Lululemon Apres Sport Tweed Jacket

My current infatuation is with my new Lululemon Apres Sport Tweed Jacket. 

It was an impulse purchase (with some support and reassurance at the time).

I had not planned to buy a jacket given that I had already purchased two during this sale period. But this jacket was impossible to let it slip away.

Lululemon is one of my favourite stores. It is located in the Perth Enex100 building at the Hay street entrance to the right. You cannot miss the colourful aura and fun happy energy that comes from that store. 

I have had quite a few purchases from Lululemon, and I can honestly say that everything that I have bought has withstood the test of multiple washes, and me either sweating or just working the crap out of them. The quality and the ingenuity that goes into each garment or sport equipment is always surprising. After discovering the little 'secret' pockets of practicality that are hidden away, (which are only found when you are thinking to yourself "Hrmmm it would be nice if this had a blah blah blah" as you wishfully caress your hands in the area of the garment that you were thinking of, and find, to your surprise... that it IS there), you get that warm satisfaction in your tummy telling you that spending a little more at Lululemon really does provide you with the extra 'perks.'

This jacket definitely has more than what meets the eye.

At first glance, it looks like your typical long tweed jacket. I thought that a long tweed jacket was interesting. As I picked it up on the hanger, I saw it had a hood. 'Neato' I thought to myself, 'Whats the price?' I snooped out of curiosity. It happened to be on sale from $299 marked down to $149. So I 'had' to try it on. 

Music friendly

Once I had put the jacket on and looked in the mirror, the first thing I noticed was that it was comfy and that the hood is a good size. Second thing I realised is that the coat felt a little stiffer than I expected. I rationalised it being unworn and being new. Kevin, who was with me at the time, asked me what was on the inside of my jacket next to the button/zipper, near my neck. I had a look and saw this white rubber strip. I had no idea what it was. Kevin then informed me it was a headphone clip, and that got my attention. How did the headphones get to the headphone clip? We explored the jacket some more and found that the headphones come in through the left side pocket and out through an opening in the lining!

(P.S A lot, if not all of Lululemon's gear has this little "I belong to..." tag. How cute right?!)

It was around this time that the sales lady came up to us saying that the jacket was water resistant. YES! that's right, this 'tweed' jacket would keep me completely dry in the rain! (It dawned to me, that the jacket was probably a little stiff because it was water resistant). It was from that moment that I was completely sold. I really liked it, and it was so so practical. I then confirmed with my shopping buddy, to which he assured me that it was a good buy, and bagged that jacket up!

What a practical little jacket!

The jacket zips two ways from the bottom right up to the neck. The collar when zipped up, turns into a turtle neck which shelds your neck, nose and mouth from icy cold wind. The two way zip allows you to zip it all the way up, and to unzip the bottom part if you were sitting down and it was bunching or if you wanted a little more breeze but to keep the top part of your body warm. It also has zips in its side pockets, sheilding and preventing any items (such as a mobile phone, keys, cash etc) from slipping out.

In the alternative... there is always those clip bottons!

The jacket is super warm. It is lined with a fleece like material without it being too bulky and heavy. I like to think of it as... fine fleece.  I remember thinking it may be a little too warm for Perth winters, but the last few days and night have been really really cold, and the jacket has been loved and appreciated in the past week. Oh yes, and the pockets are lined with this fleece too... keeping your hands... hrrrrmm toasty.

For example, last night in Northbridge, I swear was so so very cold. We ended up watching a little bit of Shaolin Soccer which was playing at the big screen at the Piazza, I had my jacket on zipped right up with my hood up and hands tucked into my pockets... As we watched I just loved how my ears were not stinging from the air and my hood made me feel like I had a little roof over my head. It didn't just flop! I also enjoy... well there is no other word for it but shnuggling into the turtle neck part where the fine fleece just warmed up my lower face. Ahhhh... was very toasty, I still was cold, but if I wore any other jacket, I would have been complaining a lot earlier.  

More secret pockets of practicality?

And speaking about secret pockets of practicality. As I was wearing my jacket this morning in South Perth (it was also so very cold this morning) My hood which holds it shape, also caught the wind at times. "Aw Boo" I thought to myself. The one downer of this awesome jacket, that though I like that it holds it shape, I can't enclose the hood if it was really windy and rainy. I then sadly felt around the hood next to the side of my necks wishfully....

To my surprise, I felt two bumps in the material. I didn't know what it was at first but when I took of my jacket later on today and had a look, this is what I found:

What is it? Its a draw string which pulls the hood in if needed, and Lululemon have created a neat little pocket in the hood lining so you can hide the annoying 'nob' and it won't interfere in rubbing against your neck or danggling down your jacket (which is annoying at times when you are like at a table in a restaurant, and you lean over your dish, and the draw string from your hoodie goes into your drink, food etc).

Love love love love this jacket. I even told a workmate about this jacket, and she too did not want to spend any more money. But once showing her all the goodness this jacket provided and the awesome price, she walked out of the office and marched straight to Lululemon to get one too! I had bought the jacket in the brown and my work mate ended up getting it in the grey which is very similar but it has a grey tinge to it.

Lululemon may still have some, so I definitely recommend toasty-seeking-girls to get one!  

Update as of 4 July 2010
Just thought I'd post that I have worn this jacket everywhere and have an awesome tally of 3 friends who have purchased this jacket and who absolutely loooove it.