About a week ago, I clued into a new Outlet opening in the San Marcos Premium Outlets by a sneaky post by one of the Austin lulu stores.. yup, you guessed it, a lululemon outlet!  So, naturally, I immediately made plans to go there as soon as I had some free time to see what it was all about. Luckily, Chicklit was interested in being a partner in crime on the endeavor, so we made the trek down to San Marcos on Sunday to check it out!

I went in really hoping they’d have some of the older stuff, which is what I’ve heard is available in the Vancouver outlet,but NOPE! This was pretty much a larger selection of what you see in the “We Made Too Much” section of their website. They also had a lot of items that are “straight to outlet” such as the very very see through In The Flow pants that are Frond and Yellow.

Now, with Sheer-Gate and all of the fallout that’s happened from it, I naturally had a TO-DO list before buying anything:

1. Try everything on.
2. Bend Over.
3. Wash anything alone that might bleed!

I’d say maybe 80% of the pants are see through. There are, however, the 20% that are not, including their Studio Pants that were for sale at around $75 (pretty good deal – original price is 115). I love my studio pants, but the colors there (teal, grey and beige, aka dune) didn’t really appeal to me.

In sheer selection: They had great stock of “The Under Pant” – which they deliberately marketed prior to sheer-gate that they were sheer and for under tunics (or to be worn with undies), as well as bright yellow and orange “In the Flow pants” which are basically Ebb and Flow pants that are shorter and see through.

They had a few really good finds though – a few cute tops, some cute shorts that aren’t lined (boo), running jackets, some rulu long sleeves (I had a few last year, they’re actually great but I wanted more colors than were available).

I got a new vinyasa scarf, a top that is long, and some headbands.

AND, the store was organized by size. I loved this!  The larger sizes have more selection, so that was kinda lame, but oh well. Sizes 2-6 were not bad but kind of the same stuff, but sizes 8-12 definitely had more selection. They had some additional running skirts and short sleeved shirts available.

The men’s section was not bad, but not great. They had man shorts at $19 but they run mostly in smaller sizes. Tons of jackets that would make great gifts at a decent price (like $75 instead of $120).

I’d go back! Maybe another visit will be in order soon, especially since I saw some nice chairs at the Pottery Barn outlet down the row…

So, last year’s batch of Ebb and Flow crops from lululemon were fantastic – and in writing this blog post I realized I never reviewed them – and they are FINALLY back! I got the product notification this morning, and bought a pair in inkwell right away. I’m excited about getting another pair of these! I “save” them for my rougher workouts all the time. Why?

An OOTD with the Ebb and Flows of 2012

- no muffin top. Seriously. Best crops ever to hide it!
- stretchy, stretchy, stretchy. They are SO forgiving.
- the wicking. Ohhh the wicking. It lifts sweat like none other!

Now. I do have some concerns. This release seem to have a longer crop length from what I understand, but hope not too long! I love crop lengths, not ankle lengths. The material might make up for it though. I also hear the Flare color is kind of see through. Lets hope inkwell and black aren’t! I’ve noted on a few posts here and there that they’ve been messing with their formulas – and we will be able to tell pretty easily if that’s the case.

I tried on the Tie and Fly tank last week as well. I really liked the material, but i’m just not into tanks that don’t have bra shelves built in. Since I’m short, the “tie” function was vital.. without it, it’d probably look like I was wearing a dress of some sort!

The material would dry very quickly for sure, and I love the Flash Light color on me. I wasn’t a big fan of the mesh backing, though, mostly because it’d take some outfit/color coordination with a sports bra. Too much trouble for me.

In other lulu news - luluaddict is reporting on the new cycling line! I can already tell you I’m GOING to get one of the jackets – I love the offset zipper – and I’m really curious about the jerseys and shorts. Please, please, please let one of their padded shorts have a 6″ or less inseam. Please! The way those knickers look, they’d be mid-knee – so not practical for cycling in Texas.

I’ve been kind of waning on my love for all things lulu lately – partly because I’m busy as hell, and partly because I’m going back into more triathlon oriented training these days.  Now, this doesn’t mean that my love for all things quality has gone down..:) The tri shorts I raced in on Sunday are about three years old, and the grip bugs me. Its time for a new pair!

I do own two pairs of lulu branded tri shorts that were out back in ’09, and they’re just “ok.” I use them for my brick workouts when I don’t want to bring out my other pieces, and any swim – mostly because the padding is kind of lack luster.

Anyhow – this morning’s lululemon upload has a run top that looks like it could actually be decent for tris: the Zippy Run Tank.

Pros:
- Designed kind of like a tri tank – snug looking shoulder support
- Its noted that the built in bra is supportive – we shall see when I try it on!
- It has pockets! Pockets are necessary for gels, keys, whatevs.

Potential Cons:
- Tri tanks need to be snug all around. This includes the belly. If its too much of a flare, it won’t work.
- WILL the bra be supportive enough? Its not that big of a deal – I usually wear a bra with my tri tops anyways, but I’d love one where I could take that out of the equation.
- How tight are those pockets? Will my stuff just fall out?
- Needs brighter colors. We tri peeps like to be SEEN on our bikes.

Either way, I won’t be able to tell til I see it in the store.

Other notes:

- I think the Run in the Sun dress is cute, but I’d probably look like the Kool Aid Man in that. Not practical for tri season.
- I also think the Run in the Sun Skirt is cute – but after looking at it for a while, I kind of am reminded of my junior high cheerleading skirt. Anyone want to try doing a herkee in that??

So I went down to my local lulu earlier this week to exchange the Stuff Your Bra tank.. I decided I really needed a size up on that one, and ended up getting the Bra instead of the tank. It turns out, its $48, not $58. That’s a bit more reasonable for a good support bra, IMHO.  I wore it this morning for my run, and was pleased with it. The shoulders are slightly too long for me, but not enough to where its not supportive. It performed really well. I think I’ll really like that bra for triathlons.

Another thing I purchased? The sad butt shorts.   Because, really – my butt didn’t look sad! At least, they didn’t in black. I tried on the white too, same size – and the white was too see through (liner, designers, liner!!), AND seemed just loose enough to where the pockets were too scrunchy. They’re actually overall, pretty lovely. They’re a good length, not too short at all, and like chicklit commented – easy to care for. They fit a little tighter on me than on the model below, and I think that makes ALL the difference.

This morning, lulumum is reporting via Glamour that their swimwear line is coming out.. might it be a coincidence that my favorite Nike lap swimmin’ swimsuit (favorite EVER that I’ve been using for oh, four years) is starting to go threadbare?  We’ll see. Those tassels look pretty impractical for lap swimming.