The Lululemon Scandal...Can Everyone Wear Yoga Pants?

I don't know if you are following the scandal at Lululemon or if you even know what Lululemon is. I'm going to give it to you in a nutshell. Lululemon is a women's athletic wear company specifically focused on yoga pants. They were in the news a while back because the yoga pants they were producing were found to be too sheer by the customers. It was weird since they had not previously been too sheer and the company said they had not changed anything about the way the pants were constructed.

Now the company is in hot water over comments made by the Lululemon founder Chip Wilson. He was addressing a new issue...the fact that the pants had an area of fabric between the thighs that pilled up a little with significant wear. And what he said is WILDLY unpopular with women across the country. Basically this is what he said:

When speaking about how some customers' complained about the pants' fabric pilling, Mr Wilson  continued: 'It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how they much they use it.'

The founder's remarks caused Bloomberg TV host Trish Regan to cut in and ask: 'Interesting, not every woman can wear a Lululemon yoga pant?'

Mr Wilson responded: 'No, I think they can. I just think it’s how you use it.'

OK. So maybe he isn't Mr. Sensitivity. Let me tell you, though, I am getting ready to drop the thun-thun-thun. I'm about to say some things that are going to be unpopular...and I might make some people angry. But I told you guys when I started this blog that I was going to call things the way I see them....and sometimes that requires skewering the things I think are stupid. You don't have to agree.
Here goes:

As to the "too sheer" issue:

1. Many women wear their yoga pants at least one size too small. Lululemon doesn't even MAKE a pant larger than size 12. If you pack a big ole Kim Kardashian ass into a size 12 yoga pant, the fabric is going to become see-through. That is a fact. Deal with it.

2. Yoga pants are meant for YOGA CLASS!!! They are not pants meant to be worn out shopping or to school or work. They are not regular clothing. You wouldn't go to the mall in your jog bra and no top...you shouldn't be out in your yoga pants. I know they are comfortable. I get it. And I'm not condemning you if you do it; I've done it before. I'm only saying that the "too sheer" problem might not have been an issue if the women were only wearing them in the gym.

As to the thigh rubbing together pilling issue:

Most of our thighs rub together. Even when I was as thin as I have ever been, my thighs touched...that is the way I am built. The thigh gap is mostly a myth. Most of the time that is photoshopped into model photos. The women who are so thin they have thigh gaps usually aren't in the gym anyway. If your thigh rub together, there is going to be pilling on your pants unless they are made from that super shiny lycra. Eventually if your thighs rub together, you are going to wear out your yoga pants...especially if you wear them ALL THE FREAKING TIME! (see the rant above)

That being said, there might be people who are not meant to wear yoga pants. I'm not shaming larger women at all....I'm not skinny Minny myself. I think all women need comfortable workout clothes that fit their bodies appropriately. But if you are 300 pounds, yoga pants are NOT that...and Lululemon doesn't make clothes in that size anyway. I want the bigger women to be at the gym working on their fitness like everyone else, and I think tighter lycra foundation garments really do help keep everything from jiggling around in a painful way. But I know that I usually wear stuff like that under other shorts or with a longer top because I don't necessarily think everyone wants to see every unflattering bump, bulge, and cottage cheesy mound. And I have plenty of those. I appreciate the movement to make women more comfortable with our bodies, regardless of our size....that's a good thing. But let's not let it go so far that we lose sight of the idea that some things are just not made for some bodies. I know I CANNOT wear the Rock Star pants from Old Navy no matter how much I want to. I cannot wear boyshort underwear with any level of comfort. I really don't fit well into ANY pair of pants sold at American Eagle or Aeropostale. I don't write angry letters to those companies, I just accept it and move on to stores that cater to women instead of girls. The world doesn't revolve around me....or you...or the skinny girls.

So Mr. Wilson might be kinda jerkish in his delivery, but I can't say that he was factually wrong about what he said or that he should have been forced to issue that apology. I'm not sure he has anything to feel sorry about. He has a right to his opinion and it is HIS company. If you don't like it, don't buy his WAY TOO EXPENSIVE-ASS athletic clothes. That's YOUR right....exercise it. See what I did there? LOL.