Fabletics is a monthly fitness apparel subscription co-founded by Kate Hudson. You can shop Fabletics in two ways—you can shop the regular store, or you can sign up for their VIP membership. VIP memberships work like this:
- Take the Fabletics quiz, which will let the company know your size, style, and fitness needs.
- Each month, Fabletics will curate looks that match your preferences. According to the website, outfits start at $24.00 for new VIP members. (I'm not sure if "new members" refers to just your first order, though.)
- Shop those looks at 40-50% off what you'd get just paying retail, or skip the month. You have to make your decision by the 5th of the month. If you do neither, the $49.95 monthly membership fee will be saved to your account as a credit, which you can put towards other outfits later.
- As you shop, you'll also earn points that can be applied to accessories and other cool fitness essentials.
Long story short, this subscription won't automatically send you monthly packages like other services do. (But they will automatically charge you if you take no action.) You have to hop into your account and either decide to add items to your card or skip it. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time, though you do have to call into Fabletics customer service to do it.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Fabletics VIP Fitness Apparel & Accessories Membership
The Subscription Box: Fabletics VIP Membership
The Cost: $49.95 a month. This price goes towards the cost of the outfits curated for you. The cost of outfits varies, but you'll only be charged for what you choose to actually buy. If you want, you can choose to skip the month, and you won't be charged. If you don't spend your $49.95 nor choose to skip, Fabletics will charge you the $49.95 and just save it as store credit for you to use later.
The Products: High-quality, on-trend athletic clothing curated to fit your size, style, and needs. Think leggings, tops, shorts, and outerwear for yoga, running, and all kinds of other workouts.
Ships to: The contiguous United States for free when you spend $49.95 or more. $4.95 flat rate shipping if you spend less than that threshold. $9.00 to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and APO addresses. $5.95 VIP rate to Australia, or $9.95 otherwise.
Fabletics Sports Bra & Bike Shorts Review
As usual, my order included a printed-out copy of my invoice with return and exchange information on the reverse side. I can also access all of this info via my online Fabletics account, just FYI.
This month, I decided to do things a little differently. Usually, I'll choose one of Fabletics' recommended outfits as my purchase for the month. Fabletics outfits tend to include between two and four items per look for less than they'd cost to buy separately. The styles involved in each outfit are pre-set, but I've found that I often have the option to change the color/pattern of certain pieces or the sizes that they've served me. (Fabletics gets your sizing info when you sign up, then automatically selects those sizes for you each month. I like how that feature gives me one less step to worry about when shopping, but it's nice you can adjust things if need be, too.)
Most months, I can find an outfit that matches my style/needs, but this month, I was having a little trouble. The outfits were all really cute, but not quite me. There were a couple navy and white combos that I was gravitating towards, but I worried about the longevity of a beachy all-white outfit with fall is right around the corner here in Pennsylvania. I also noticed that for August, Fabletics was offering a larger-than-usual assortment called "Kate's Edit", which included nine items, including a Nest candle and a gym bag. At a member price of almost $200 (and over $500 retail), the 9-item edit was outside what I felt like spending for the month. But there were two items featured in the assortment that had me just smitten—a polka-dot bra and a polka-dot pair of bike shorts.
Luckily, you don't have to purchase an outfit in order to fulfill your monthly purchase with Fabletics. So rather than opting for the edit, I dug into the Fabletics Bras and Bottoms categories and nabbed the two pieces I wanted a la carte.
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Ella Shine High Impact Sports Bra, Size Medium - Retail Value $59.95, VIP Price $44.95
First up is this awesome, stylish, high-impact sports bra. I really like the coverage that this look offers—I feel hugged by it, but not stifled or stuffed in. The swooping, criss-crossing back straps are honestly a little complicated for my taste (though they aren't hard to wriggle into at all), but it's easy for me to look past the straps given the suuuper cute periwinkle and cobalt polka dot pattern. I'm not sure which of Fabletics' fabrics this bra is made of (the make-up is 82% polyester, 18% elastane), but the outer shell feels awfully similar to the smooth, light UltraCool fabric that the shorts are made of. I wore this bra to a workout class and felt really comfortable and secure through the whole sweat sesh.
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High-Waisted Printed Ultra-Cool Shorts, Size Large - Retail Value $44.95, VIP Price $34.95
I'm not the biggest fan of shorts, but during hot, humid roller derby practices, they're a must-have. These UltraCool shorts are smooth as butter with just enough thickness to feel sturdy. They aren't terribly compressive, but they do have a slight smoothing effect. One thing I don't have to worry about with these shorts is them rolling or sliding down—the waist is very high! There's a pocket inside that waistband, too, for keys, gym membership cards, and the like. One thing I did notice is that these shorts tended to ride up a little more than I'd hoped. I wore them to a spin class this week, and by the end of the first sprint of the session, the legs had shimmied up to more of a short-shorts length. But I'm going to keep them in my rotation, just because that violet and navy pattern is so darn cute!
The Verdict: I was very grateful for the flexibility of the Fabletics program this month. It's cool to be able to pick from recommended outfits OR go my own way, trusting my own style and budget. I'm delighted by the peppy patterns of these two not-quite-matching looks, and the feel of the summer-friendly fabric on both the bra and the shorts was incredibly comfortable. I know by now that Fabletics pieces have awesome longevity, washing and wearing brilliantly over and over again. I'm excited to mix and match this a la carte set into my current workout wardrobe, and I already have my fingers crossed that more simple, quirky patterns like these pop up in upcoming Fabletics collections.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this outfit if you sign up today? Yes, though some sizes are sold out.
Value Breakdown: The two pieces I purchased had a total retail cost of $104.90, but member pricing brought the cost down to $79.90 (a savings of about 24%).
Check out all of our Fabletics reviews and the best 2019 workout clothing subscriptions for women and men!
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