Damn girl, are you today’s date? Because you’re a 10/10. 😀
Sooo… another Tuesday evening is upon us, and I’ve got two words for y’all in regards to tonight’s lululemon upload. I can’t.
This week’s batch of news is so painfully dark, muted and unenthusing that I can’t in good faith sit here and pretend that I’m enamored with any of it. Not to mention, I don’t feel like wasting the next few hours going back and forth combing through a bunch of overpriced things that look the same, trying to figure out which ones are actually new this week, and not just leftovers from 1-2 weeks ago. Not doing it.
However, if you’re reading this sentence now, you came here to read something, and I’m not going to leave you hanging. Instead of trying to choose this week’s favorites from a tiny little subset of clothing available on the internet, here are 5 other favorites and a WTF that have been on my non-lulu radar lately.
5 Faves & a Dud: 10/10/17 Edition
Favorite #1: The North Face Empower Hooded Dress ($35)
I’m anxiously waiting for fall temperatures to drop into the low 60’s and stay there, but it’s just not happening here in New England yet. Regardless, I want to be ready when it happens. I recently lost out on my unicorn lulu dress on a BST listing b/c the seller closed 5min early, which was right as I was typing my bid to make sure I won it. Not still salty about it, not at all. >=[
When I lost out, I was first annoyed, but then gave myself a reality check that I could probably find a comparable non-lulu option for considerably less than the $160 I was prepared to drop. 6pm.com is one of my favorite sites to snap up discounted Sorels, and as I found myself down an online browsing rabbit hole a couple weeks ago, I came across this gem.
Favorite #2: Under Armour Pure Stretch Hipster ($12)
For all of you ladies who were in love with lululemon’s Light As Air Hipsters, you probably shed a tear and bought up a bunch of extra pairs as it was sadly discontinued at the end of 2015. Well, it’s been 2 years and you can’t wear the same skivvies forever.
I’ve tried to give the Namastay Put Hipster a try, but I don’t like how the coverage was slightly reduced in the back and the waistband got a little tighter. Over the summer, I gave the UA version a try, and they’ve become a fast favorite. No VPL, and they’re slightly better constructed. No glue on these, all seams. The fabric is thin yet technical, and they don’t bunch up on long runs. Doesn’t hurt that the price point is also $6 less than lulu, and available as part of a 3/$30 deal.
Favorite #3: JoyLab Moto Jacket ($44.99)
Remember how I posted about my new favorite $20 shirt last month? Well, Tar-jay strikes again. I was in there last week for something completely unrelated like seltzer water & sponges, but of course had to take my usual cruise past the activewear section.
This guy was laying out on the table, whispering my name. Their bottoms don’t fit me well at all, but this moto jacket gives me hope. Anyone out there see/try this thing on yet?
Favorite #4: Nobull Women’s Pullover Hoodie ($109) in steel blue
For readers out there who are into CrossFit, you’ve probably heard of Nobull by now. They’re a startup mainly focused on producing a high-quality shoe to directly compete with the Nano and Metcon, and we frequently see the two most famous Brookes (Ence & Wells) in their gear. Nobull has limited apparel offerings (a bra, shorts, a few tanks), and this hoodie has held my attention for a while.
It’s funny how $109 for something similar from lulu is like “whatever”, but paying that price to a new brand makes me skittish. My brain is silly sometimes. I may pull the trigger soon.
Favorite #5: Brooks Dash 1/2 Zip ($42) in 305 [let’s call it tennis ball]
Daylight’s going out the door, and I need to retool – I mean, RESTART – my running routine. I don’t own much that’s warm and bright, so I’ve been scrolling around trying to come up with some visible gear for the days that I’m able to drag my rear end out of bed to run before work as the sun rises. Also great if you want to dress as a tennis ball for halloween.
The Dud: Carbon38 Mercer Pant ($195)
These pants. They made me do a facepalm the first time I saw them weeks ago, and I haven’t forgotten about them since. Not only is the extremely exaggerated bell bottom a massive NO from me, anyone who attempts to rock these will ruin the bottoms.
This is asking for a tattered, hellish looking hemline after an encounter with any part of the ground. This is why ballet flats & dress pants shouldn’t happen, IMHO. Remember your flared jeans from high school and how bad they looked on the bottom after a few months? Exactly.
So… yeah.
I hope some of you out there tonight have enjoyed a little break in the lemon action this evening. I know that sometimes it’s fun and other times the torches & pitchforks are grabbed when bloggers start to go off the rails a little bit, but let me know if you if you love or hate the idea of adding other brands into the weekly mix.
While I financially appreciate the fact that I no longer go on adrenaline-fueled buying sprees on Tuesdays, the limited lulu selection has started to turn writing weekly posts into a chore. WMTM Alert was once a lunch break race to post about all the goodies uploaded before they sold out an hour later, but now it’s just a homogeneous batch of things that are reduced in price, still far from a ‘deal’.
In the meantime, I made myself a spritzer tonight of selzter & Suja blueberry lemonade drinking vinegar. I didn’t hate it. 🙂
Thanks for the UA panty tip! Are they true to size (relative to Lulu size)?
I’d say so. I go 10-12 on lulu to be on the safe side and go for an L in the UA ones.
I love the north face dress. I’m desperately waiting for it to cool down here in NC so I can maybe wear something like that before it’s summer again.
One high note this week on the lulu side, the free to be wild is back. As a 32b, I don’t need much, but the ftb zen wasn’t good for me. The wild is perfect.
After 2 weeks of thinking about it, I ordered the dress last night 🙂
As for the FTBW, I’m happy to see it back, but I’m hopeful that they’ll be a bit more discerning with the prints and colors they release it in. They went so crazy when turning it into a ‘core’ style, the over-saturation killed the novelty factor for me.
What size did you get in the north face dress.? I want to order it, although it looks a little short to me.
Got both M and L and plan to return whichever doesn’t fit right. Haven’t had a chance to try them on yet!
I love a bagin and buy other brands more and more so yes mix it up.
Thanks for the feedback! Sale prices are the best.
Agreed on the ftbw. I hope they come in solids, and not a bunch of crazy patterns with different colored straps.
But I came by to comment that I bought the Target Moto jacket!! Thanks for pointing it out here. I’m in the market for a cute black jacket, and this is perfect. It’s super comfortable and stretchy. I got an XS, and I’m normally a 6 in lulu swiftly LS. Get yourself to a Target to try on!
And glad you picked up that cute dress 🙂
So happy to hear you got the jacket! Sometimes Target stuff looks better than it fits, so I’m glad. Moto boots & jackets have been my jam for a few years now (when I’m not in luon), so I should probably stop typing and head over to grab one.
I love the departure from the normal Lulu gear. I appreciate finding the deals on non-lulu items! Keep it up!
Thanks Tess, will do! 🙂
Love the mix! Lulu is a major bust lately.
So happy to hear that I’m not the only one. Tuesdays started to feel like that HS math homework I never wanted to do.
Totally agree with the brain being weird about lulu prices. Like I don’t want to spend 60$ on an amazing jacket at marshalls but I’d think 150 for a lulu one is a great price. LOL I’m still in the process of consciously reprogramming that… love this direction and welcome it with open arms. Many are feeling “over” lulu I think.. I can’t even score good markdowns in store anymore since they started sending stuff back to home base to sell online for full price. ☹️☹️ Lulu you’ve let me down too much, hellllllo world of other great stuff I can buy 🤑
Agreed on that sending it back or now sending it to outlet stores. They just opened one in Georgia and it was full of items from online – all at same or higher price AND what I hate most is clearly items made just for the outlet and WMTM – yup Energy Bras – I can’t trust them anymore to buy online – these new “made with leftover fabrics” and old patterns that were never made in energy bras have a different quality and the straps are much thicker. They try and pass it off as new markdowns when in reality they were never full price.
I know Banana Republic manufactures items exclusively for their factory outlets, but I haven’t noticed that lulu does it too. I don’t live near a lulu outlet, so next time I’m in the neighborhood of one I’ll definitely have to go investigate.
They just can’t seem to figure out that making the discounts smaller only leads to less sales overall, not higher earnings. When a lulu ‘sale’ item is still more expensive than other reputable brands’ full price point, things need to be reevaluated.
Fun post!! That dress is adorable and $35 does seem like a steal compared to Lulu prices. I also scanned the upload and could not tell what was new or old.
I haven’t tried the Target Moto Jacket, but I did get one that looks similar with an asymmetrical zipper like that from Old Navy. It’s more of a sweater-ish knit, but somewhat stiffer (holds its shape well). I happened to see it in the window and it reminded me of something Lulu did several years ago. It was $28 on sale. I ended up buying both colors. I made up for it by returning a Swiftly LS I had bought, and still had about $20 left in the budget. I know the ON jackets probably won’t last as long, but it still felt like a better buy then 1 swiftly shirt. Lulu has warped my mind when it comes to prices. I didn’t mind spending the extra money when designs were unique and quality was good. Now that has faded away and I’m starting to come to my senses.
It’s a psychological phenomenon. $50 full-price dress? No thanks. $175 dress marked down to $70? GOTTA HAVE… even though it’s $20 more out of pocket at the end of the day.
The frequency of my lulu spending has definitely been on the decline. I started buying lulu in 2013, on the end of the fun and bright years. It was fun to buy up the rainbow and a few basics, but now that I have the core pieces that I wear all the time, I’m a bit more careful about what I buy. The plain neutrals have reached a saturation point in my closet.
I like how you put it! I’m feeling the same way. I have enough of a rainbow and variety, that a piece needs to be really special now before I buy. I like that items tend to hang around for longer now, so I can mull over the purchase for a few weeks before buying. And maybe even look at other brands to see what they have that’s similar. Lulu mentality used to be “buy now, think later.”
This post was a nice change. I wouldn’t mind seeing some more non-lulu posts in the future.
Thanks L, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
that jacket is calling my name! the joy line has a ton of cute stuff, especially in prints!
They also had this cute B&W print bra top the day that I went. I had just come from the gym, so I was too sweaty to try anything on.
Given how lulu is boring me (i check now to see new colors in crbii – don’t hate on me i’m short and energy bras) I welcome you mixing it up for us. I’ve been mixing up lulu with some alo yoga and some Terez yoga pants in super fun prints like popsicles, beach scene and one called liquid metal. I wouldn’t want to figure out what’s new in an update – i looked yesterday and couldn’t tell the difference between so much of the stuff. I love seeing more stuff from target and in other price ranges. On a side note those bell bottoms scream disco dancer from the 1970s. So maybe they are for dancing??? Otherwise I can’t imagine another sport/activity that these wouldn’t get in the way.
What I can’t believe is that the crazy disco pants have POSITIVE reviews on C38. Yikes.
What?!?! I can’t imagine anyone wearing those. I’d full on stare at someone who did. *runs off to read reviews*
Absolutely mix it up! Lulu is getting so monochromatic and blah. When I do buy anymore it’s usually past releases off the boards. I’d love to see other things.
I too spend just as much time looking for older pieces on Posh & the boards as I do on lulu’s main site, if not more.
I love the change in topic! agree on the WTF on the bell bottoms… unexpected panty tip that I can vouch for 100%, I do have several of these and they are heavenly. They make these in a thong as well, which I have… both are equally awesome.
Probably going to buy the jacket now…
Do it! Next time I’m in Target and am NOT covered in sweat, I want to try it on. Thing is, 93% of my stops there are on the way home from CrossFit. Whomp whomppp
I’ve also turned to eBay for Lulu stuff that I missed years past. I snatched up 2 bliss & 2 triumph bags and a bunch of leggings mostly. I’d love a pair of base runner pants.. so I’m keeping an eye out for those.
Just curious: what unicorn dress are you hunting down? The only dresses I’ve liked so far were the picnic play dress (purchased on black and gingham).
Do tell!
I’ve been jonesing for an &Go Where To Long Sleeve Dress in inkwell for the longest time. It never came stateside 🙁
Anyone out there with on in an 8 who’s willing to part with it? Just kidding. Wait no, not kidding 😉
Hi from Australia
I just bought 5 items from your WMTM and silly lulu has shipped those 5 items in 3 separate parcels. Now my mail forwarding company is going to charge me heaps. Why lulu????
Anywhoo…. Rant over….. Loved your post., 🙂
Oh no, that’s a bummer. I think some of the wmtm items are shipped directly from stores now. I’ve had a few arrive like that. There’s also two warehouses, one in Washington and one in Ohio. It’s too bad they couldn’t have shipped them all together. 😒
When I got my Lights Out Pace Tights over the summer, the hang tag was pretty beaten up. I could tell they had been put through a few rounds in a fitting room somewhere before making their way home to me.
Haha I often face this issue. I once complained and they sent me a small gift card for it. Kept me pacified for a bit.
Hi Donna! I never had a problem with 2 separate shipments until a recent WMTM order this summer. Their shipping schedule totally threw me off with my travel plans! I try not to order things when I know I won’t be home.
Double bummer when you have to pay per parcel 🙁
I want to try the new second skin tights from Victoria Secret. I’m hoping they are similiar to Lululemon’s nulux material. There are no reviews on them yet and I went to their store but they do not have them in . Hopefully they will carry them in Canadian stores. I really like some of their knockouts tights.
I dabbled in VSX a handful of years ago when they were first coming out, and really liked their bras. I haven’t heard much feedback on the tights, but maybe I’ll pop by next time I’m at the mall and see what I can find 🙂