Athleta Radical Stride & Relay Capri, Old Navy Active Tanks!

I saw the newest Athleta Radical Stride capri online, and thought they looked very cute and different!  The pattern is great - it's very eye-catching but it's not TOO crazy! At least, I don't think so.  But I'm becoming very liberal with my view of what is "crazy"... hehe!  Seriously though, not too long ago I only wore black or gray bottoms exclusively.  How boring was I!  =P

So I like both colors that the Radical Stride capri comes in, but I went with the sizzle coral/ flint grey.

This is the other color - Amalfi blue / aloha yellow.  It was really a draw for me, but ultimately I went with the other ones because I thought I had more tops and shoes to wear with them.  And I have other blue toned crops but none in orange/coral yet.

So I have one pair of Athleta crops - the Chaturanga capri.  I had to get size XXS in those, but when I was at the store I did try on other bottoms which seemed to run smaller.  So I ordered the Radical Stride capri in XS.  It said that they were only available online right now, so I couldn't try them on in the store.

I received my package yesterday and I think XS is ok.  I'm not too impressed with the fabric though.  It feels more polyestery, not soft and on the thin side.  Feels like something Nike makes.  They are $84, and for that price I can get much better quality!  Check out the reverse side of the fabric and this seam work... it looks very cheap...

Anyway, maybe I'm really picky since I have so many great bottoms from different brands.  So I just really can't get that excited about this.  While I do like the pattern, and think that they fit comfortably, I think they are going back.

Too bad!  I wanted to like them...

Good thing I searched the sale section right before checking out, and saw the Relay Capri on sale for only $29!  Only in the coral sizzle color though.  Some of the other colors are on sale for $49 and some are full price at $69.  There are tons of colors, and they still have this coral sizzle color in all sizes.

I actually tried these exact ones on in the store when they were full price.  So I knew the size XS would fit fine.  I liked them when I tried them on, I just didn't feel like spending $69 on them.  But $29 is totally worth it!  They are much softer than the Radical Stride capri.  The fabric feels more like my Chaturanga capri, which are super soft.

They arrived without any tags though!  I think they don't want me to return them lol.  Oh well, I'm keeping these!

The color in person looks a lot brighter than the online photos.  They are much more coral than orange.  Totally works for me because I like their real life color better.

Reflective stripe on both sides:

Mesh behind the knee and on reflective stripes on lower calves too.  

A little ruching detail on the side, I like the wide band on the bottoms:

Back zipper pocket:

So I think the Relay capri are made better than the Radical Stride capri, in both craftsmanship and fabric.  For $55 cheaper, it's a no brainer.

I also picked up two Old Navy Active burnout tanks on the way to check out too!  All the GAP brands are on the same site, and apparently you can order from different ones and they ship them together!  I'm actually wearing the black one in the above pictures.  I've never tried Old Navy Active, but when I was at the Fitness Magazing Meet & Tweet blogger event, I met a girl who was wearing Old Navy capris and they looked really cute.  I've been checking them out online ever since then - super cheap and some nice patterns!  But I haven't tried them in person.  I kind of think that you get what you pay for most of the time, so if something is too cheap, it is probably no good.  Lol.  That's why I haven't rushed to the store.

I'm actually quite happy with the Knotted Racerback tanks I got though!  They are only $17.  The fabric content states 65% polyester and 35% cotton.  But they are actually very soft.  I got size S.  They fit loosely and are long.  They are thicker than I thought they would be.  I think they would make great summer casual tanks even if I don't wear them to workout in.

The black one is actually on sale now for $15:

White one is full price of $17 lol.  They have 3 other colors too - dark gray, a light teal color and coral.  I just wanted some neutral colors so I went with black and white.

I like the looseness of the size S.  I'm glad I didn't go with XS which I contemplated since GAP usually runs big:

The back is knotted so my regular bra straps are showing:

You can see the pattern better in the white one, I like it!

 

So, I'm still unsure of how I feel about Athleta.  The two crops I like from there are nice but not amazing.  I think they are overpriced for what they are.  Of course the $29 sale price can't be beat.  But most of their full price items just don't excite me at all.  I will keep checking Athleta, but so far my favorite brands I've discovered for workout tights are still Lululemon, Splits59 and Beyond Yoga.