Have you ever heard of the brand Zella? My good friend from Colorado told me about the Nordstrom line about a year ago or so and I didn't get a chance to try them until this summer.
The design of the leggings are pretty much exactly like Lululemon's wunder unders, but at a far friendlier price point. They were so much like the Lululemon wunder unders that I did a little research and found that Nordstrom actually hired Lululemon's old product manager Libby Vance to develop the Zella line. So that explains it. If you're familiar with lululemon, you'll also notice that a lot of the Zella jackets and hoodies are quite similar as well.
Zella Live-in Legging
In my opinion, the cut and design is equal to Lululemon's, but there is a difference in the fabric. I haven't purchased Lululemon leggings in years and still have their old luon wunder unders, where the fabric is super thick and opaque. (Before their sheer fabric catastrophe.) Zella's fabric is quite stretchy and still flattering, and is definitely opaque, but it isn't thick at all. As for sizing, I've found that the XS in Zella is the same as a size 4 in Lululemon.
I've worn a pair of Zella pants in this morning yoga video for legs, and this simple reversible pair above (now only $29!) have been worn for yoga and for cardio and have held up great. They do not ride up when you run or do yoga, and they absorb sweat pretty well. I would definitely recommend them, so long as you know the material isn't super thick.
The best part of all of this is that it's Nordstrom's anniversary sale and there are lots of Zella items deeply discounted for a short while (prices go up August 4th, 2014). Here's what I'm loving from the site (for reference, I'm wearing the ones on the bottom left):
Have you ever tried Zella? Did you like them?