OT - Lorna Jane Trip Report

Just eight months ago I wrote a post about Australian active wear brand, Lorna Jane, coming to Southern California and now they have five stores in Orange County and ten in the Los Angeles area!! As a contrast, Athleta only has two stores in the LA/OC area so far. I finally made it to the Irvine store today to check them out. I did see a few tanks I liked  - the above is a laser cut nylon blend tank called the Mosaic Excel Tank that I really liked. However, the price is a wallet-emptying $69.99, definitely on the high side considering this tank does not have a built in bra. Besides the price a few other things led to me not buying this tank today. One is the store does not have a three-way mirror anywhere in it so you can't check out the back view. (Is this true of other LA/OC Lorna Jane stores? For the prices they are charging they need to put in some freaking 3-way mirrors.) The other is the insane return policy. You can only return for exchange or store credit. There are no returns for "change of mind purchases." This policy might fly in Australia but I can't really see it going over here in the US, especially when stores like Athleta pretty much let you return at will anytime. The third reason I didn't get the tank is the mediocre reputation the brand seems to have among the Australians that commented on my previous post about the brand.

One other thing I didn't like about the brand is that Lorna Jane puts "motivational" sayings or big "Lorna Jane's" on a ton of their products. There were some cute colors in tanks that I liked but since it had some trite saying on it I didn't even bother trying it on. I've read articles that call this a fitness fashion brand but I think the cut and color of clothes should do all the speaking. Words all over my clothes seems so passe to me. Overall, the style of the brand stuck me as rather flashy and not fasion.

 Return policy

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You get a nice reusable shopper tote with your purchase.

I ended up getting some seamless boyshorts to give the brand a try. They are a thick knit material similar to that found in Patagonia undies. I wouldn't mind trying a tank but I will stalk the sale racks for items I like.

Update - I wore my new underwear today (5/3) and really like it. It doesn't ride up at all and is very comfy. I want to try this on a run but I may have found a new brand for technical underwear.

US/California readers - have you tried any Lorna Jane? What are your thoughts on the brand?