yoga pants
The most useful (and sometimes expensive) part of your practice. We discuss style, function, longevity, and cost so you can feel your absolute best, whatever your day holds!
Lululemon Wunder Under Tight
By FAR our top choice for yoga pants are Lululemon. Surprised? Neither are we. There’s a reason they’re arguably the most well-known athleticwear brand. The Wunder Under style is our go-to for yoga, even hot yoga, because of its extreme stretching capacity (we’ve never heard one of those heart-stopping seam rips in crow pose), sweat wicking, and will-not-roll-down-your-belly nature. Our resident hot yoga instructor swears by them, and has been wearing the same pairs for 4+ years. So, yes, we drop nearly $100 on them, but trust us—they are the definition of long-lasting.
They’re constantly coming out with new patterns and styles, so you’re welcome to blend in or stand out as you wish. And they’re on the road to sustainability: they have great sustainability goals that they’ll achieve by 2025, so they’re definitely not leading the movement here, but are moving toward reducing their planet impact. They do, however, partner with non-profits, provide free yoga gear, offer grants, and support disaster relief workers, and we really love that.
Athleta Salutation Stash Pocket II
A very close second! We love these pants because they provide a little more structural support than Lululemon’s leggings, and we feel more like we’re truly wearing clothes (that second skin feel is great for the studio, not so great for Trader Joe’s runs). They’re sweat wicking, come in great colors and patterns, and are more quick-drying (from sweat and from the laundry!) than Lulu’s. What we don’t love? The waistband. Older versions had a less-elastic waistband that felt like a belt…no thank you. This version has a seamless waistband BUT it rolls down the belly, which (if you yoga, you know) is one of the most infuriating things about yoga pants. They also tend to pill after a few wears, which is less than ideal.
This almost makes up for it though: Athleta is a B-Corp! If you haven’t heard that term, certified B-corporations are “businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose,” meaning, they do good. And they do it well. That is definitely a plus for us.
Beyond Yoga Spacedye Caught in the Midi Legging
When we say these are buttery soft, we truly mean super soft. Like really really REALLY soft. Kind of incredible actually. So for those of us who want to wear yoga pants and feel like we’re wrapped in a warm cloud and don’t care about much else? These are for you. They have beautiful colors, they wash and wear well (no pilling, no shrinking), and DID WE MENTION HOW SOFT THEY ARE.
However, we don’t typically wear this brand for our workouts. While they’ve never actually ripped or gotten a hole, they do have that heart-stopping seam ripping sound every once in a while (only during intensely stretchy poses), and usually in a sensitive area if-you-know-what-we-mean. Their waistband’s top seam is a little snug, and can dig into the belly more than we’d like, especially on bloated days. And most unfortunate of all: they’re camel-toe prone. Big time.
As for sustainability, not so much. They do create their products in LA, and partner with WRAP certified global manufacturers, but beyond that, they’re pretty quiet about their planetary footprint. Something we do love is that their sizes extend to 3X, and they’ve got a strict no-retouching policy on their photographs. We love us some body-positivity!