All your performance and athletic wear in one spot? Lululemon, thank you for spoiling us with your amazing products over the past year. We have been putting tearing around the house, doing Zoom workouts and taking field trips to the grocery shop for fun. We are now ready to experiment with the Lulu pieces that have been hidden in the sale section. We are ready to shop at other stores that have great quality, tech know-how and great fittings. We don’t want to wear neon lycra leggings in neon leopard print to our child’s tee-ball game, but would still love something modern and sporty. We love Lululemon’s cool, understated vibe.
1. TRACKSMITH
Tracksmith is a Boston-based company that focuses on amateur running. It was founded in 2014 and has since been loved by Lululemon’s compression tights and running shorts. The brand has former tops slot holders at Patagonia and Puma. Today, it maintains a carefully edited core collection of essential running items. Notable are their ultra-comfortable, lightweight twilight tights and super-lightweight micro-mesh twilight tanks made from Italian-engineered nylonblend micro-mesh.
2. BANDIER
Athleisure is for those who want to look sporty, but not necessarily being sporty. It’s made with natural fibers and has a lot of comfort. Bandier’s WSLY brand is your first stop for tanks and tees, especially the blink-and-it-sells-out Rivington ribbed tank, a hangs-so-it-looks-expensive weekend tee, and even a casual knit tank dress. The ecosoft cotton joggers have a slimmer silhouette than our Lulu sweats.
3. SWEATY BETTY
Lululemon was founded in 2005 with the creation of leggings for butt-enhancing exercise that quickly became the go-to choice for trendy yogis. Sweaty Betty, a British brand, makes a rear-end-enhancing and lifting All-Day Exercise Legging. It is just as sleek as the Lulu pairs.
4. ALO
Alo offer a variety of performance yoga wear in a wide range. For hot yoga, you might wear a second-skin Airlift crop top with sheen-flecked details, or matte Airbrush black leggings for running errands and then a stretch class. The waffle weave pieces are also great. These pieces are perfect for post-class, just like the knit cotton Lululemon Hoodie.
5. NIKE
Cross-trainers, runners, and cold types all love the Lululemon Swiftly tech long-sleeved top. Swiftly Breathe is looser, but still has a long-sleeve. The Nike Pacer and Nike Infinite long sleeves are both lightweight and comfortable. We also love the Nike Icon Clash’s slightly cropped style. All are made from technical fabric that wicks water and has thumbholes to keep sleeves taut until we warm up. Once we have warmed up, you can tie the whole thing around your waist and hit your mid-run endorphins high.
6. OUTDOOR VOICES
This hipster-leaning brand created the Exercise Dress. It is a hybrid of Lulu’s golf-tennis skirts and a racerback tank top with adjustable racerback in subdued neutrals. The whole outfit is a vibe. We feel like the built in shorts liner makes us ready for whatever the park throws at us.
7. MPG SPORT
Lululemon’s new Earth Dye collection features a variety of comfortable loungeable pieces in tie dye — basically, everyday sweats made groovy. It reminds us of the MPG Sport oversized sweatshirt, sweatpants and sweatpants in black tie-dye fabrics. This hippie urban vibe is perfect for Summer 2022.
8. FABLETICS
Shopping for a sports bra is usually a take-what-you-can-get affair. Unfortunately, the industry standard is a limited selection and lackluster details. Lululemon has a wide range of bras, including a variety that can be broken down by neckline, cup sizes, and special designs suitable for running, yoga, and training. Fabletics has added bras and sorted them according to their suitability for high, low, or medium impact.
9. CARBON38
Sometimes all you want is to lounge in a sweatshirt and matching baggy shorts. Carbon38, like Lululemon supports the need to sometimes be lazy–but styled.
10. GIRLFRIEND COLLECTIVE
We love the eco-conscious Girlfriend Collective leggings (made from recycled water bottles), for their tawny colors (the moss and earth colorways have Lululemon vibes), as well as their size inclusion with sizes up to 6XL.
