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| No sheerness here, baby - YOGASMOGA Tippy Toe Leggings in India Blue. |
As a company they seem to be very much on the ball - the website and clothes seem well thought out and you can tell there has been lots of attention to detail. The website is a true experience - with a virtual dressing room on a real person (they are planning to add more body types to this) and packed with little goodies to discover. I particularly like the 'Our Story' section of the website where they talk about how they don't use formaldehyde based dyes that harm the environment (or us), that they require accountability from their suppliers and subcontractors, where they state they don't photoshop their models who are real yoga instructors, and where they state they promise to rectify any mistake immediately and proactively. I really like their corporate philosophy - they say they've chosen to focus on fabric technology and the service they deliver to customers. They feel that if they do those two things well everything else will take care of themselves. Sounds pretty good to me.
Right now, they only have a webstore but they hope to open a store in New York City this year. I thought I read they might try to put a store in Los Angeles, too (yay!). Shipping and returns (within 30 days) are free in the US. Shipping to Canada is also free. They will also ship internationally for $35 with priority service.
The prices are not cheap - the Slimmie Pants are $109, the Yantra tank is $55. However, they have a rewards program, which I know many have talked about on this blog over the years. You earn $5 when you buy crops, for example, to be applied to your next purchase. They also give you $25 when you refer a friend and they also plan to do special events like Teacher Appreciation.
FABRIC
I am a bit of a technical fabric junkie so I have to say the fabric is my favorite thing about YOGASMOGA clothes. The company developed a new fabric, called Aurum+, made of 87% supplex and 13% nylon, using nanotechnology for moisture management. It's made and dyed in the US, which I just love, so there are a lot of stringent environmental controls. They test it up the wazoo for pilling, bleeding, fading, wicking, among other things (if you go on their Facebook site you can see photos of this). Before I wore the clothes, I was all yeah, yeah, yeah about the details, because I've tried other supplex blends before and read similar technical jargon on Nike or Under Armour tags and it never lives up to the hype. BUT, after I've worn the clothes for four sweaty workouts I've got to say I am a believer. The fabric is as thick as vintage luon, is slightly stiffer (though the colors are a little softer than the black), more compressive, is NOT transparent, covers your flaws, and breathes and manages moisture like a dream. I wore the Yantra tank with the bottoms for each test workout and I was so much cooler than I expected since the tank is made of the same weight material as the bottoms (which I would have sworn it wasn't until I asked the company rep.). The clothes dry a bit faster than luon, too. I did a little experiment where I washed a Cool Racerback and Yantra tank and then weighed them at hourly intervals to see how much moisture they lost. The YS tank always lost a higher percentage of its weight (ex. first hour CRB 7%, YS 11%). What this means is that you will dry off quicker after a sweaty workout. If you go on the website, there is a ton of info about the fabric and technology.
The stitching seems pretty substantial, too. I was a little worried it might be too much, maybe too thick, particularly in the crotch area when it came to running but I did two runs in the crops (and a four mile walk in the pants) and had no issues. Of course these were only three mile runs in fairly low humidity but still no issues.
The other great thing about the fabric is that the colors are very saturated and rich looking, I think definitely in the same league as lululemon. YS also makes a very big point to say their colors will not bleed. I did not have any issues in that area - I tried rubbing white towels on the wet fabric after my workouts.
Right now, they only have four colors - Carbon 6 black (super deep and people are saying they like it since it's visually slimming), Tickled Pink, Boy Blue, and India Blue. They sent me a fit session photo where they have a very pretty purple coming that looks similar to Potion Purple/Tender Violet. They told me they want to build a sophisticated color palette which is elegant and has universal appeal from girls in their 20s to women with kids. They are also asking for inputs on which colors you'd like to see so feel free to contact them with suggestions. (I think Bleached Coral is one color on my list.)
The company also has three more fabrics that have completed R&D in the US and are ready for production and more that are still in development. They told me they have a super soft tee shirt material and another performance material similar to luxtreme "but way better." It sounds promising.
Some color comparison photos for you:
On left Angel Blue CRB, YS Boy Blue, and Swiftly in Caspian Blue. (Taken in fluorescent light.)
THE CLOTHES
Though great fabric is nice, it's not much without good designs, fit, and functionality. Since this is their "soft" launch they only have five classic styles and four colors right now. They are expecting full roll out within three to six months as they add more styles and colors. Coming soon are three more colors, shorts, another sports bra, and a tank with a shelf bra. We will definitely see jackets and headbands, as well as a men's line. The built in bras will have cup pockets. Though the Yantra tank is designed to be pretty short (~23.5" shoulder to hem in size 12) so it stays in place, because of feedback the second production run will be 1.5" longer. They will also offer longer style tanks. Whether or not to offer some styles in petites is under discussion. I have hopes that since this is an NYC-based company we'll see designs that are stylish but not too edgy.
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| Run Jump N Play Crop |
YS sent me three pairs of the Run, Jump, N Play crops, one each in black, India Blue, and Tickled Pink. I wore the black and the India Blue for two 3-mile runs, one indoors and one outside. I thought they fit very similar to Wunder Under Grooves (WUG have a higher waistband than WU), maybe a bit snugger in the leg. A lot of people are saying to size down because the size 4 and 6 fit a bit bigger but I laid the crops on a pair of WU and it was very similar so it could be the fit varies on a size by size basis. (Another woman wrote to me her normal size 8 worked just fine for a run so maybe just the 4 and 6 are off.) YS is very definitely interested in getting your feedback on the fit. They realize this is the first production run and some tweaking will be made. They will also be adding the ability to leave reviews to their website in the next build.
The YS crops in the India Blue are opaque (I did tons of bend tests over the weekend) but did dampen visibly with sweat on my indoor run. They stayed in place really nicely and didn't slip at all. One of my runs was in 70 degree sunny weather and the other was in a gym. I was pleasantly surprised how cool I felt in the crops since they are on the thicker side. I thought they gave good support. The front interior mesh pocket was big enough to hold my iphone and it stayed in place really well. It didn't even get that damp with perspiration.
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| Slimmie Pant - these are reversible |
Slimmie Pant on top of Grooves.
YS also sent me a pair of their reversible Classic Slimmie Pants in the Black/India Blue. The pants do not have the interior mesh pocket, only a little pocket on the back of the waistband. There is a logo at the waistband on the black side and on the front of the left knee on the colored side. I thought the fit similar to Grooves - the waistband was a bit narrower on my pair and the legs a little narrower (I don't have the latest version of Grooves, though, where the leg is narrower at the knee). The rise hits me in a similar place as Groove pants. The inseam on the regular pant is 30" which is perfect for me at 5'5". The tall inseam is 33". I wore these pants for a 45 minute workout on the elliptical in the gym. I usually only wear full length pants in the winter so I was pleased how cool these felt. They also didn't slide down at all and were very comfortable.
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| Tippy Toe legging in India Blue |
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| Tippy Toe legging in Boy blue. Tickled Pink is next to it. |
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| Yantra Tank in Black/Tickled Pink |
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| Size 12 Yantra on top of a size 10 Raspberry Glo CRB. (front side up) |
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| Size 10 Flare CRB on top of a size 12 Yantra (back side up) |
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| Size 12 Yantra on top of a size 12 Ivory CRB (back side up) |
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| Back waistband logo on crops and pants |
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| Leg logo on pants and leggings and tank |
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| Back waistband pocket - I haven't figured out what I'd put here |
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| This is how India Blue looks in real life - very vibrant |
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| Rip out tag |
I will definitely keep you filled in how the clothes fare regarding durablity - pilling, fading, stitching, etc.. None of the bottoms have developed pilling in the crotch area so far.
YOGASMOGA will have an instructor discount program but are finalizing the details. They are making a list of interested instructors and you can mail them your info at team@yogasmoga.com.
All in all, I really like the clothes and what I am seeing from the company. I think if they follow through on all they are promising they have the capability to develop their own mega-loyal following. I honestly haven't been this excited about a brand since I started buying lululemon.
And now for the good stuff...
***Full Disclosure - I was given these items to review but received no other compensation for the review. ***
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