Today's Shopping Trip

I went to a couple of my local stores looking for the new Run: Your Heart Out tank but neither had it yet. I did get to try on a few things, though:

I really liked the pink ombre stripes Scuba. It's such an upbeat color scheme. The colors are not super bright, kind of pre-washed looking, but I liked the effect. It seems to "mature" the Scuba a bit.

I tried on the furry Cuddle Up and I was really surprised by how less substantial feeling it is compared to the Scuba. It felt quite a bit lighter weight but when I pinched the fabric between my fingers it felt the same weight as the Scuba. I don't recall noticing such a big difference between the two jackets before. I think a major difference is that Scubas have a double layer of cotton fleece in front where the lulu symbol makes the pockets. This is why the Scubas feel so stiff but also why they feel so warm and wind proof. The lack of a big hood on the back of the Cuddle Up also makes it feel much lighter. All in all, it felt like it would provide much less warmth than the Scuba although it was more pliable since it's a single layer. The sizing is exactly the same as the Scuba, maybe a tad roomier. I didn't like that the pockets were inset and not made of cotton fleece but some other flimsy material. One of my favorite things about the Scuba is that the pockets are so warm. It's just not the same in the Cuddle Up. I expected a Scuba without a hood but it seemed much less than that for more money. I also thought the dark colored sherpa looked really bad and cheap, frankly. I don't know why but it seems clumpier looking than the sherpa on my Don't Hurry Be Happy Pullover. I can't imagine it gets better looking with washing. Lulu needs to sell a little Sherpa comb to fluff it up.

Here are a couple of photos of the sherpa fleece from the Don't Hurry Be Happy Pullovers. This is much better looking. Not sure why the two jackets have such different looking Sherpa.

I tried on the Run: For It Pullover. I really liked the tech fleece material - very soft and pliable. Much softer feeling than a similar New Balance running fleece pullover my husband just bought. It didn't feel overly warm, though. I seem to remember feeling immediately warmer when I tried on the Spirit Pullover. I don't particularly love the asymmetrical neckline. I know that doesn't bother a lot of people but I don't care for it. The biggest pet peeve I have about this design is the weird shoulder panel design.  I really hate feeling a seam a few inches down my arm - it makes me feel like my bra strap is slipping. I'm sure if you layer this top you won't even notice it, but it bugged me. I would love if lulu came out with something like the Full Tilt pullover in the Tech Fleece material. No hood, just a tall neck and a zipper down the center. (FYI - Irvine had the black, currant, and persian versions of this pullover).I though this ran a roomy TTS.

I tried on the Run: Your Heart Out Pullover. It seemed very roomy at the shoulders and quite long. I dislike the ruffles, pleating and ribbed panels at the shoulders. Entirely too much is going on in this top. The sizing was the same as the Full Tilt PO.

New Recognition Pant

"Vintage" Yoga Pants

I deliberately wore my "vintage" Yoga pants today so that I could compare them to the new Recognition pant. The Yoga pant have ties at the waist, too. The Recognition pants fit so much better than the It's a Cinch crop - not at all loose at the waist/crotch. The fit was kind of similar to the Yoga pant, however the material in the solid black ones I tried on was very polyestery/slippery feeling. Not at all the "brushed cotton" feel that I like in my luon pants. Every now and then I run into these weird batches of luon used to make various styles of pants. I know lulu denies they have different luons but that's a fairly tale, just like when the educators or GEC pretend they don't know what is coming. My fingers and skin can tell there is a difference in luon. I'm bummed because I wanted to like these pants but tactile feel of the luon is very important to me. If I wanted polyestery feeling workout wear I'd buy Nike or Lucy. I pay the big bucks because I like how lululemon fabrics feel against my skin.

I saw the DTDB bag. It's so adorable. The opening is kind of small though. This is definitely a purse unless the only thing you carry to the gym is your ipod and makeup bag.

I tried on the Hang Loose pant to see if I liked the feel of running luon bottoms. They were super soft. So soft they seemed to say to me, "Take a Nap", rather than, "Get to the gym." I'm pretty sure I would love a pair of Still pants made from running luon.

I tried on the new Run: Your Heart Out Crop. I'm not in the market for new luxtreme crops but these seemed decent. There was nothing about them I thought objectionable. The luxtreme felt thick, as has been the trend with the running crops lately.

I ended up buying a new dance headband with one band of the elevation space dye print and the other currant red. Both stores were expecting big shipments this afternoon so I expect the stuff I was looking for to be available soon.