The Difference Between Yoga Pants And Leggings Explained

The difference between leggings and yoga pants summary:

  • Leggings are meant to be worn under your clothes to give you warmth and comfort while yoga pants are meant to be used for exercise and obviously doing yoga.
  • Many women say that yoga pants are much more comfortable than leggings because they are much more flexible and offer more support in the waistband.
  • Yoga pants gives you the added confidence yo stretch and exercise with no worries of see through fabric or tears as opposite to leggings which are thinner.
  • Most yoga pants come with a flare at the bottom, but in recent years many brands make yoga pants that are tight in the ankle and calling them yoga leggings.
  • Yoga pants have a thick waistband that can be folded over giving more support. Leggings do not.
  • Leggings were made for warmth or for dancers and acrobats while yoga pants were meant for doing yoga.

The full article about the differences between yoga pants and leggings.

We wear them all the time, when we go for a run, when we go to the gym, when we do yoga, even when we just want to pop by the store to buy a snack, the Leggings/tights/yoga pants have become much more than what you think they are.

They are fashionable items you can wear to different events and activities. But Many women out there actually don’t really know the difference  between leggings and yoga pants and even tights, while they all look pretty much the same, just a soft tight pants right?! WRONG!

There are big differences between each type of leg wear and you should know what they are so you could wear the right one when you need to. We decided to clear this up for you once and for all and tell you what are the differences between leggings and yoga pants?

What are Leggings?

Leggings became super popular lately, and we are all very well aware of that, they are an awesome choice for many activities and they look truly great if combined properly.

Back in the days leggings were just a layering piece that was picked and wrapped around your legs to fight the cold, but today it is a whole different story.

Today, we wear leggings literally anywhere and not just as a layer to our ‘normal clothing’, we wear them to the store, to our doctor, we combine them with casual and many other clothing combinations. To learn more about what are leggings, read the article linked here.

There are different types of leggings as well:

Thin

difference between yoga pants and leggings - thin leggings example

The thin leggings are just a little bit thicker than tights, but still thin enough to be very delicate and add just a small amount of warmth to your legs.

They are usually see through so exercising with them is not recommended but they sure feel nice on your body as they are very delicate and could be perfect to be worn under a skirt or around the house.

100% cotton

100% cotton leggings

These are your everyday leggings and usually the most popular, Women today have adopted the leggings as an everyday pants and wear them casually to pretty much anywhere. The 100% cotton type is thick enough to not be see through but thin to feel comfortable. Easy choice to most women in today’s world.

Fleece

fleece lined leggings inside and outside look

The fleece lined leggings are the warmer of the bunch, they are usually a little bit thicker and can actually provide warmth to your legs and body, they come in many styles and colors as they are commonly considered a clothing item rather than just a leg warmer.

Length of the leggings

Most leggings are footless and reach just under your knee ( but actually today there are more popular all the way down to the ankle ), you can find many different styles and patterns printed and various colors to suit every taste of every mood or person.

leggings length examples

The waistband of the leggings is usually a fold over or just one band. It will usually reach your waistline or just above it – there are various styles to fit every women and her comfort zone.

There are several types of fit size to leggings:

Skin tight: As the name implies, this will be tight, pretty close to actual tights, but maybe a little bit looser, but it will be tight, feeling it close to the skin.

skin fit yoga pants fit

Looser fit: This will be your everyday leggings that are much less tighter and feel more relaxed and loose. However there are girls who prefer the feeling of the tight leggings on their skin as it makes them feel more comfortable.

loose yoga pants fit

What are Yoga pants?

Yoga pants have become super popular in the past couple of years, just like leggings. Yoga pants are considered an alternative to pants and they are worn casually in most cases.

Many women out there love wearing yoga pants, even if they know nothing about yoga and they have never even tried it. It’s safe to say that the yoga pants are the new fashionable trend and it’s not going away anytime soon.

The main difference between yoga pants and leggings is the thickness of the waistband where in all Yoga pants you will have a thick sometime double fabric covering your waistband but in the same time very flexible so you won’t feel pressure.

difference between yoga pants and leggings - yoga pants waistband

The yoga pants are tight in the butt area but become more loose as you go down the leg all the way to the foot.

This gives you freedom to do all the complicated yoga poses without worrying and feeling the fabric stretch against your skin as with leggings ( Although please note that many women do yoga with leggings and there’s nothing wrong with that ).

You can be positive that the thick waistband of the yoga pants will hold while you exercise and do yoga poses, many women have reviewed the yoga pants saying they are much more comfortable to wear than leggings, could be because of their thicker fabric and fit.

You can get these pants in several different lengths: ankle.cropped and even booty shorts.