The Fitting Room: Lululemon Tennis & Dresses

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First weekend home in AGES and what do you think I did? Ran, went to a concert, rode my bike, played 9 holes of golf, grilled outside… and I went to lululemon. DUH. Summer is officially here, and I was stoked to find that my local lulu had a bunch of adorable tennis & run gear in stock. 😍

Here’s how the latest tennis whites (& blues) worked out for me:

The Fitting Room: Lululemon Tennis & Dresses

Serene Stride Dress ($118) in Black & White

So it’s not a tennis dress, per se… it’s a run dress. Available online only, I was surprised to see not one, but two on the rack that would actually fit me. The black is an 8, and the white is a 10. Given that my top half and bottom half are two different sizes, I’m not sure which would qualify as “true” to size.

First, the 8 because LBD. I fell in love with the look as soon as I tried it on. I’m usually a TTS 10 on the bottom, but the built-in shorts fit just fine.

Given the height I’ve got in my torso and how short the black one is, I figured I’d try the 10 in white to compare fit, and then pull the trigger online for a black one if it worked out.

Predictably, the 10 had a little more length and room on the bottom, but there was also a bit more space on the top. It may not have bothered me as much if the fabric were darker, but the white luxtreme was pretty sheer, and wasn’t casting flattering shadows on the back.

PROS: Super fun reflective skirt, black is flattering AF, luxtreme is a nice weight so the dress doesn’t feel hefty, open back to show off fun sports bra, built-in shorts have phone pockets.

CONS: Built-in shorts do NOT have silicone on the inside to keep them in place, length is a bit short, limited availability (only 8 & 10 are left in white, and that’s it).

I left the store without the dress, thinking I’d order the black 10 if I still loved the dress a day or two later. I went home to find that ALL the black ones sold out, so FOMO took over and I immediately texted my girl Tyler from Lululemon Westfarms, begging her to set the black 8 aside for me if no one had bought it in the last 2 hours. Lulu can’t do holds due to online orders, so I immediately got on the horn with Westfarms, credit card in hand, and made sure that the black one was mine before my chance was gone.


Cross Court Play Short Sleeve ($68) in Almost Blue, Black & Tennis Time Skirt 15″ ($74) in Almost Blue

Roomy yet fitted, perfectly fit cap sleeves and crew neck, mesh panels on sides that are not so revealing that I couldn’t wear this one to work while I’m on the road.

Almost blue has a cute little polka dot detail in the pattern, black is solid. Like the Serene Stride, the lighter color left nothing to the imagination with what color my sports bra was (spoiler alert: dragonfly). Not the most flashy shirt in the book, but I bought the black one.

As far as the skirt goes, I felt like the fit was a little generous. From the side the flippy skirt looked cute, but from the front I felt a little but frumpy in it. Wasn’t tough to walk away. I’ll stick with my Circuit Breakers & Pace Rivals.


Court Crush Tennis Dress ($128) in White

It’s fun, it’s flouncy, and fabulous for posting boomerangs to your instagram stories. Available in 3 colors, I opted for the white to try on for the tennis vibes.

Shown here is a TTS 8 on top, and bra and through the waist are a snug fit. The girls were definitely not going anywhere once I was in. If you need extra room in the chest area, definitely size up. But for high impact activities and you want zero bounce, stay TTS.

Now here’s the deal. Tyler said a big complaint she heard about this dress is that there are NO built in shorts.

To that I say, without a zipper how exactly do you plan on getting a super supportive sports bra in there? Also, I appreciate that I’m not obligated to wear the shorts that come with the dress, because

  1. I’m a different size on the bottom than I am on the top
  2. I’m tall and could use a bit more length (I have the 6″ Fast & Free Shorts on in cyprus underneath)
  3. Sometimes you have a favorite pair that aren’t necessarily lululemon
  4. The ultimate romper problem: you don’t need to worry about stripping down in strange restrooms and getting your white dress dirty

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