Outdoor Voices is quickly gaining a foothold in the activewear market with their minimalist, hipster-chic designs. Unlike most fitness fashion brands, Outdoor Voices takes an openly laid back approach. They align themselves with those who casually enjoys “doing things”, rather than those with a more relentless athletic mindset. I think this is a really clever approach, since it makes their brand seem more approachable. Plenty of people just work out for fun, after all, and don’t necessarily need or want the intensity you find in brands like Nike.
I tried a pair of Outdoor Voices’ leggings last year, but they didn’t work for me. I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on OV yet, though. Plus, their shipping and return process is so painless that I figured it couldn’t hurt to give them a second chance. I really like their tri-tone warm-up legging design, and decided to try this pair in graphite/ash/dove. This time, I went for the 3/4 length instead of their full length. Here’s what I thought of my OV do-over.
Fabric
My memory of last year’s pair is fuzzy, but this pair seems a bit softer to the touch. The fabric on the warmup leggings is their signature heathered jersey fabric, a polyester/spandex blend. It’s smoother than cottony fabrics like lululemon’s luon, but not quite as silky as slick-faced performance fabrics like lululemon’s luxtreme. It’s somewhere in the middle. I would classify it as a medium weight, or slightly to the lighter side of medium if anything. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on performance since I only tried these on.
OV says this fabric is a “compression” blend, but I thought it had only moderate compression. It’s more supportive than casual leggings, for sure, but not a high-performance compression.
My previous pair of warmup leggings in a dark blue were very slightly sheer in a deep bend. However, this pair was opaque, even in a bend. Hooray! Between this and the comment above on softness, it seems like they’ve made some subtle improvements to the fabric since last year.
Features
There’s nothing remarkable to note about function from OV. Their leggings have flat seams and a simple slit pocket at the waistband, but no other features. They get the job done, but don’t come with any bells and whistles.
Fit
My pair is an XS, but they fit a little bit smaller than most other XS out there. It’s not enough to warrant a full size up, but if you’re in between, I’d go with your larger size. The rise is a comfortable medium. Based on the model photos, the length is supposed to hit low calf, but on me they’re just a hair short of full length (I’m 5’3″). With a listed 23.5″ inseam, in my opinion they’re more like 7/8 length than 3/4.
Although it’s a small gripe, you can see that the fabric doesn’t lay smoothly around the knee, which is made particularly noticeable by the lighter color fabric. If these were darker, you probably wouldn’t notice as much.
Last time I tried a pair of OV, I they seemed to be cut for someone much taller. That pair was a bit awkward at the lower legs. Unfortunately, I ran into similar issues with this pair.
The leg opening is cut very large, likely because it would hit at a wider part of the leg on a taller person. I can deal with a tiny bit of hem looseness, but the large gape on these made me feel like I was wearing flare pants. I don’t like that the loose hem disrupts the clean line, and I really don’t like the floppy feeling.
Summary
The leg opening issue was too annoying for me, so I decided to send these back.
Even though I haven’t had luck with OV myself, they’re still an option worth considering if you’re looking for more low-key, casual activewear. If you’re taller or don’t mind possible leg opening issues, even better! It’s getting increasingly harder to find stylish, quality leggings under $100, and OV’s top out at $95. (This pair is $85.) With that in mind, I’d also rate them as a pretty good value considering what you’re getting. They also have a free and very painless shipping/return policy, so giving them a try is easy.
If you’d like to check out Outdoor Voices, you can find the tri-tone warmup leggings in this post here. More OV styles are available via Nordstrom or the OV website.
As a big OV fan, I’m glad to see you give them another shot! Sorry to hear they didn’t work for you though! My legs are also on the shorter side so I also prefer the 3/4 length but buy the full length if there’s a new color I like that doesn’t come come in a shorter length. I find the fabric not too heavy for very sweat intensive workouts so they’re very versatile. I do suggest you check out some of their bras and tops though! Since you seem to like some high neck styles, check out the slashback crop or the Athena crop. I always get compliments when I wear the slashblack crop :) The only downside is they don’t have cup slots. I love your blog though–keep up the great work!
Thanks for the recommendation! Both the crops you mentioned are very cute, so maybe the third time will be the charm. :)
I’m 5’3″ too, so I completely understand the annoyance with crops that are so long they look like short pants, and they flare on the bottom! The flare just makes them look like they’re meant for tall people, and obviously don’t fit.
By the way, I scored a great deal on Brooks Glycerin running shoes from SIX:02 using the code you posted for July 4th! I also went ahead and ordered the Everyday Hoodie and Zip It Up bra from Alala with 20% off last weekend (after reading your glowing reviews). I’m so excited to try them out!
Thanks for your great blog! I look forward to seeing your posts!
Thanks for the kind words, Stephanie! I hope you love your sale scores. :)
Those are cute! Maybe they’ll have some at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale coming up????
Tangent: does anyone have any recommendations for very cool long sleeve tops that could provide sun coverage in very hot weather? I have some swiftlies but the more fitted (especially in the arms) feel is not great when its 90 degrees out. I would love a body skimming but not tight very light weight long sleeve run shirt. Ideally I want to “feel the breeze” through my shirt but not get sunburned. Is that too specific to ask for??? :)
Thanks in advance (just in case by some miracle one of you does have a rec)!
Have you ever tried lululemons waterbound hoodie? It has a nice “slim” but not tight fit. I have one and love it! I’ve been tempted by the black one all season too because I love mine so much. It’s a thin swim material, really comfy and doesn’t ride up at all. For what it’s worth too, I actually think it looks better in person than how they have it styled in the pics online. I’d also say true to size:)
Thank you! I will check it out!
Lululemon’s Mesh with Me LS might also do the trick, although you’d have to find it from a secondary source like eBay or poshmark or what have you.
Thanks, Marshmallow! I will check it out.
I think the Nords anniversary sale is mostly reserved for new styles, so I kind of doubt it since most of their OV styles have been there a while.
I am excited to see you reviewed OV again. I have one pair and am thinking of giving them a try a second time, as well.
I got a pair of the same 3/4 leggings this past Christmas and wanted SO much to love them. I had the same issues with the knee area having extra fabric and looked wrinkly a bit and also the bottoms being too wide. I am 5’8″ and still had this issue! So, they must be meant for someone like 5’10” or taller! I liked the design enough to get them hemmed by a tailor at the bottom and keep them..plus they totally passed the squat test, couldn’t see a thing through the light gray fabric. I do CrossFit, but still figured these could be used for yoga only since they weren’t the best fit. (fit is everything in CF, as you know!)
But, about 6 months in (only about 8-10 yoga wears) I got a tiny hole in the crotch area and the lining/stitching was coming out in two places. I give OV customer service two thumbs up, because they promptly replaced my pair. They actually sent me a new pair before I even sent my old pair back! This new pair is the same pant, same size, but fits me better than the first pair, so they seem to run inconsistent a bit. Overall, I do wish I had just returned them after the holidays, sadly. I wanted to love them! I am going to give them one more try however on another pant sometime soon, I figure two times should be given and because their customer service was so great.
Hmmm that’s so interesting that you had a similar issue! Thanks for your feedback on longevity/customer service too. Hopefully you’ll have better luck on your next shot.
After seeing this review, I ordered the OV Kneecap Legging in Four-way stretch. This was my first order from OV, so I ordered both the S and M. I’m 5’4″ and a 6 in Lululemon and ended up keeping the M, but couldn’t actually tell that big of difference between the two pairs. As the inseam on this pair is 17.5″, I luckily didn’t get the gaping at the leg opening. I love how they look/feel and are opaque. I practice hot yoga 5x/week and I think this fabric will be great for that purpose. They are shinier than Luxtreme, but I like them! I usually wear WUC high-rise in Luxtreme and think these will be a great, less-expensive, alternative. Also, lulu hardly ever has them available in solid black! Can’t wait to see how they perform tomorrow!
Thanks so much for sharing! It makes sense that you didn’t have issues with the leg opening since you got one of the shorter crops. I hope they’ve been good for you so far!
@KP I’m considering getting the OV kneecap legging in 4-way stretch. It’s actually how I ended up on this page (after searching for reviews). Thanks for posting this review as there are none on the OV website. –Robyn