Something rare happened last night. I went into lululemon, tried on a bunch of stuff and didn’t buy any of it. One of my favorite Eds was working, and even she was like “WHOA I don’t think I’ve ever seen this happen before.”
I’m trying to reform, people. Vacations. National Parks. Redirection of funds. Running out of space in my closet. All are contributing factors. I say this as I shoot a text to one of my best friends asking if he will snag my latest lulu delivery off the doorstep in case I’ve already skipped town for the weekend when it comes. Baby steps.
The Fitting Room: Cool Racerback *Exhale ($48)
THE FIT: Seeing that it was a seemingly simple modification of the classic Cool Racerback, I wasn’t expecting it to feel drastically different than usual. Joke’s on me. While both the classic CRB and Exhale edition are listed as “tight” on lululemon’s website, this one actually is. If you’re in between sizes, go UP. This one is the same size as all the rest of my CRBs, but felt significantly smaller.
LENGTH: Same as usual, which is what keeps me drawn to the CRB year after year. Generous length.
DETAILS: The main draw on this design is the mesh paneling and keyhole in the back. Taking my own advice from 5 Faves a couple weeks ago, I put a contrasting Flow Y IV Bra underneath. It lined up great.
There are two other things about this tank that I didn’t expect, the neckline and extra seaming. The neckline is not as low as it is on a standard CRB. With a Flow Y on, ALL of my CRBs leave a little extra room for a pop of color in front. Not this time. If one of your gripes with the CRB is its low cut, this is an improvement for you. For me, I wasn’t a fan.
As for the extra seams, there are 2 vertical seams running down the full length of the front, one on each side. Unnecessary, IMHO. There’s also one running down the center of the back.
THE VERDICT: Pass. The Exhale is only available in 3 colors (black, heathered slate, hero blue) and I already own regular CRBs in black, heathered slate & deep navy. While I appreciate the effort to jazz up a very popular style, not enough sets this design apart from its original inspiration to be worth spending the money.
Thanks for the review! I hate when they do the seams in the front I think it’s so unflattering and usually makes the clothes uncomfortable too :/
Okay this is super off topic, but did you even try on the Fleecy Keen jacket? For some reason I’ve become super obsessed with it lately but I have no idea what size I would be. I feel like I have similarly sized shoulders to you and that’s usually my limiting factor in jackets. Do you have any opinions? I usually go with a 6 for crbs but don’t have a lot of long sleeve things from lulu because of the shoulder thing. A size 10 long sleeve swiftly fits comfortably in the shoulders but is large through the torso. Anyways, sorry for the off topic question. Thank you!
I’m like you! I wear a size 6 CRB (and Swiftly tanks) and a size 10 Swiftly Short Sleeve (and other LS). I used to own the Fleecy Keen Jacket in a size 10 and it fit well all over (I since sold it). the 8 was too tight in the shoulders. I would recommend the 10 for yours 🙂
I love my Fleecy Keen! I’m a 4 in CRBs, 6 in swiftly long-sleeves, and I got a 6 in the jacket and it’s perfect. I’d recommend a 10 as well, though an 8 could probably also work.
Thank you so much!!! That is very helpful. As I’m sure you both understand, it can be a struggle to find something that both looks good and allows me to move my arms haha. I will now hunt for a size 10 🙂
I returned my Exhale CRB yesterday – I had exactly the same issues as you! Glad to hear it’s not just me.
Oh, also, I am OBSESSED with my pure practice pants. If you can find a pair to try on, I highly recommend them. Slightly different fits between Gray (softer, silkier) and Black (more compressive), but I kept both! whoops.
Tried them on last night, wasn’t impressed! The luon didn’t feel as full on as it claimed to be, and they were a bit longer than I expected them to be. While I didn’t hate them, I didn’t love them either.
I should note that I tried on the blue ones. Definitely felt so thin that I double checked the tag to make sure they weren’t luxtreme.
i tried these on and disliked them. i do not like the seams – they are irritating and almost chafe-y!