Today's Shopping Trip

Today I went to the store to return my Bleached Coral Rise and Shine Pullover (only really "need" one new rulu piece so kept the White/Dune Layer Me LS. BTW, LA-area stores did not get the Rise and Shine PO) and Frond SL Swiftly (too short, not really my color) and tried on a few of the new items. I was very curious to try the new Heat It Up Crops since they are made of three different materials - luon light on the top of the thigh, luxtreme on the sides, and full weight luon on the backside. I didn't care for them at all. The hit right below my knee and rode up to the joint. The bottom opening is a bit too tight. They should have used a wider or ribbed cuff to make it more comfortable. I also thought the luon light material was very itchy. I tried on both the solid black and the Bleached Coral versions.

I liked the Proceed With Speed crops a lot. I thought they were very comfortable. However, they are $98 and the lack of pockets would rule me out from buying them. I like to put my iPhone in the back zipper pocket of the run bottoms and use both front pockets for gel blocks during long runs/races.

I tried on the new reversible Frond Wunder Unders. Like most reversible Wunder Unders they have that rubbery feeling but they are thicker than the diamond patterned WUs so if those didn't work for you you  might want to try these.

I ended up going home with the new Inkwell Ocean Stripe Inspire II crops. I haven't liked Inspire crops that much in the past, even before the tinkering with the waistband, though I know they are super popular. I never liked the circle mesh portions on the back of the leg but that has been replaced with the new version of "circle mesh" which is stretchier than the old version. The waistband has been changed back to the original width (people were saying it was smaller and was giving them muffin top) and thickness (I think the rise was toyed with) and I found it very comfortable. I'm not sure about what has happened vis-a-vis the gusset. I know the run crops have always had a triangle gusset and these do, too. I tried on the Ocean Stripe Inkwell, the Bleached Coral/Pop Orange Dune, and  a solid black version. I thought the solid black ran a little small compared to the other two - the waistband was smaller than the others when I compared them. I ended up with the Inkwell because I wanted a pair that were solid at the bottom and all my Swiftly tops will go with Inkwell. I would say the fit is TTS but I remember the Inspires of the past feeling snugger all over than they did today (however I have lot a little weight since the last time I tried some on). The fit reminded me a lot of the Run For Your Life crops.

Also, I learned that the swim line is coming in March. There will be a new pink coming and a teal or aqua color (I believe).

I got my Mellow Lemon Ocean Stripe CRB today and love it. It's so much more interesting than a solid Mellow Lemon or solid Burning Yellow.