Are These $20 Costco Pants a Lululemon Dupe? We Investigated.

New York Times

17-04-2025

While I tested Lululemon's pants in the Classic Fit, they were still decidedly slim-fit on me. With a leg opening of just over 6 inches in the Classic Fit, I cannot imagine how slim Lululemon's actual slim-fit pants are. These pants fit more like joggers and looked silly when worn over Blundstones.
Kirkland's pants, however, had a slightly wider leg opening, at more than 7 inches. In general, Kirkland's men's clothing is less slim-fitting than that of stores like J.Crew, which can make them look bulkier and less fashionable at times. But in this instance, I think this design aesthetic works to Kirkland's advantage. The slightly slimmer fit of the Lululemon ABC pants (top) against the Kirkland pants' wider leg opening (bottom). Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter
But there were issues.
Although it is difficult to measure rise when pants have a gusseted crotch, the Kirkland pants came up higher and sat closer to my natural waist. Although I usually find a higher rise more flattering and versatile, that was not the case here. Something about the design of these trousers created a lot of fabric tension in the upper part of my body, which at times gave the pants a kind of moose-knuckley aesthetic I most assuredly would not want to wear in public.
By comparison, slim though they may be, the Lululemon ABC pants fit comfortably in the seat and did not create a series of unflattering lines around the crotch.
Over the course of about two weeks, I swapped out my daily uniform of black jeans for these two pairs of pants, wearing them in my daily life, on long car rides, to the movies, and out in the world.
I found that the ABC pants, with their slimness and the visual look of their knit fabric, felt a little out of place in a business-casual wardrobe. The fact that they borrow design elements from athletic wear, jeans, and chinos makes them not entirely any one thing. Something about the aggressive leg taper that hugged my calves looked off when I wore them with a tucked-in oxford shirt. They looked best with more dressed-down styles such as hoodies and a cardigan, and with sneakers rather than leather shoes.
They were, however, exceedingly comfortable, and their lower rise and crotch gusset made them feel more like Adidas track pants than chinos, even as they resembled the latter more than the former.
The Kirkland pants were also comfortable to wear, thanks in large part to the gusset and the elastic waistband. But the strangeness of the cut made me feel like I wanted to wear them only in situations where comfort entirely superseded style. They would be great for a long flight, but the pattern made the pants pull in weird places, and unlike with the ABC pants, it made me feel more like a schlub.