{Summary: Biggest skeptic turned addict.}
The first time I heard about LuLaRoe, I rolled my eyes. Not metaphorically. I am a physically dramatic person. I literally rolled my eyes.
I don’t remember much about the situation but the facts are these:
– I didn’t know the person speaking or the person being spoken to
– My eavesdropping started when they mentioned comfy clothes with pretty patterns
– I rolled my eyes when they discussed the business structure
– I searched LuLaRoe as soon as I got home
At the time there were only a few styles up on the main website. The models were plus sized while the styles were mostly baggy. My exact thought was, “well, of course it is comfortable, they are baggy clothes for plus sized people.”
Quick PSA: Just because someone is over weight doesn’t mean they should wear a sheet, so at the time the company made me frustrated.
One year later I found myself in a similar situation. While waiting for a friend so we could meet up for one of our “lady lunches,” I overheard a woman telling her friend about the LuLaRoe business. Both were on the heavy side and I wanted to speak up to tell them that they shouldn’t support a company making parachute clothes for plus size women, but of course I kept it to myself.
Fast forward to the summer of 2016 and THREE of my friends on FB announced they had been chosen to become consultants of LuLaRoe all in the same week.
“Yeah, because they ‘choose’ who to take money from… yeah, right.”
(If you didn’t read that with sarcasm go back and read it again.)
This confused me. I had associated the company to be geared towards plus size women. All three of these friends are the same size as I am. I honestly didn’t know they made clothes for my size. On top of that, all three of those FB friends are honest, kind and caring people. Not the type to get involved in “pyramid schemes.”
Based solely off of the character of the women who were about to embark on this endeavor, it couldn’t possibly be as bad as I had made it out to be.
I went back onto LuLaRoe’s main site and saw that they now had TONS of new styles that showed women’s figures. I saw FB posts of my friends wearing what LuLaRoe they had. That was when I started going over to the “Roe Side.”
spoiler alert I am now obsessed and own 11 pieces.
When the online sales started I loved some of the prints, but I was concerned about the fit. Am I the only one that hates ordering clothes online because most of the time the fit is terrible and it ends up in the deep dark corners of your closet for the rest of eternity and your husband asks why you never wear it so you feel guilty giving it away or throwing it out? Ok, so maybe it is just me, but still.
I decided to visit the closest friend of the three.
Kara Mangum’s boutique was really quite impressive. She has a cute little space that she has set up all of her clothes in that make it easy to shop through. The first thing that hit me was how much inventory she had! I was afraid I would drive out to her place, everything would be picked through and there would be nothing would be left in my size. I was incredibly wrong. I found TOO many pieces I liked.
The first items I had my eyes on were the leggings and a Randy. Then I found a Maxi skirt print that was gorgeous but I have never owned a Maxi skirt so I wanted to make sure to try that on. I also grabbed a Nicole dress and a Cassie skirt.
Kara showed me to her guest bathroom which was super homey, clean and smelt amazing. I was glad she had a floor to ceiling mirror (just like you would find in any fancy retail store dressing room) so I was able to see exactly how I looked.
I loved everything. There was not ONE piece I didn’t like on me. I knew my bank account was in trouble.
Those leggings. When they say they are “buttery” and soft… it is no exaggeration. I didn’t want to take them off. I was sold. The Randy was super cute, it is a basic baseball tee, so I put that in my pile of things to buy. Then I tried on the Maxi and it was super flattering, comfy, light, soft and I had to have it. The Nicole I loved on me but I wasn’t crazy for the patterns available in my size so I am still on the hunt for one of those and the Cassie was the same way, but I am not a pencil skirt person so I was able to pass on that style without inner turmoil.
One of the nice bits of this buying experience is that Kara had size cards! This way I could try everything on in her boutique and then keep my sizes on the card so when I saw something I liked in her future online sales, I could reference the card to know what sizes I needed to look for.
Paying for everything was a breeze.
** LuLaRoe’s site isn’t AmEx friendly though they do say they take AmEx (I don’t think the form is set up properly for the 11 digit (versus 12 digit) CC# and the 4 digit (versus 3 digit) security code.
I HIGHLY recommend checking out LuLaRoe and joining several groups since every consultant gets sent different patterns. This was a very smart move on the company’s part. Instead of the consultants seeing themselves as competitors, it creates a family dynamic because none of them compete with each other. They all have different inventory.
Here is Kara’s link to her VIP page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lularoekmangum/.
As a side note, I mentioned to Kara how I really wanted unicorn leggings (which LuLaRoe is rumored to have) and about three days later she told me she was able to track some down from a fellow consultant, connected us via FB and now I have AWESOME unicorn leggings. Where else can you get that?!?!
Have you been tempted to try LuLaRoe? Are you a fellow LuLaRoe addict as well? Share below.