When we moved from Florida to Washington, DC, I knew I was going to need some new winter clothes. I had basic Lululemon yoga pants that I loved, but those were not going to keep me warm on below freezing days! I also had some lined Lululemon winter pants but they were bulky and not flattering (I’ve found Lululemon does lightweight material athletic wear the best).
One day, I was shopping in the Athleta in Georgetown when the sales associate told me about Polartec leggings. They are fleece lined bottoms! They only offer regular length in-store, but they also offer free hemming. I had to have them! I like this style because they fit over my winter boots:
I wore them SO much that I actually started to wear them out! Athleta and Lululemon are really well made leggings that rarely start to pill but I wore these pants for a few years and decided they were looking a little rough.
Nowadays, the store usually only carries the tight legging style Polartec bottoms. If you want the pant style bottoms, you have to order them online. But all of the in-store bottoms are regular length and online has petite and tall sizes. I would rather order them online and not have to deal with getting them hemmed (even if Athleta offers it for free). So this fall, I went online and ordered a new pair of the Polartec pants and I also ordered two pairs of legging stretch tights! I like the basic Power Stretch tight the best (the Sculptek pair is super strong and almost Spanx-like in trying to suck me in super tight – they look great and feel great but I wouldn’t wear them for 8 hours).
I have to tell you – on really cold days – these pants save my sanity! They are SO warm! There are some days where we walk around the block in Georgetown and it is 20ห and I actually start to feel warm after walking for 10 minutes or so. Other days I might be lounging at home in a pair of my favorite Lulu tights and I start to get a little chilly. I throw these Polartec pants on top of my Lulu tights and I warm up right away!