Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Lularoe or any of it's consultants. All opinions expressed are my own and all clothing shown was purchased by me.
Perhaps you've seen some crazy printed leggings or comfy dresses popping up in your Facebook adds or inundating Instagram and Twitter. Chances are these whimsical clothing items are from the wildly popular brand Lularoe.
If you have had your head ostriched in the sand and have no idea what I'm talking about, Lularoe (LLR) is a four year old brand started by a Mormon entrepreneur looking to provide modest, comfortable, stylish clothing that "empowers" women. For more on the history of the company and how to shop for LLR products, check out this handy dandy
BuzzFeed article.
Lularoe has been on my peripheries for several months now but being the perennial bargain shopper (aka cheapskate) I wasn't interested in paying $25 for a pair of leggings when I could pick some up for $5 at Walmart.
But the more I started to see about Lularoe the more it intrigued me. They aren't just leggings; they offer over a dozen different styles including dresses, skirts, tops, cardigans and vests, as well as several mini me items for the kiddos. The even have a couple of t-shirt styles geared towards men. What really interested me about LLR is I thought the styles were very cute and similar to a lot of what I already wear, such as fit & flare dresses and drapey tops, but in the widest array of colors and prints you could imagine. Admittedly, some of them are ugly or downright laughable (there was the instance of one of their blouses called the Irma infamously becoming known as the "
Turdma" due to an unfortunate looking pine cone print.) My addictive heart also skipped a beat when I learned the brand has an intense cult following and a huge online community. When I throw myself into a hobby; i.e. wax, bath & body, nail polish, etc. I love to wallow in it for hours on end and discuss the product with others who are just as obsessed with it as I am.
I soon realized I discovered Lularoe at a rather tumultuous time though, because the brand isn't all rainbows and unicorns anymore; there are starting to become as many haters as there are diehard koolaid drinkers; and many customers and even brand consultants are defecting. This is due in large part to the company seeming to go downhill in recent months, both in how they treat their consultants and customers, and in product quality. You need only Google Lularoe to see that right up there with the pictures of colorful outfits are also testimonials from disgruntled sales people going out of business because of policy changes and shabby treatment from LLR, and angry customers wondering why their leggings are "ripping like wet toilet paper," and their clothes are fading and pilling like crazy. From what I gather the general consensus is that items from the first couple years ago seem to be of much better quality than the recent collections. It's such a shame to see that a company that rose to great popularity so quickly seems to have stopped giving a crap about all the small business owners and customers that got it there.
With this in mind but still wanting to try the cute and comfy looking clothes but not support the greedy company, I have only been buying LLR products from Facebook
groups dedicated to help the consultants that are going out of business (GOOB) and need to liquidate the inventory that they already paid for. It's a win win because I get a great discount on this otherwise pricey brand and the poor consultants recoup some of their investment. I also bought a few items on Ebay from people reselling their LLR, but you will never see me paying $25 for leggings or $65 for a dress at someone's at home "pop up party."
Here is the Lularoe pricing guide and you can see that the items have quite a bit of mark up. I like to try to pay wholesale in the GOOB groups or less on Ebay.
But regardless of what you think of the LLR brand, here's the fun part: wearing and styling the clothes! Are they ugly? I guess it's subjective but I'm pretty happy with the pieces I've received, so far I have 3 pairs of leggings in various prints (they do make solids too but are considered more rare "unicorn" items,) and a cute polka dot "Cassie" pencil skirt.
I just wore my first Lularoe leggings outfit today and I have to say they really ARE that comfortable. Very soft yet breathable with a high non-elastic waistband that doesn't roll down or dig in and cause muffin top. They are more comfortable than all my other leggings and I have quite a few pairs. No problems with holes or pilling to report yet.
I thought I was crazy for buying leggings in the middle of the summer but I saw a pin on Pinterest about how you can pull them up and fold them over to make capri leggings so I thought I'd give it a try.
They are surprisingly comfortable in today's 103° heat, probably even more so than capri pants because you don't have an uncomfortable button and zipper waistband. I didn't sweat excessively either.
I like how I can still incorporate bold printed leggings in with my regular wardrobe since I have a lot of solid color dresses and tops.
So far I have the 3 leggings and a Cassie skirt, along with an Irma top, Nicole dress, maxi skirt and Azure skirt in the mail! Comfiest addiction ever, lol. But I fear I will soon have to curb my LLR shopping or risk going broke, even at the discount prices!
Fortunately the pieces I've bought are very versatile and I look forward to showing you all the outfits incorporating Lularoe that I come up with!
Have you ever tried or are you interested in trying Lularoe clothes? If you think they have nothing for you, look up the different styles; I dare you! They are a size inclusive brand ranging from XXS to 3XL and I've seen ladies of all ages and walks of life rocking LLR. Just do a little research first to make sure you're getting a decent quality item at a fair price.
