Beyond the Sweatpants

It's not until last year when I started looking around and was pleasantly surprised by how much the performance fashion has evolved. People (well, at least those of us who pay more attention on how we look when working out than our performance) no longer wear just a pair of baggy sweatpants and cutoff tees in the gym. Well performance is also important but it takes time for us to catch up, but looks...are instant. You look good in them or don't. :)

I have been blabbing about LuluLemon for a while but today I would like to review a pair of pants from Lucy, a northwestern company, started out around the same time when LuluLemon opened their first store in Vancouver, Canada.

These pants are called "lotus" pants, with a modern fit and slim bootcut. They sit just above the hips below the belly button. From the name you might have guessed what they are designed for...Yoga of course but I can see myself wearing them to anywhere, from coast to class, with no problem.




Lucy indeed has 3 different lengths on their pants: short (inseam 30.5), regular (32.5) and tall (35.5). I am wearing XS regular. Yes their bottoms do come a bit more generous than LuluLemon because xs fits me.

Here are some thoughts of mine on how to pick the right pants for your next yoga/barre/dance class.

1. Compression

Unless you have a single digit percent of body fat (as woman), you will jiggle when moving. A well designed material with the right amount of compression can totally hold up all the bumps and lumps. As result, help us to perform better

2. Waistband

There's nothing worse than in your class, your focus is more on pulling up your pants than following your instructor. A good pair of pants should sit where they belong, move with you not the waist band.

3. Fit

All these pants come with a very high percentage of lycra/spandex, so the size becomes less obvious. We can all squeeze in a smaller size but is it the right fit? Rule of thumb is lift your thigh, or try to bend over (like a downward dog in yoga), if you can see your skin through the pants, or the color of you undie, the pants are one size too small. Believe me, wearing a size too small often doesn't make us look slimmer. :( Wishful thinking but awful truth.

So here you go my outfit for today's Barre class. The top is the "Free to Be" tank from LuluLemon.

 

Out and About in a Rainy Day

Wearing LululLemon "Out and About" jacket and "Warm Up Crew" Tee

 

Re-discover the Blazer

Here is what I have learned from the Duchess of Cambridge, who has always rocked a fitted classic blazer in many ways.

 

Anything Better (and Maybe Safer) Than Sunscreen?

Summer is approaching, well believe it or not. Even it's still cold and raining where you are, the sunlight is not going to stop.



Sunscreen has been on the "Naughty or Nice" list of many...Sunscreen or No Sunscreen, that's the question. Most of us hate the extra step added to our already super busy schedule, and not to mention all that safety concern brought in by sunscreens.



So where is the good news? The good news is you can still protect your precious skin from the lovely-awful sunlights. It's called "clothes".

Before you jump the gun and scream at me, let me explain a bit further.

We know wearing long sleeves in summer is the best sun protection and the darker and thicker the material it is the better we are protected. But just to think of wearing blue denim on the beach....Yuck~

Still didn't hear the good news?

Now a lot of sport gear stores, such as R.E.I, lululemon, Lucy, all offer a type of clothes made with chemical treated fabric. These clothes protect much more than just plain garments without the treatment and you can choose a much lighter material than black and blue jeans. Yay~

As the fashion industry evolves and is catching up, we should see more fashion-forward clothing with UPF (= SPF in suncreen) indicator to provide us the protection we need and still look pretty!

LuluLemon Runbeam Hoodie



Novara Mezzo Capri Bike Tights with UPF 50+ in R.E.I



Please note even with these clothes on, a hat and sunscreen on exposed skin are still needed for a fuller protection.

Pool Side

The color theme of today's outfit is totally inspired by a summer pool side picture.
Note: the sunglasses on the last picture were edited on. Pretty real huh?

 

One for the Money

I always find cropped length on both top and bottom is one of the hardest silhouettes to pull off, especially if you are like me, with relatively longer torso and shorter legs. However, sometimes, you just won't let something go easily so we need to find a way to make it work. This Bebe leather jacket has an extremely cropped length but the buttery soft leather was so well made that I had to wear it as much as I can.

I paired it with a high waisted pencil skirt, found at H&M a couple of years ago.

The whole outfit reminded me the cover shot of Katherine Heigl's comedy "One for the Money". LOL





 

Clockwork Orange

Sometimes, whimsical and childish aren't really that much different in some people's eyes. However, to me, whimsical is something cute, unexpected but still can be adult appropriate, while childish...just childish. LOL

Lots of vintage inspired prints are whimsical. I really like this orange printed shirt from J.crew.