What would YOU do?

What would YOU do for a deal? 

Would you drive out to a convention center?

Pay $13 for parking?

Hand all your worldly possessions

 to a complete stranger in blue sneakers 

who then ties them up in a trash bag 

and throws them under a table?

Would you stand in line for several hours?

Just for a chance to enter a warehouse 

full of spandex and black tutus?

For thousands of Chicago women

 (including yours truly)

the answer was YES.

For the first time ever in the United States 

the yoga/fitness clothing line Lululemon

 hosted a warehouse sale

right here in Chi town.

 Okay, before I go any further let me back up a bit. 

Last fall I did a little post called "Yoga is Hot."  

In that post I mentioned a line of yoga wear 

known as Lululemon, or as most say "Lu-Lu."

  Let me give you a little analogy to help you understand.

Got it?

Lululemon has become iconic for yoga culture in the United States.

The expensive yoga wear can be seen on yoga butts from Seattle to New York and every SUV driving yoga mama in between.  Their marketing is not just genius at selling tight fitting spandex that'll make any girl's backside look good. It is selling a religion. Enter any Lulu store, drop down a significant amount of cash, and you'll walk out with an unbelievable piece of quality yoga wear.  Your new spandex will be packaged in a shiny red bag strategically decorated with feel good truisms typed in different fonts.  The irony of the whole thing gets me every time, and I'd be tempted to scoff if I didn't like their pants so darn much.  I still slightly want to gag when I read some of the tag lines such as

"Love is the new black"  

or 

"Living in the moment could be the meaning of life."

Really?  

When I heard that Lululemon picked Chicago as the site of their first ever warehouse sale I wasn't surprised. After all, Chicago (and especially the surrounding suburbs known in these parts as "Chicagoland") is a corporate dream land.  After living here now for 18 months I have a theory that Chicagoland is Corporate America's test market.  The trends may start on the West Coast or in New York, but they get tested to go to the masses right here in the Middle.  People in Chicagoland like having the latest trends, but unlike other places I've lived, folks don't really seem to care if everyone else is wearing/driving/drinking the exact same thing.  Like I said- corporate dream world.

And when it comes to yoga pants, I'm not above it either. 

First and only warehouse sale in the United States

by a company that has figured out -

how to put a uniform on women ages 20-40,

charge a lot of money for it,

and bring out thousands of people

 to wait in three hour lines

just to try on their pants at a discount.

I was curious.

"Hurry!  Run!  Did you get that last hoodie??"

What's behind that black curtain?

That, my friends, was the mass changing room 

where only 200 women were allowed at one time

 to drop their drawers and try on the goods.

(You had to wait in line to get in there too)

This smiling gal was directing traffic

and very patiently instructing us 

that we must be wearing underwear

 in order to try on the pants.

I was going to take a picture inside the black curtain.

But then I thought I might get arrested.

Next to me a woman dropped her pants. 

She looked up at me and said,

"Is this weird?  This is weird.  There are a lot of women in here."

But, after sliding on an 80% off pair of yoga pants, 

she seemed to have gotten over it and asked, 

 "Do you think these pants make me look fat?."

The tutu rack.

I'll leave you tonight with my favorite Lulu quote

"Sweat Once a Day"

to which my husband responded,

"Don't we sweat all day every day?."

Thank you, Jason.

*All photos were taken on the sly with my phone...ie. the poor quality.