"Monday afternoon, my chicasana partner in crime, Stephanie, and I went to the Lululemon store near Lincoln Center. We were on a mission to see if the store might be THE place where yogini and fashionista meet.We'd never been to the bright, shiny yogawear mecca, so the excitement was palpable.Our Findings:The store itself is lovely. It's bright and the wares are well organized by size, style, color, etc.Steph and I left no stone unturned, first cruising the perimeter looking at every piece, weighing in on our likes and dislikes (Cropped pinstripe yoga pants with a belt? Maybe for Gwen Stefani circa 2001. Maybe.) and then picking out key pieces to try on.That's where we ran into our first problem: There were empty dressing rooms and lots of available salespeople, but the one dressing room attendant was busy talking to another customer. She kept looking at us and saying "I'll be with you in a moment"...after about three minutes of this, another woman stood in line behind us. Three women, four empty dressing rooms and one attendant in the middle of an unending conversation quasi-ignoring us. Finally one of the other salespeople helped us out. (If we hadn't been on a mission, both Steph and I would have plopped down our goods and walked right out of the store.)Once we were able to get down to business...and the cavalcade of cameltoe commenced!Steph and I have very different body types, yet the 7 different styles of pants we tried all failed the secret smile test. Then there was the problem of the fabric...NOT flattering...the pants are made with the type of lycra that highlights EVERY bump, even those that don't actually exist. Some styles had seams in unflattering places, and other had weird, unnecessary ruching."
Yoga Pant Weird Ruching is ugly AND bad for Cobra pose
Reverse Groove Pant Unflattering Seams
Fitness Pant Belt=Ouch
"If you're tall and lanky, some of the styles (like the one in the middle, above) will work well, but a woman with any sort of curves or musculature should proceed with extreme caution.Next up were the tops: I could barely get a cute black wrap sweater (size large) over my arms, the sportsbra w/ hook closure hurt when I pressed my back into the wall and their signature v-neck top threatened to turn my jump back into a peep show at any moment. Stephanie had a REALLY hard time getting the tops on (which is a feat unto itself when you're a size zero). When she did wriggle into a blank tank with crisscross stiching (which cut her in all the wrong places), one of the salesgirls started the hard sell."
Deep V Tank with Pockets Too Low For Anyone With Boobage.
Wrap Tank Flattens the chest and criss cross is unflattering.
Bounce Breaker Holds you in, but the hooks in back may cause chafing.
"Apparently, Lululemon's sales strategy is all about an unrelenting, bullying attitude towards their customers. I think it's safe to say that most yoginis know a thing or two about their bodies...and none are going to spend $60-$100 on an article of unflattering yoga attire, no matter how annoyingly persistent the salesperson.Undeterred by Steph's pleas to the contrary, the salesgirl insisted she try a larger size. It was too big, as Steph had surmised, but the salesgirl just kept at it...she then exclaimed that the tops are really great for old people because they provide lots of coverage. Um...what, my dear little salesgirl, are you inferring? (For the record, Stephanie is not old, nor does she look old.)Steph was contemplating a purchase...a very cute White Zip-Up Jacket that was very Swiss Alps Chic...but decided she didn't want to give the store a cent."
Shape Jacket The Almost-Purchase. Very cute and super-fitted
We left, annoyed and disgusted. Did that really happen? Were we really subjected to that shit? Did I actually try on a pair of see-thru white lycra gauchos?
I'd now like to introduce you to the OM Scale...one OM being poor and 4 OMs being excellent.
Lululemon1928 Broadway (at 64th Street)
Store Design: 3 OMs
Clothing: 2 OMs (Great if you're a tall, leggy gal)
Service: 0 Oms (Rude, pushy and fake)
Thanks to Snow White for this really honest useful review!
0 comments:
Post a Comment