Are we paying through the nose for a brand name, or are we paying for quality?

Here I am wearing a $99.00 Lululemon on the left, and a $14.99 Costco item on the right. Which one is better? That raises a great question. When lululemon first came out it was designed, and manufactured in Vancouver, BC Canada.

When I was home for the Christmas holidays I went to Costco with my Mom to pick up a few things. I noticed the inexpensive active wear and picked up a white zip up jacket. At first glance I looked down at my clothing and thought they fit the same on my body. That was until I took a photograph of the two on the same day, and saw that there was noticeable difference in the two. For comparison sake, I am wearing a size 4 Lululemon Run: Distance Pullover (no longer online but here is something similar), and the Costco zipup is a size small.

I’m not sure why I tend to favor white warmup tops, because I can’t seem to get over the fact that my deodorant stains the armpits a faint yellow in such a short time. Both the Lululemon pullover, and the zipup from Costco are equally as “stained” however the Lululemon one was purchased in January 2011 and the Costco in December 2011. I try not to wear my Lululemon one as often because it was so expensive. So I tend to wear the zipup one more to CrossFit. Plus, it’s easier to get off quicker as it’s a full zip and not a half.

You can notice that both tops have the thumb hole’s. But in the arm area of the Costco version, it’s larger. I feel like the Costco one fits great in the body, but could do with a smaller arm size. The Lululemon one is tight all over and as for the thumb loops, they fit great. Except when you want to fold the flap over to have it cover your hands fully. I feel like my fingers would feel more comfortable if they’re straight out, but the Lululemon hand covers make them curled. Does that make sense?

I haven’t purchased anything from the Lululemon website in ages. Mainly for the fact that 3 pairs of my 4 crops that I own by them have had stitching come undone after the first few wears! C’mon, how does that happen? Lululemon’s customer service is pretty top notch though. I sent in photos and they examined them and said it was a quality control issue. Darn right it was. My legs aren’t that muscular, to break threads like that.

Lululemon is still designed in Canada, but now manufactured in China.  This happened a number of years ago, therefor I felt that the quality of the items at Lululemon are no longer what they used to be. There seems to be more pilling issues happening on the groove pants, and of course the noted threads coming undone on the empower crops, and zoom crops that I own. Perhaps I’m coming cheaper in my old age (lol) but I expect a lot more from a pair of $100 pants, or top. Which is why I wanted to compare the two: Lululemon vs Costco.

The fabric on the Lululemon top feels a bit more luxurious but if you felt both at separate times, you’d think they were made from the exact same material. The Costco version is a fraction of the cost, but the quality is way up there. I think that if Costco made their jackets a little more fitted like Lululemon, more people would buy from them. Sure I as heck am going to keep shopping there, especially if my parents have an ongoing membership at Costco. But that means I’ll also have to wait til I fly back to Newfoundland to shop there.

I don’t have any complaints about the Costco jacket whatsoever. Just little nit picky things about the fit. As for Lululemon, sure they have amazing designs, keep bringing out great products, and the jacket I’m wearing above looks better as there are different seams and colors incorporated into the design. But overall, I’m not sure if it’s worth the hundred bucks anymore. Will I keep shopping there? Well, yes quite frankly I will — because they always have good sales on their online store plus free shipping. They just need to address the quality control issues on the pants. Until then I won’t buy any more crops from them.

Do you have any expensive workout clothes, or do you stick to non-name brand such as Costco?

I’m off to mail my parents an Easter surprise package in this massive corrugated box. I hope shipping costs isn’t through the roof! (I’m covering their address with my hand in case you’re wondering what the random high five’ing of the box was for).