I really feel nice when understanding and love yoga pants. I might put on them on a regular basis, besides I’m not positive they’re an alternative to common pants. Is there an alternate for on a regular basis put on? One thing that’s as comfy and flattering but in addition qualifies as precise pants? — Mary, Raleigh, N.C.
Yoga pants — that’s to say, leggings however with the next waist and constructed from thicker materials than precise leggings (generally, although not essentially, with a little bit of flare on the ankle) — are clothes that, particularly throughout pandemic lockdowns, turned one thing of a pleasure to put on.
Prioritizing each consolation and motion, they allowed us to have our cake and snack on it at house, too. Little marvel that, given the give attention to well being and wellness and our more and more dressed-down day, they’ve grow to be a primary a part of many wardrobes.
However because the return to work has picked up not less than some steam, so has the controversy concerning the precise “pants-ness” of yoga pants. Do they or do they not qualify? That is partly why they’re generally generally known as “boot-cut leggings” or “flared leggings” as a substitute of “yoga pants.” By borrowing the language of pants, they edge nearer to that class.
However let’s be trustworthy: Yoga pants should not pants. Pants are there to reshape the physique in a roundabout way. To tailor it into a unique silhouette — straighter, longer, extra flowing — within the eyes of the watching world. To offer a modicum of safety or social camouflage. Yoga pants, however, are rather more about revealing the physique in a few of its glory. And revealing the physique within the office or on the road is a sophisticated determination.
Fortunately, the stylist Tina Chai stated, there’s a center floor. First, attempt to perceive what precisely it’s you want most about your yoga pants. Is it the ingredient of stretch? The elastic waist? The truth that they sit near the legs however don’t constrain them? The way in which they announce your exercise routine to the world? Then resolve which of these values is most vital. Most certainly, there’s a real-world substitute.
Certainly, an Italian model known as Excessive Sport has just about made its identify by providing very costly stretch pants with a little bit of a flare. (It calls them the Kick pants.) They’re constructed from technical cloth and derived from just about the identical genetic materials as yoga pants.
To not be outdone, manufacturers like Alo Yoga have expanded their choices to incorporate pantlike kinds that nonetheless share many qualities with yoga pants (and are extra reasonably priced than Excessive Sport variations).
Wherever you store, Ms. Chai suggested that you just search for “pull-on pants — no buttons or zippers.” Then, she stated, select a “knit that’s tightly woven and compact so it provides the pants construction, which makes them flattering, however with a little bit of stretch, which makes them comfy.”
Lastly, for some styling oomph, she suggests pairing your yogalike pants with a high or jacket in the identical coloration for a monochromatic look. “It will probably take you from the workplace to a celebration or the aircraft, all with the change of a shoe,” she stated. And possibly a solar salutation or two.