Lululemon has been making performance clothing for a long time, and are favorites among many people for their ABC Pants. Today though, I want to take a look at a performance button up shirt they offer. I recently picked up their Down To The Wire Shirt, and have been testing it for roughly a month. It’s not what I expected, so let’s dive in.
Material
The only specifics given on the fabric are “Technical Cotton fabric is sweat-wicking and anti-stink” and that it uses Lycra for stretch. Until I wrote this section, I thought it was polyester, so I am surprised to learn it is cotton based.
The stretch is there however, and some clever tailoring lends to great movement throughout the arms. It appears they have gusseted the sleeves to allow more movement. All in all, the shirt isn’t restrictive.
Performance
This shirt is billed as, breathability, stretch, and anti-odor. As I mentioned above, it moves pretty well all in all, especially given the slim fit. However, I don’t think it holds up to the odor test. You won’t stink after a day like with pure polyester, but you won’t likely be getting multiple wears out of this.
I think the biggest issue I found from a performance view is that it is highly wrinkle prone. To show that off, all images are shown after a day of wearing it. It’s on par with any thin cotton shirt — the sleeves and shoulders will get wrinkled. You won’t want to travel with this.
From a breathability aspect, it’s not the best and it’s not the worst. I wouldn’t mark that up as a strong selling point, but there’s nothing detracting either.
Fit and Style
Overall, the fit is quite good for me. The sleeves have ample length which is rare, and the body is cut rather trim. It looks sharp all in all, and the cuffs are fantastic.
There are two issues with fit. The body is a tad short, which lends to the shirt wearing well untucked, but wearing it tucked in can be tricky if you are sitting a lot. It is prone to coming untucked.
The bigger style issue is the sloppy collar. The button placement tends to allow the collar to spread open quite wide, and while it won’t lay flat, it does look unkept. It is sloppy, and overly casual.
Overall
At $108 I wouldn’t recommend it. I bought it for $79 and still I wouldn’t recommend it, standard cotton shirts with stretch will perform just as well and hopefully have better collars. It’s a solid shirt, but lags well behind the other performance dress shirts we have reviewed here.
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