These naxos crops by Olympia Activewear had been on my wishlist for ages. When Carbon38 was running a 20% off flash deal, I pounced! I love the geometric contrast of the black and nude.
I’ve talked about the fabric Olympia uses in their bottoms in my last review. The polyester blend is lush and soft, but slick like lululemon’s luxtreme, not cottony like supplex or luon. Pet hair brushes off pretty easily, which is a big plus for my house. It’s pretty thin, which means it’s good for warm climates, but it also means coverage is ok, but not amazing. Bright colored undies are visible in a deep squat/bend. I noted in my previous review that VPL was a bit of an issue, but it didn’t seem quite as noticeable on this pair. That said, I think my moto leggings in iron overall have a bit better coverage.
Sizing is the same as my other Olympia bottoms. As a lululemon size 2 and an XXS/XS in other brands, Olympia’s size P fits me just fine. The waistband doesn’t cut in at all. If you’re on the bigger end of your size, you may be more comfortable sizing up. There is a seam where the black meets the nude, but this hit at a nice place on my legs and I didn’t have any issues. It’s designed to sort of frame your knee, with the apex hitting above your kneecap. The overall length is pretty much your standard longer-ish crop length. My size P measured 17.5″, but they stretch a lot in the vertical direction, and in my opinion fit a bit longer than the measurement might lead you to believe. The apex of the nude colorblocking on my pair was situated 8.25″ from the hem.
The styling is understated, with just the knee accents and no fussy seaming or mesh. Olympia’s signature custom elastic waistband contrasts beautifully and accents the nude leg detail.
The stitching is black all over, so there’s a little bit of black visible on the inside nude accent if you’re really picky. As I noted in my previous review, these are not flatlocked seams, but they are comfortable on me so this isn’t a mark against them in my book.
“Jet” is aptly named: these crops are really, really black and have a subtle, beautiful luster to them. Because of the nature of the fabric, I don’t think they will fade or lose their luster with washing like many black leggings do. Unfortunately, the nude colorblocking didn’t work well for me. I just didn’t like how it looked up against the skin tone of my legs. If I was significantly more tan or my skin had different undertones (I’m sort of a pink-beige-yellow, I think), it might go a little better. Boo hiss. For what it’s worth, I used my decidedly olive-toned bf as a test subject, and they seemed to go nicely when I held them up to his arm.
Overall, I ended up reluctantly returning these. The nude coloring issue was my biggest gripe, and since I spend a lot of time squatting and bending for my lifting, the so-so coverage was the nail in the coffin. Not to mention, I have quite a few black crops at this point so I have to be a little choosy. So sad, since I was excited about these. Better luck next time.
Where you can find a pair of Olympia’s naxos to try for yourself:
I think you could still rock these but agree that the Moto leggings look better. I had bought the Petra tank in nude mesh from Olympia thinking it would look nice with my darker skin, but my husband remarked that it looked like pantyhose (and he rarely comments on my activewear) :/
Ahh that’s too bad. Boo, husband. For some reason the tone of the petra tank worked a little better for me, not sure why.
This hurts my heart. I’ve got a fair skin tone as well :| Thanks for the info! You saved me the hassle.
If your skin is a little more pink and less yellow compared to mine, it might be fine for fair tones. I’m not sure though, skin tones are kind of a black box to me, lol. Sorry to be the bearer of not-so-great news though. :(
Great review. I actually ordered these about a month ago from Revolve and had the exact same experience, reluctantly returning them, so I’ve been curious how you found them. I’m very excited about this brand, though. Maybe I should try the Moto Legging. I have the Thebes long sleeve tee in nude and I love that. Also, I emailed them an inquiry about their bras (apparently I can’t shut up about bras these days) and the person who wrote back to me indicated that they are working on designs that will work for those with a small frame and large bust. Exciting!
It’s nice for me to know it wasn’t just me either. :) I’m happy to hear that about the bras too! I’d love to try one.
It’s interesting how the waistband is really nice with the nude chevron print, but the similar nude fabric at bottom looks so odd. They kinda look like Peter Pan pants. But with skin-toned ice-skater-dress fabric to hide scary knees…
Haha, Peter Pan pants! I had a pair of frond WUC that a friend said looked like Peter Pan pants once, but for a different reason. :) It looks great in the stock photos but kinda disappears oddly on me.
Seriously though, you pretty much always looks fantastic in everything lycra/spandex (even though you may not think so). So, when there is something that just doesn’t quite work for you, I figure they likely won’t work on most other people…
haha I can’t carry off the nude too. For a moment I thought those capris had very interesting knee-length cut before I realised it was a nude coloured cloth!
Man you look awesome in those anyhow. :) wished I had your bod!! I started xfit sometime back and still look pudgy ahha
Heh, yeah, the nude contrast shows up a lot better in stock pics and in real life than on me in these pics…eek! Those would’ve been some wacky crops without it, lol. Also, thank you for the kind words. :)
i’m super late here but looking into my first olympia leggings and curious to hear more about the fabric. i like leggings with a comfortable gusset and fabric that smooths a bit — like werkshop-level is ideal. i fear that these are much thinner and less compressive. is that the right impression?
I’m also super-late replying. ;) They actually changed their fabric since I wrote this review. The stripes fabric that I bought recently is a little more smoothing and lightly compressive (doesn’t really feel like luon but a similar level of support), but I’m not sure if that’s representative of their other offerings. In general, their line is more athleisure and less technical, so I wouldn’t expect a ton of support.
thanks:)