# Lululemon - the "bend over" test **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577 "2013-03-21T22:35:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/1 "2013-03-21T22:35:35Z")
Lululemon is recalling some of its yoga pants because the company says they are [too transparent](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-21/lululemon-forecast-trails-estimates-on-pulled-transparent-pants.html). It says that they passed all of the relevant tests and that the only way to really know if they really aren’t opaque enough is to put them on and bend over. > [@](#): > > Wall Street analysts from Robert W. Baird & Co. to Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. peppered [Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)](http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/LULU:US) executives today with questions about how the yoga-wear retailer is handling a recall of women’s pants for being too transparent. > > Lululemon said on March 18 that some shipments of its black Luon pants were too sheer and didn’t meet its standards. The shortage will reduce fiscal full-year earnings by as much as 27 cents a share, Lululemon said today. Analysts asked Chief Executive Officer Christine Day how employees were handling returns, whether the company was changing suppliers and how the pants made it out of the factory in the first place. > > “The truth of the matter is the only way you can actually test for the issue is to put the pants on and bend over,” Day said on today’s conference call. “Just putting the pants on themselves doesn’t solve the problem. It passed all of the basic metric tests and the hand-feel is relatively the same, so it was very difficult for the factories to isolate the issue, and it wasn’t until we got in the store and started putting it on people that we could actually see the issue.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/2 "2013-03-21T23:31:49Z")
Or at least the place your issue issues from. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/3 "2013-03-21T23:35:05Z")
I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to get that. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/4 "2013-03-21T23:53:29Z")
I’m not convinced the whole thing isn’t a clever publicity stunt as they’ve been all over the news with their brand name for the past couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/5 "2013-03-21T23:56:06Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I’m not convinced the whole thing isn’t a clever publicity stunt as they’ve been all over the news with their brand name for the past couple of days. I’ve been wondering that too. This is not a real story of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/6 "2013-03-22T00:48:12Z")
There are never any pictures ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/7 "2013-03-22T00:52:29Z")
Methinks I’m going to apply to one of their stores to be a tester. “Please bend over & I’ll tell you if they’re too thin.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/8 "2013-03-22T15:56:47Z")
Talk about your creating an artificial demand. If you’ve never heard of Lululemon before I’m sure you have by now. And, by the way “OMG! There’s going to be a shortage on these yoga pants!” Hey, it worked for twinkies. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/9 "2013-03-22T16:42:27Z")
Why are they recalling them? Just remarket them as erotic wear and they’d probably sell more than the regular ones (which are coat-of-paint form fitting already). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/10 "2013-03-22T16:54:04Z")
I’ve seen clothing that gets “more opaque” under certain lights. Like florescent, or strong direct light can sometimes make stuff more see through. It’s why you get celeb photos with see thru tops. Not see through at home, but shoot a high powered flash at them and “bing” instant x-ray vision. Now here in NYC at least, women wearing basically tights out as pants is a trend. I love it. It’s like living in Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/11 "2013-03-22T17:34:09Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I’m not convinced the whole thing isn’t a clever publicity stunt as they’ve been all over the news with their brand name for the past couple of days. Yep – I never heard of them till now. Not being a yoga officianado, or a trendy person. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/12 "2013-03-22T17:38:43Z")
Can I still get the “see-through” ones? As a gift for my wife. As pajamas. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/13 "2013-03-22T18:02:34Z")
I heard on NPR that this has happened to Lulumen at least 3 times before. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/14 "2013-03-22T18:52:55Z")
Yoga pants. Bend over test. Hand-feel. [Sulu]Oh myyyy![/Sulu] ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/15 "2013-03-22T20:04:06Z")
85% of men surveyed were vehemently opposed to the recall. It must be true, I saw it on the Internet…:0) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/16 "2013-03-22T20:08:59Z")
Maybe I’ll get my wife to do a quality control test tonight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/17 "2013-03-22T20:15:38Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > There are never any pictures ☹ Exactly. I refuse to believe this until I see proof. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/18 "2013-03-22T20:24:33Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Exactly. I refuse to believe this until I see proof. Wrong site, you want [Reddit.com](http://Reddit.com) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/19 "2013-03-23T03:37:50Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Yep – I never heard of them till now. Not being a yoga officianado, or a trendy person. At first, I wondered how this could be possible. Have you been living under a rock for the past ten years? Even if you’re not into yoga, you’ve probably _met_ someone who’s into yoga, or you really hate people who are really into yoga, or you’ve _met_ someone who really hates people who are really into yoga, or you have been annoyed by someone who falls into any of the previous categories, and therefore the conversation at some point has been steered towards how great/ridiculous lululemon is. …and then I realized I’m from Vancouver, which is ground zero for the whole regrettable affair. Very envious of your relatively sheltered life. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577/20 "2013-03-23T04:38:57Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > At first, I wondered how this could be possible. Have you been living under a rock for the past ten years? Pfttt, pftt. Me and my people have been living under this here rock for generations. What’s it to you? When we’re old enough, we braid our groin hair to look like your fancy “clothing” and use a mixture of crushed insects and tree bark to dye it. Were it not for the fact that they are a pubically traded company, I too would be blissfully unaware of them, but it’s how we make our money - and a dirty business it is too I can assure you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lululemon-the-bend-over-test/653577.md?page=2)