option, especially given the limited selection for fuller busted women shopping at lulu.
did you end up liking the rio speeds?
I like them but I don’t think I’ll keep them (I bought a pair to hedge my bets since they’re sold out online). I think it’s the hype that made me buy them–in practice I don’t think I’d reach for them that often.
i agree… but i seem to never really like the speed shorts with the black outline on them i wish they would stop doing that
Fair enough. I like contrast trim on solids, but on prints I can go either way.
I thought the same thing initially when I bought them, but they actually look beautiful with a lot of the teal, blues, whites, and pinks in my top collection so I decided to keep them.
Yeah, matching definitely wouldn’t be an issue. Looking at my most-loved speeds, I think I tend to gravitate toward lighter colors and neons and/or bolder patterns (e.g., ray, chevron). My harbor blue speeds, for example, match just about everything but I’ve barely worn them. I think it’s for the same reason–nice color in theory, but somehow missing something. I fear the same fate for rio.
http://imgur.com/ez3HtNN
I got my rio speeds In the other day and I LOVE them! I actually had an old purple CRB that matches perfectly. They also paired well with black(duh), pink, and white. I usually don’t like the black outline either, but on the rio print, I don’t mind it at all.
Those look great on you! Such a cute outfit with the metcons too
Thank you!!
I agree with Shannon, so cute! That purple is a perfect match.
I am so glad to see your try ons for lulu again.
Yes! I wish I could go more often, but the distance makes it tough. :
im kinda liking that lucky long sleeve. i didn’t realize it was made of a fine mesh. that’s fun!
will you also give us a lorna jane report? i really like lorna jane.
thanks as always!
I was running out of time so I was only able to try the spot me crops and bra at LJ. I was planning do a mini post with the scoop on those, too, though.
do you happen to know the name of the lulu ruffled crops that you used as an example?
Fast and free crops :)
wow! thank you!!! :)
Off topic, the Carbon38 spring sale started today and I picked up the Alala Blanket Jacket in Poseidon for $123! So excited. They had the black too for $172, but I liked the idea of a non-black jacket since all I own are black and gray! ha. Did you pick anything up?
That’s an awesome price! I hope you love it. Fortunately there weren’t any must-haves in the sale (the things I like I already have, like both colors of that blanket jacket), so I escaped this time. :)
I tried on the seek the heat crops in stores and was excited to purchase them (I’ve been waiting for a longer luxtreme crop with side mesh and pockets), until I stuck my hands in the pockets and realized they had a big hole in one of them where the seam had ripped. I figured if the crops had ripped before even being purchased by someone, they probably wouldn’t last too long during a workout. I gave them to the manager to damage out (I’m surprised whoever ripped them in the first place didn’t do that!) I also found the waist too loose, and with the medium rise I was convinced they’d slip down during lifts. Plus you could clearly see the line of my thong from all four directions, which never happens to me in lulu.
Oh, that’s a bummer to hear. :( Which color was this?