Yoga Pants Vs. Yoga Leggings: Is There A Difference?

Name: Alo Yoga
Rating: 3.8

@lamise wearing high-waisted yoga leggings while meditating alongside a flowing river in the mountains.

The Collection

When you type “yoga pants vs. yoga leggings” into the search bar, an array of theories debating this age-old question populate into hundreds of pages we definitely don’t have the time to read. A few of our favorite hypotheses?

1. “Yoga pants are built for working out while yoga leggings are not.” (They obviously haven’t tried Alo’s legging fabrics...)

2. “Yoga pants have a bell-bottom shape while yoga leggings are tight to the ankle.” (Flutter Leggings and Zip It Flare Leggings have something to say about that.)

3. “Yoga pants are thicker and opaque while yoga leggings are lightweight and thin.” (If you believed this and have only been searching for yoga pants your whole life, we’re about to shake things up for you.)

4. & our personal fave “Yoga pants are acceptable out on the town while yoga leggings are meant to be worn under your clothes or in the studio only.” (If the phrase “studio to street” is new to you, keep reading.)

We’re going to cut straight to the chase: at Alo, there’s no difference. Why? Because we cherry-picked the very best elements of yoga pants and yoga leggings to create versatile designs that have no limitations.

Sound too good to be true? Well, we’ve asked everyone from yogis to fashion icons to pro athletes to people who just enjoy comfortable, everyday fits, and they’ve all abandoned this debate once and for all.

Whether you call them yoga leggings or yoga pants, at Alo, you’re getting a collection of designs that focus on the fit and function. Opacity isn’t limited to yoga pants. Lightweight fabric isn’t limited to yoga leggings. And, newsflash, our designs are founded upon the idea of “studio to street” — meaning they’re designed to complement your time spent on the mat and your time spent everywhere else.

We believe that each design should elevate every touchpoint of your life — from testing out a new boxing studio, to grabbing a matcha latte with friends, to a date night on the town, to picking up the kids from school, to lounging around the house for a Saturday night in (we could go on and on and on, but we’ll stop here).

While we find the yoga pants vs. yoga legging debacle silly, we do think that drawing some lines in the sand help you find the piece that’s perfect for you. Let’s be real, we’re all beautifully different and one legging design isn’t going to check the box for everyone.

The answer? FABRICS! High-performance, activity-targeted, eco-aware fabrics. Because we know time is of the essence, we’ve outlined each of our fabrics so you can skip clicking through every “O” at the bottom of the Google search page and start homing in on your perfect legging/pant.

@stephanieviada wearing the Flutter Legging in Ivory and the Delight Bralette with heels for a night-out outfit posing amongst some palm trees in her neighborhood.

Follow along with us at @Alo and @AloYoga for all the inspo on styling and versatility that’s packed into every design. And to get started on your personal legging journey, we’ve compiled some additional resources to help you along: