The Great Lularoe Craze of 2016

Let me paint you a picture.

It was 2016. I was in the last weeks of a nine month long maternity leave. I had spent a lot of time caring for my newborn twins and very little time wearing anything that resembled work clothes. I needed something that was comfortable but also work worthy. Something that would fit on the new shape that I found my body in.

Enter LulaRoe.

A brand that promised comfortable, fashionable clothes. All you had to do was RACE for the style you wanted, in the pattern you wanted. Thousands of woman (and some men) were on Facebook ready to SELL YOU ALL THE LEGGINGS and dresses and skirts and tops.

Those leggings, though.

That’s how they sucked you in. It was an epidemic. “Try our buttery soft leggings,” they said.

Wear these crazy patterns, and these other crazy patterns, and what’s that? You want BLACK leggings.

DON’T BE RIDICULOUS. ONLY THE ELITE AMONG YOU WILL GET BLACK LEGGINGS. WE WILL CHARGE DOUBLE FOR THEM. YOU WILL LINE UP LIKE DOGS AND RACE FOR THEM.

That was the catch. These were leggings you MUST have, but the patterns and colors were completely random. Sellers couldn’t pick which patterns they wanted to sell. They picked size and quantity and the company sent whatever the heck they pleased.

Some of the patterns were nice. Some, though, were HIDEOUS. Online communities popped up for the sole purpose of making fun of the patterns.

So in order to sell them, sellers would throw them all on facebook and buyers would rush to type “SOLD” before the next buyer. Fastest fingers won. It was MADNESS.

I know what you’re thinking: Melissa, what does this have to do with work clothes? You said you needed work clothes.

Lularoe also sold dresses, skirts, and shirts. That’s where the work clothes came in. All of the clothes were stretchy and most were loose fitting. One skirt in particular caught my eye. I had been invited to an online sale. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a nice conservative pencil skirt. That’s all I needed. I don’t wear leggings. That’s absurd.

It was like a drug.

The first time I typed “SOLD” underneath an item and WON THAT ITEM I got a little high. I needed more. I started seeking out “Mega Parties” where multiple sellers worked together. The more inventory, the better. I expanded into the dresses. T-shirt dresses, a-line dresses, pleats.

I tried the leggings. OMG.

Stripes, polka dots, unicorns, elephants, flowers, tie-dye. I stalked sales, looking for THAT pattern in MY size.

Packages kept coming. Multiple in a day. I needed shirts to go with skirts. I had to pattern match, IT WAS WILD.

I can’t even tell you how much I spent. I have no clue. I still wear a piece (or 2 or 3 or 4) of LuLaRoe’s polyester clothing every week. It’s my penance, I’ll wear it until it falls apart. Then, at least, it was worth it, right?

Was there a time in your life that you LOST YOUR MIND and bought all the things? Tell me about it!!