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.