Within the yr of our Lord 2025, no wardrobe is full with out a pair of black leggings. Comfortable, stretchy tights have change into as important as blue denims and white T-shirts—put on ’em on cozy nights in, put on ’em whereas exercising, throw on an outsized blazer or sweater and put on ’em to the workplace (in case your costume code permits…use your judgement, we’re not your boss).
However relating to choices for black leggings, the restrict doesn’t exist. So the SELF workforce set to work testing tights from fan-favorite manufacturers like Athleta, Lululemon, Previous Navy, and extra to see that are the perfect on your wants, be that for operating or operating errands, namaste-ing or staying in.
Our high picks
Greatest Total: Athleta Salutation Stash Excessive-Rise Legging
Runner Up: Aritzia PowerSculpt New Cheeky Hello-Rise Legging
Greatest Funds Decide: Previous Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings
Greatest for Lounging: Vuori AllTheFeels Legging
Greatest for Most Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Tight
Greatest for Compression: Spanx Form Booty Increase 7/8 Leggings
Greatest for Lifting: Underneath Armour Meridian Leggings
Greatest for Yoga: Adidas Ladies’s All Me 7/8 Leggings
Greatest for Carrying All Day: Nike Ladies’s Mild Assist Excessive-Waisted Full-Size Leggings
Greatest Maternity Leggings: Hole Maternity On a regular basis Full Panel Leggings
On this article
What to search for when selecting black leggings
First issues first: What are you shopping for these leggings for? A pair meant for bodily exercise will want particular options—like moisture-wicking supplies or compression—that may not be as necessary to you if the plan is to put on them whereas catching up on Severance. Listed here are some standards to bear in mind as you weigh your choices.
All leggings should be tight and stretchy (in the event that they’re not these items, they’re not leggings), which suggests they’ll embrace materials like spandex, Lycra, or elastane. For train leggings, you’ll additionally need to search for sweat-wicking supplies like polyester or nylon, Alysha Flynn, founding father of the feminine operating neighborhood What Runs You, beforehand instructed SELF. Lounging leggings, in the meantime, could embrace cotton or wool blends.
In line with Lauren Leavell, licensed private coach and barre teacher, be sure that your leggings permit you to transfer with out feeling restricted. Whereas all leggings are supposed to match near the physique, totally different pairs have totally different ranges of stretch and compression. “In athletics, the concept behind compression put on is to enhance blood circulation or oxygen supply to muscle tissue,” James Borchers, MD, director of the division of sports activities drugs at Ohio State College Wexner Medical Heart, beforehand instructed SELF. Nevertheless, there aren’t many research to again these claims, so there isn’t a lot a “greatest” degree of compression as one which’s “greatest for you”—a.okay.a. no matter feels cozy.
Do you want a pocket to maintain your telephone bodily connected to your physique always? A drawstring to maintain your leggings’ waistband tight? Or will you be operating exterior and wish a pair with a zippered compartment on your keys and ID? Options aren’t all the time simply added bells and whistles—they’ll make the distinction between a legging that will get the job finished and one which makes you carry out even higher.
How we selected the leggings on this record
SELF editors sifted via on-line opinions to search out beloved leggings the world over extensive internet, then put a number of the high picks via their paces. Testers wore their leggings for a number of actions—together with operating, yoga, biking, and college pickup—over the course of the testing interval (testing time assorted by individual, however it was a minimum of one month lengthy) and washed them in response to the care directions. We additionally thought-about previous winners from SELF’s Activewear Awards.
Store one of the best black leggings
In a sea of black leggings, these are prime catches.
Greatest Total: Athleta Salutation Stash Excessive-Rise Legging
Professionals
- Supersoft cloth
- Sturdy; holds as much as years of exercises and washings
- Roomy leg pocket doesn’t add bulk to the silhouette
Cons
- Not probably the most compressive choice on this record
There’s a superb purpose why Athleta’s Salutation Stash leggings took high honors in our 2024 Activewear Awards: They’re comfortable, supple, and final endlessly. “These are my the whole lot leggings! I’ve been shopping for the Stash from Athleta for years, and so they maintain up,” one awards tester mentioned. “I educate barre, elevate weights, hike trails, and browse the aisles of Dealer Joe’s in them continuously.”
I really like how the waistband helps my core with out rearranging my organs, and the material mix (which incorporates moisture-wicking nylon, Lycra, and polyester) can stand as much as sweaty exercise classes—imagine me, I sweat a ton.
Sizes: XXS to 3XL | Lengths: Petite, common, and tall | Supplies: Nylon, Lycra, recycled polyester, elastane, polyester (relying on the colour)
Runner Up: Aritzia PowerSculpt New Cheeky Hello-Rise Legging
Professionals
- Sculpting waistband with a drawstring
- Out there in numeric sizing for a extra exact match
Cons
- No pockets
- Not very size-inclusive
Don’t sleep on Aritzia’s activewear. The Cheeky Hello-Rise Leggings within the model’s PowerSculpt cloth are easy, modern, and keep put via each squat, lunge, and ahead fold. In case you love the type’s booty-lifting look however want a much less compressive match, the identical design is obtainable in 5 totally different materials that, in response to Aritzia, are higher for decrease and medium-impact actions.
Sizes: 00 to 12 | Lengths: Ankle-length; measurement S is 26″ | Supplies: Nylon, elastane
Greatest Funds Decide: Previous Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings
Professionals
- Underneath $40—and infrequently on sale for much less
- Facet pockets
- Sweat-wicking cloth
Cons
- Reviewers report they run small
Professional tip: You don’t must spend a bundle to get a top quality pair of black leggings. Previous Navy’s Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings had been the number-one choose by SELF readers in our 2024 Activewear Awards, and so they’ll run you simply $40 (even much less once they’re on sale, which is usually). “They’re comfy AF, slimming, and so they truly keep up throughout runs! I actually have 25 pairs, and so they’re the one bottoms I’ll do races in,” one tester mentioned. “The facet pockets are so nice, I don’t even must put on operating belts throughout my coaching runs to maintain my telephone, gum, and keys helpful.”
Sizes: XS to 4X | Lengths: Common, tall, petite; common size is 28″ | Supplies: Polyester, spandex
Greatest for Lounging: Vuori AllTheFeels Legging
Professionals
- Light-weight cloth has nice stretch
- Comfortable, brushed feeling
Cons
- Knit materials can maintain in warmth and sweat
“After years of sporting and writing about leggings, I lastly know what manufacturers are speaking about once they say their tights have a ‘second pores and skin’ really feel, thanks to those leggings,” SELF’s senior commerce author Sara Coughlin says. “They’re lighter than air, endlessly stretchy, and really a pleasure to put on.” Coughlin wore the Vuori leggings for an entire day: She lounged on the sofa, she went for a stroll, she performed with the canine, “and I by no means as soon as felt distracted by my leggings,” she says.
Nevertheless, she doesn’t advocate this pair for exercises as a result of their thicker, knit materials traps in warmth and moisture. “The leggings felt nice whereas I used to be stretching, however began to really feel a little bit heat after I began lifting weights and transferring round,” Coughlin says about sporting the AllTheFeels to the health club. “I’m nonetheless glad to have them in my closet—they are surely uniquely and blissfully comfy—however now I do know they’re strictly lounging leggings.”
Sizes: XXS to XXL | Lengths: Brief, common, lengthy | Supplies: Recycled polyamide, elastane
Greatest for Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Tight
Professionals
- Extensive, comfy waistband with pocket
- Out there in 4 lengths
- Fast-drying cloth
Cons
- Reviewers say the material feels skinny (however not flimsy)
- No facet pockets
Lululemon’s Wunder Prepare Tight is designed for the health club or health studio (however nonetheless seems sharp out to brunch or bopping round city). This pair is comprised of the model’s Everlux cloth, which is a mix of sweat-wicking nylon and Lycra. It options four-way stretch (so the leggings are simply as versatile as you might be) and has medium compression, so it’s extra supportive than the model’s well-liked Align and Wunder Underneath kinds however is simply as comfortable to the contact.
With numeric sizes from 0 via 20 and 4 out there lengths, you’ll be able to combine and match specs to search out your excellent match; then cinch the waistband’s drawstring for those who want much more customization. Throughout my testing—which included a number of sweaty Peloton biking courses and power coaching classes—I discovered the Wunder Trains to be extra light-weight and a little bit looser than the Athleta Salutations. (In case you like a mild maintain, go on your common measurement; I’d advocate sizing up for those who want much less compression and down for a tighter match.)
Sizes: 0 to twenty | Lengths: 4 lengths out there: 23″, 25″, 28″, 31″ | Supplies: Nylon, Lycra elastane
Greatest for Compression: SPANXshape Booty Increase 7/8 Leggings
Professionals
- Contoured waistband and no middle entrance seam
- Squat-proof cloth stays opaque whilst you transfer
Cons
- Could also be too tight for some
- Not out there in full-length
In case your high precedence with leggings is trying snatched, we’ve discovered your match. Shapewear model Spanx is doing what it does greatest with the SPANXshape Booty Increase Leggings: The pair’s modern, slippery cloth gives a lot assist, I really feel like a Bond lady (or a seal…however, like, in a great way?) after I put on them.
This type has additionally taken dwelling SELF Activewear Awards a number of years, proving it has extra to supply than attractiveness by holding as much as hard-core CrossFit circuits and dance cardio courses. “These are perfection,” mentioned one tester, who wears a measurement 2X. “They didn’t transfer. The leggings are high-waisted and canopy my whole tummy as a plus-size lady. The place have these leggings been all my life?”
Sizes: XS to 3X | Lengths: 7/8 size: 25″ | Supplies: Nylon, elastane
Greatest for Weightlifting: Underneath Armour Ladies’s UA Meridian Leggings
Professionals
- Out there briefly lengths and in plus sizes
- Two facet pockets
Cons
- Reviewers report instances of VPL (seen panty traces)
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