The Fitting Room: Lululemon’s Box It Out Tight & Fresh in Mesh Tight

lululemonReviews

If there’s a thing called lululemon tourism, I do it. Not just in the Seawheeze extravaganza way (IOU a race recap still, I knowwww), but in the sense that whenever I’m out of town and have time to kill, I seek out a local lululemon.

I had to work in Philadelphia last weekend, so on the way home I decided to pop on over to the King of Prussia Mall (one of the largest malls in the US) and see what kind of goodies I could find. I really had one thing on the brain, the aeon Fast & Free Crop IIs.

But… with nowhere to be all day long, why not grab some of the goodies that have dropped in recent weeks and give them a shot?

Lululemon Box It Out Tight ($98) in heathered black/black

These dropped a couple weeks ago as part of lululemon’s boxing-themed capsule. They seem a little plain in design, but I like myself a color block (even if it is monochrome) so I opted to try them on.

It really is a no-frills tight. The tag stakes claim to Luxtreme (not full-on), but they felt decently compressive.

The waistband goes up pretty high. I’m a typical lover of high rise, but I’m 5’9″ and I’m teetering on the dreaded long-butt look with how high these go. You can’t make it out in the photos, but the waistband is the elastic with ‘lululemon athletica’ woven in in script. One of my favorite parts of lululemon is that it doesn’t usually say it’s lululemon. Finding the omega on other people’s outfits is like a silent nod to being in the same little club.

For details, all you’re going to get is a small pocket along the side. It barely fit my iPhone 6S in with its case. These tights are definitely made for a workout where you don’t need to be lugging around keys, phones, gels, etc. A little bit mailing it in on the design.

Also, I had to do the bend test and they ended up a bit sheer… whomp whomp. It wasn’t too difficult to leave these behind in the store.

Lululemon Fresh in Mesh Tight ($98) in black

Similar to the Box It Outs, the Fresh in Mesh Tight doesn’t offer much in the pocket department. However, I found these a bit more flattering than the others, thanks to a few nicely-placed seams.

Pardon the over-exposed photos, but silly me chose BLACK to take into the fitting room, per usual.

These were a little on the snug side, but with what they had in stock, I had no choice but to grab the 8’s. The tights themselves fit much like your standard pair of Hi-Rise Wunder Unders or Align Pants. The top is full-on luxtreme, with mesh in the middle and some extra-shiny spandex fabric around the ankles.

I didn’t look hard enough, but apparently there’s a key/Gu pocket in the back. I only know this because stock photos. Overall, I liked the curved seams, but the shiny ankles did me in. The ankle panels also felt a little loose, and I know it’s not because I have abnormally skinny ankles.

Would I recommend buying them? Eh. Would I recommend steering clear? Eh. Didn’t love them, didn’t hate them… but when it comes to lululemon prices, you better love it if you’re going to fork over 100 beans. I liked but didn’t love these, so I left these in the store too.

8 Comments

  1. I think you were right to pass on those two items. Hopefully some better styles will come out next upload. I laughed when you mentioned looking for the Lulu symbol. I do it it all the time. Guess that’s what happens when you check the upload religiously every week and know all the collections over time.

    1. I still spent more than a few dollars, but not on these. Ever since I’ve discovered the Fast & Frees (both crops & tights), luxtreme options just aren’t wowing me anymore.

      Glad I’m not the only omega hunter 😛

  2. A week ago I was in Shanghai and spied Lululemon store so had to go sightseeing. I was very tempted by a razzle energy bra but it was $75. I like to visit in my overseas travel and have hit up London, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and now Shanghai. Purchased shorts in London and a couple of items in Sydney when I packed only 1 sports bra for 7 weeks of travel.

  3. Did you end up getting the aeon fast and frees? I’m tempted by the full length in that color, but dang $128 + tax makes me think about it. I love my black fast and frees.

    1. I did! I’ll be sharing a review soon – they’re a bit more purple than black grape, but I popped the tags and took them for a run within approximately 22 minutes of getting home with them. No regrets.

  4. The shiny ankles did me in as well:( I thought these initially looked like another replacement for inspire tights but found it was super easy to pass.
    I love lulu tourism! Been to all the London stores, there’s always something different in each, made it to 2 in Boston and 1 in Singapore. Just need to travel more to add to my list!!

    1. Glad to know I’m not overreacting on the shiny ankles… they almost looked like thick tights from young Katy’s dance class days in the 90’s 🙂

      London, Singapore… I’ve got some catching up to do!!

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