Hello, hello!
I don’t know if you’ve seen the articles and ads for Girlfriend Collective leggings – there were articles on Refinery 29 (which is where I first read about Girlfriend Collective), InStyle, and Who What Wear – just to name a few.
The basic premise is that they believe that their legging are so awesome that they will send you a pair of their basic core legging for free, and you pay for the shipping. I initially thought that there had to be a catch – like you end up being stuck in an unbreakable subscription where they send you $100 leggings every month forever, or something terrible like that.
Before moving onto my review, let’s take a look at Girlfriend Collective (info taken from company website):
When we started Girlfriend Collective we knew that we wanted to get away from fast fashion that strips the world of its resources and ends up in landfills. We decided to commit to meaningful change rather than the quickest route by using recycled fabrics, certified by Oeko-Tex, Global Recycling Standards, and Bluesign. All our fabric is cut and sewn at our SA8000 facility, the fair trade equivalent for garment production.
We also discovered quickly that high end fit and feel is not a matter of cost, it’s a matter of time. We take the time to make sure every single one of our designs is so beautiful that you won’t cycle through it the next time you look through your closet.
Beyond that we wanted to find a community of people who cared about where their clothes come from as much as how they look. We’re lucky to have found you. Take a look around, we’re glad you’re here.
*screenshot taken from Girlfriend Collective website*
About the free leggings campaign:
We are doing this free campaign because we believe the best way to fall in love with a product is to try it yourself. […] We started Girlfriend Collective because we saw the need for affordable, luxury activewear that doesn’t destroy the environment, and that gives everyone from the factory to the office living wages and a decent life.
About the fabric:
The leggings are made from 79% micro polyester (recycled), 21 spandex, and the fabric is 260 gsm (grams per square meter). The polyester yarns are made from recycled pop bottles. This gets better – fabric science time – the micro polyester yarns add moisture wicking properties to the fabric. The spandex adds not only stretch and recovery properties, but also a level of compression. This means that the leggings add support to your muscles, but not in a too tight, uncomfortable way. As well, the way in which the fabric is knit (they call it Tite Tech), serves to make the fabric opaque (not sheer) and pill resistant (the fuzzy, knobby bits that often show up after wearing and washing certain fabrics).
My experience:
I placed my order in late November, and knew that my leggings would not ship until some time in January. For the initial pre-launch free leggings run, they ship directly from their factory in Hanoi, Vietnam. The shipping to Canada was $29.99 USD, and with the exchange rate (USD to CAD) it was $41.36 CAD. Once they launch their full line in the spring, they will be shipping from the US, so the shipping cost will likely be a lot cheaper.
My package arrived around the second or third week of January. Since then, I’ve worn and washed them several times, and I feel like I am ready to review.
When I first opened the package and tried them on, I thought that I’d made a mistake in sizing as I was pulling them on as they felt quite snug. But once pulled all the way up and adjusted, they felt comfortably snug – similar to my running tights in terms of fit and compression.
I’ve been wearing my Girlfriend Collective leggings for yoga several times a week, and I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM! They are so comfortable!
The waistband is nice and high (the rise is about 12″) and stays flat during yoga. The waistband does not slip or roll. All of the seams are flatlocked so the seams don’t bunch or rub (especially good if you are wearing these leggings for physical activity like yoga or running and not just for watching Netflix).
Despite having to hang these leggings to dry – which might seem like an inconvenience – it really isn’t as the micro poly fabric dries pretty quickly.
Sadly the pre-launch free leggings deal ended on Feb 3rd. If you missed out, you will have to wait for spring when the full line launches. I’m looking forward to seeing the whole line. I’m hoping for some colourful leggings! I need to buy another pair (or three)!
I’ve been doing yoga every single day so far this year. I started with the 31 Day #yogarevolution done by Yoga with Adriene (which if you follow me on Twitter, I tweeted about it daily) and now that it is over, I’m hoping to keep a daily practice going. It was a great experience, and I’m so happy that I stuck with it.
Thanks for reading and have a beautiful day! ❤
Disclosure: I purchased this!
Good evening
🐞UĞUR BÖCEĞİ🐞LADYBUG 🐞
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Oh this sounds awesome! Bummed I missed out on the free(-ish) leggings, but I still need to lose weight so I haven’t been buying clothes much. Great job with the yoga 🙂
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They are so good! I’m so happy that I took a chance on these leggings!
Some days I felt like skipping, but I’m so glad that I stuck to it. I’m sleeping so much better too!
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Ooo I want to try these!
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I’m so happy that I took a chance!
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Great review! 🙂
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Thanks!
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These sound great! I wonder how much they’re going to be…
And well done for doing yoga every day!
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I think that the basic legging (this style) will sell for 60 or 70$ US.
Thanks, I am so proud of myself for sticking to it!
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These sound awesome! Thanks for the review, Jodi.
With shipping rates THAT high, though… I don’t believe this “free pair” thing. There’s no way they’re spending more than $15 on shipping, even if it’s being mailed by air. I’d love to see more transparency with this line going forward!
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They really are awesome leggings! They don’t budge while doing yoga, and they are so comfortable!
The shipping cost will drop once they launch as they will be shipping from the US. During the pre-launch, they were shipping directly from the factory. Shipping to the US was $20.
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These look amazing! I might have to get these for the gym x
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They are so good! I’m glad I took a chance and ordered them!
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I love wearing leggings around the house. They are just so comfortable. Have a great week Jodi
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These ones are so good! No falling down, no creeping up when I’m doing yoga! So good!
Have a great week sweetie!
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Too bad the promotion is over…it sounds like if I were to order I would have to go one size bigger. Thanks for sharing!
MFJ,
http://www.myfavesjournal.com
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I’m excited to see the whole line! Hoping for some nice bright colours!
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I love leggings, they are so comfy!
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These ones are so good – the waistband doesn’t move or fall down while I’m doing yoga – which was a problem with some of my leggings.
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I first heard about these on Reddit and I was THIS close to placing an order. But… I just didn’t know if they were worth the $30 USD price with our poor exchange rate! I also don’t wear leggings that often so I didn’t think I’d get that much use out of them. I’m glad you love these!
I did recently buy a pair of leggings from Reitman’s (of all places – a coworker recommended them to me) and they were on sale for only C$35 and I’m super happy with them (I especially liked that they come in petite sizes).
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I only wear leggings to do yoga or run. So I need ones that don’t fall down or bunch up. They’re really really good – on par with my fancy technical running tights that cost around $100.
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My mom loves the petites section at reitmans – it’s the only place that she can find jeans that are the right length.
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Who doesn’t love a good pair of leggings?! 🙌🏾
http://www.bluelabelsboutique.com
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They do look super comfy and fab!
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They’re great for yoga!
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Ah sucks the promotion is over, but thank you for the review. I’ll check them out next time I’m looking for some new yoga pants!
If you have time, check out my latest blog post at https://tootinghustle.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/embarrassing-moment/ and let me know what you think!
Happy blogging x
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I hope they come out with some bright colours.
I’ll check it out!
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I’m happy with the blacks – Think my bum is too big for anything too bright haha!
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I do yoga at home, so the leggings are for my eyes only. The brighter colours make me more flexible, or at least that’s what I tell myself, haha!
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I’ll have to try that then 🙂 get out of my comfort zone…
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