Yoga pants faux pas - YouLookFab Forum

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Yoga pants faux pas

BlondeAmbition

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about yoga pants. We were in disagreement about whether or not yoga pants can be worn outside of exercise, I don't think they are to be worn as casual clothing. Granted, I spend most of my day in yoga pants - mainly because I'm a stay at home Mom and in the mornings I walk to the park with my son as part of my exercise routine. They on our way home we swing by the grocery store/bank etc, and then come home. But when I'm going out I actually dress in real clothes. I wouldn't go to a movie in yoga pants, or a coffee date or shopping and there are alot of ladies out seemingly wearing yoga pants while out and about. What do you think?

Dressing

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Anonymous

I don't wear them except when I am exercising or as pajamas. So, never out of the house at all!

Peri

Veteran

The thing is, someone is seeing you and thinking "I wouldn't wear yoga pants to the grocery store or the bank". How is it okay there, for you, but not okay at a movie? How do you know the person wearing them wherever isn't also on her way home after actual yoga or the gym?

I guess the difference is going to be that a movie is a more social occasion, especially if you go at night. A lot of times for me though, a movie is a Friday afternoon, and happening after gym and before home. I don't change and I don't feel bad about it...but my gym pants aren't the stretchy revealing tights type either. And most other afternoon movie goers aren't dressed for date night either.

So possibly the difference is the time of day and the socialness of the occasion? Anyway, I think it is hard to make this kind of decision as a rule. I can decide what I feel okay in based on situation, but for everyone else I just think maybe they stopped by (fill in the blank) on their way home from (fill in the blank). Not for me to judge.

Anonymous

I think it depends on how you wear them. I would prefer to see yoga pants on some people versus skinny jeans.

I once wore yoga pants out to dinner and received several complements on how nicely I was dressed. My yoga pants look more like trousers the way I wear them.

I cannot have anything tight or binding on my waist especially when I go out to eat or I am absolutely miserable for hours.

Anonymous

I'm not understanding the distinction between being OK wearing them for errands, but not in a coffee shop or for shopping. There are certain places I wouldn't wear yoga pants (because of my personal comfort levels), but I try not to judge others that do. For all I know, they're on their way to the gym, too. And even if they're not, yoga pants have become sort of ubiquitous casual wear.

Adelfa

Veteran

I have a friend who wore them her entire pregnancy, including to work at a Fortune 500 company (in Silicon Valley). I also have a relative who wore them with a very nice top and shoes to a family memorial service. This relative is slim and beautiful so it wasn't a question of not being able to find black pants that fit. The memorial service was in the Pacific Northwest so I wondered if that was just acceptable there, though probably Angie wouldn't say so.

I would definitely wear them to the grocery store or the dog groomer after a workout. I would not put them on to wear someplace other than the gym. Not even to walk the dog.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I've had the instance where I went to a yoga class with some GFs and then we went for coffee afterwards. I live(d) 12 miles outside of town. You can bet I didn't drive 25 miles just to change. I did feel a little conspicuous, but they were also in gear, so I guess power in numbers? And being in a casual mountain town, no one else even glanced twice, it was my own internal feeling of being too dressed down.

rute

Veteran

I wore the to the gym and in the house, but never outside.

MuseumGal

Veteran

It depends on the yoga pants and how you wear them. Two springs ago I had a conference to go to and could not fit into any of my dress slacks and was not about to fork out lots of money for pants I'd only wear once. I bought a new pair of plain black non-shiny boot cut yoga pants and wore them with a professional top and blazer. I looked awesome and totally professional. I confided my secret to a friend after the first day of the conference and she couldn't believe they were yoga pants - honestly they looked like regular ponte pants.

Isabel

Veteran

I also don't wear yoga pants or sweats outside the house.

With that said, I agree with others. You never know what is going on with other people. What I think is the main difference is HOW people are wearing them. There are some great things that one can wear now that is activity oriented and looks appropriate when running an errand. For example, the bank, wearing yoga pants and a sports bra into a bank during a walk or run, is just inappropriate in my mind. But there are beautiful long Ts or tanks or long yoga tops that one can throw over that. I think that dressing appropriately is important. But we can't always guess what is going on in someone else's life.

citygirldc

(website)

Veteran

I don't think I even own a pair of yoga pants but if I did, it would only be at home or at the yoga studio. That's just me.

Gaylene

Veteran

Personally, I think it's very hard make rules about what is, and is not, appropriate for others to wear because you never know the full context. I wear yoga pants for exercise and lounge wear inside the house, but those are rules that I enforce for me and I'd never expect the rest of the world to conform to my arbitrary standards. The same goes for length of someone's pants, the amount of cleavage shown, the exact color of someone's "nude" hose--or any of the myriad fashion "rules" and "faux pas" that get discussed in magazines and on forums. If someone asked my opinion, I'd be honest about my preferences but I'd be unhappy if my personal biases were interpreted as some kind of universal "rule". The woman wearing yoga pants in a fancy restaurant might be recovering from invasive surgery--and how would my arbitrary standards fare under those conditions? Wear your yoga pants when it makes sense for you and don't worry about someone else's self-imposed "rules".

KikiG

Veteran

I don't have yoga pants, but sometimes I wear my spandex capri exercise pants to the grocery store on my way home from the gym. I don't wear them in public on purpose, however.

I don't judge people who wear gear in public as clothes, but I do have a bit of trouble with adults, usually teens, wearing pajamas and slippers in public. That is common but very mysterious to me.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I wear my yoga pants all the time. I think they get a bad rap. My Lululemon capris look like real pants, and I wear the full leggings as regular leggings under tunics a lot, too. I think the faux pas comes in when you're dressed for an activity you're not actually attending. So, if moms want to wear yoga pants to go grocery shopping because they're on the way home after yoga, or plan to go that afternoon, whatever. But if they wear them out to dinner with a sports bra and tank top, that's maybe a little not so awesome.

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

Just curious, those of you who won't wear yoga pants or sweats outside - what do you wear to exercise outside, dog walk, or do yardwork when it's too cold for shorts? And if you only exercise at a gym, do you change clothes there and never drive back and forth in workout gear? I'll work out at home in a sports bra with nothing over it, but would never go outside without putting a shirt over it. But if I'm hiking, walking, running or going to the dog park, I'm wearing yoga pants or running tights in public.

Anonymous

I have to disagree with you Adelfa. Some would assume that I am slim enough to find black trousers that fit.

Depending on the month I have been between 102 pounds and my highest of 115 pounds. I cannot wear wool or polyester nor can I have ANYTHING tight on my belly. It is not a matter of comfort it is a matter of horrible horrible pain and stomach cramps.

It has been impossible to find trousers that fit me, but not for lack of trying.

Astrid

Veteran

I don't have a dog or a yard, but for stuff like that I'd wear old comfortable jeans that can get dirty or torn. I'm not exercising outside and I always change into my regular clothes at the gym. But then I don't have a car and taking public transport in sweats is a different thing altogether.

Gaylene

Veteran

IK and Kiki, I'd have the same initial reaction to pajamas and sports bras in those settings only to be informed by someone much more knowledgable than I that both items were designer duds straight off the runway. So I'm willing to settle for just good personal grooming only to be told that messy, clumpy hair is edgy and the chipped nail polish is intentional. So I impose my rules on me and try very hard to not use them to judge others. I don't always succeed, but my thoughts are only voiced to a select few, not the world at large.

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

My yardstick is makeup. If I'm wearing makeup, then no yoga pants. That means grocery shopping, errands, and such are done in regular public-appropriate clothes. If I'm wearing yoga pants or any other gear, then no makeup because I'm planning to sweat (running, gym). No crossover here because if I'm sweating or have been, then there's no way I'm going to stop anywhere on the way home. Simple and easy.

Anonymous

Yardwork I would wear old jeans or canvas pants. Running outside I would wear some kind of running tights, but I would be all in gear and not popping by the store on the way.

If you are outside doing some exercise, I think exercise clothes are appropriate. For me personally, yoga pants that look like yoga pants are at-home wear only. But I wouldn't judge seeing someone wear them. A friend of mine with three kids lives in yoga pants/sweatpants. It works for her, so that's all that matters.

If I am taking a class at a gym or working out at a gym, I prefer to change at the gym.

shedev

Veteran

I run indoors now, will run outdoors next spring/summer. I have no problem stopping off at a store on the way to the gym while wearing workout clothes. On some days, time management is important.

Anonymous

Some yoga pants look just as good as anything else, sometimes even better. I think it is all in how you wear an item. I've never understood why leggings are ok but not yoga pants.

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

Astrid, I did not even think about public transpo. I take it to work but not on the weekends. A couple times in the summer I ran my office building stairs after work and rode home in my sweaty gym clothes because there is no shower at my office. Never again - gross. You are right - that is a whole different animal.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I was out for a walk in the neighborhood before it got cold out and saw a young mom who was wearing yoga pants. I hope she wasn't aware that when she bent over the stroller, the added strain made her yoga pants transparent. I did not need to have that much information.

The short version would be that how they fit and the weight of the fabric would be more of a determinant for me than the location or activity.

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I sometimes find it hard to see the distinction between yoga pants and knit trousers. In fact I have a pair of trousers in a lovely soft fabric that I am not sure about. There is no indication on the label (it doesn't say anything like "sport" or "active") and they were on clearance sale so thrown on a rack with all the other sale stuff from every department. I have certainly seen ponte knit trousers in the stores that don't look as nice.

Echo

Veteran

I think many of us - myself included - draw arbitrary lines in our heads about when wearing X or Y is okay and when it is not. If we don't make those arbitrary rules, we fear that we might reach for our "comfy clothes" too often or in the wrong situation. So we go out and what is okay for us (because of what we are thinking in our heads, not because of the reality of the situation) is not okay for other people.

This happens a lot in terms of behaviour, too, because context is everything. Other people are rude, or other people cut people off on the highway or other people are overprotective of their kids. But we didn't intend to be rude, and cutting someone off was an accident and no one else understood the particular situation with my child. It is all okay for me because I know the whys and hows behind it.

We all do this; the only difference is when and in what situations. I understand what the OP is saying, and I see the point everyone else has made here, too, because I don't have a dog in this fight (no yoga pants). But it is an easily transferable feeling to other situations.

celia

Veteran

I have said in the past that putting a pair of jeans in the morning before school run would be as easy as to put a pair of yoga pants. This year, however I have been eating my words with breakfast because sometimes i do reach for my yoga pants to take DD to school.Just because afterwards I can go home and have more time to think what to wear and get ready for the day.
Sometimes I wear yoga pants for a coffee with GF's if it after or before gym, I also run errands in the same conditions.

I guess that dressing 'normal' clothes for our daily life has to do with marking different moments and different roles we have in our lives.
It is difficult to take myself serious even working from home if I spend my day in yoga pants and sweats. When I go out with my friends I like to dress up a little bit because it makes me feel good and the other person understands that this was a special occasion to me, if I choose to dress in a more grown up way to do groceries is to remind myself that I am more than a mom, I am also a person and I want to show myself as such.

viva

Veteran

I live in New England, and Lululemon yoga pants are a staple of a LOT of women's wardrobes from age 16 to 60, in part because a lot of women do yoga, run, and walk, and in part because they're great looking pants. You see them everywhere: the grocery store, the post office, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, the movies. Not at the nicer restaurants, but probably at Chipotle on a Saturday afternoon. It's part of our more casual approach to life. I start many a day in my yoga pants because I don't like to get full-on dressed until I have worked out, and that usually means walking the dogs and running several errands before I shower and change, so I am certainly in public in my yoga pants. I'm not really hung up on this. To me it's not a big deal to see active women in casual comfortable pants that almost always fit appropriately.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Okay, here is where I should admit that I run, and I mean jogging running, my errands sometimes. Yes, red faced, huffing, dripping in sweat, I stop in and get bread, or like last week, face cream. Sometimes wine - ha! But hey, I don't have a car, I don't want to run back home, shower, change, and then walk back to the store I'm ALREADY passing by on my morning run. Call me a slob. I call it conserving time and energy.

Diana

Veteran

I tend to think yoga pants are OK out of the house only if one has obviously just been to yoga (or the gym). So, paired with workout top, sneakers, ponytail, fine. NOT fine with a full face of makeup and heels.

I work out at home, so I never wear my workout gear out of the house (it's not decent anyway... working out at home means I just wear a sports bra and shorts, no top!)

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