Blue Lux

Girls, are you looking for beautiful skirts with pockets? Yes, I said pockets! This is the place to go! Lots of comfortable, business casual and yoga-​lifestyle clothing. Yes, the clothing is hella pricy, but money goes to support women in Nepal or other people in need and local artisans. Plus much of this clothing fits very well if you have more of a «goddess shape» (i.e. small waist, large hips plus thighs) although only somewhat friendly if you have large shoulders and bust. (I stick to the stretchy tops.) The staff is also very friendly and eager to please. Sometimes I stay away from boutique-​y looking places because the sales staff is too aggro or too mean so don’t let this keep you from trying Blue Lux. I don’t know how many times i have driven by this place on my way to Central Market or Yoga Yoga but didn’t stop in. I’m glad I took a detour yesterday!

I went into Blue Lux on my lunch break today, curious about what this organic, fair trade women’s clothing store had. I figured probably a lot of expensive holier-​than-​thou-​hippie looking stuff.
Indeed, much of the stock was tribal-​looking tops halter tops, flowy, flowery dresses, t-​shirt material yoga-​ish capris. But they also had some more chic-​looking options too: a nautical, bandage dress, a navy blue wrap dress, a stripey sleeveless dress with smocking and pockets. And the prices weren’t as high as I thought they would be, from $ 15 for the halter top, $ 32-​$ 58 for the dresses.
I tried on several items, but they currently only stock one or two brands, obviously in California sizing. I was disappointed to find the sales person put a medium dress in the dressing room when I said I wore an 8 in designer clothes. That translates to L or XL in California sizing. That’s something that should be made clear before your customer is trapped in the dressing room with clothes she has no hope of getting into or out of (death by day dress world be a horrible way to go).
None of the dresses had any fasteners (zippers, buttons, ties), things that make getting clothes on and off easier. If you’re curvy, California sizing is not for you, especially if you must try to squeeze something on over your hips or bust that’s barely going to fit your waist.
The other thing I didn’t like about the stock was the materials. Most of the items were t-​shirt style stretch dense cotton in muted colors. Even the more saturated colors had the look of having been washed multiple times before hitting the sales floor. It’s apparently top of the line organic cotton but I just got the impression that if I were to buy one of those tops, it would deteriorate really quickly. This is something that maybe the store could educate customers on too. There was no way I was going to buy $ 50 dress that looked like it would fall apart after one wash. Other materials were linen or a rough cotton. Preferable to the stretch cotton, these didn’t feel nice against the skin, especially struggling to get in and out of.
I only found a couple flat woven cotton dresses, size smalls, on clearance in the back. This is what I hope to see more of at Blue Lux: sophisticated print dresses in woven cotton; fit and flare, A-​line, or pencil silhouette; wrap, button down or concealed zippers; with pockets We all want to look like Zooey Deschanel’s character in The New Girl, well, at least I do. I’d be willing to pay $ 50−80+ for a dress like that, which is above most of their current price points.
I asked the sales person if they would be getting in other brands soon and she said yes, so I signed up for their mailing list. Four stars because the prices were good, it’s a nice shop, and I appreciate their mission to provide organic, fair trade clothing to the women of Austin. Well, women of Austin who can comfortably wear California sizing. I wish them well (which, incidentally, my autocorrect thinks is «Errol»). So, Blue Lux, I wish you Errol.