Every magazine does one, I’ve bought into fashion editors paid for recommendations more times than I care to admit so I thought, as someone who pretty much lives in leggings (even for work) and has tried them all, I’d throw my two cents into the mix.
I am a massive fan of a small UK based independent company VenusCow who make a product called The Perfect Black Legging and to be honest they are pretty perfect, especially if you like your leggings plain super sculpting and luxury cotton comfortable offering no see through, the main reason I love them. Really dense cotton and great fit, loads of elastane. A fantastic deal at £35 a pair plus free shipping and made in England for anyone who care about that.
I never thought I find anything better to be fair. But I have to say the Vuori (out of California but made in China) all the feels leggings come really close for the exercise workout lounging option.
The price tag is much higher at £110 retail, I bought a pair in the Flannels sale for £78 and then when I wanted another pair found them on a secondhand platform for less. When I went into store to have a browse I loved it they were handing out FREE immunity shots.
These Vuori leggings are kind of spongy so a different feeling to the Venus Cow Perfect Black leggings, more for lounging or workout. They are really lovely to wear.
They don’t replace the perfect black leggings for styling with ready to wear, you can’t really wear them with normal clothes because of the workout look and the Vuori logo badge at the top of the thigh. The only thing I really don’t love.
The pandemic brought a surge of athleisure legging brands to market from Bo and Tee around £45, I did find one legging I loved here. Thank goodness I bought 3 pairs because they have stopped making this particular one. Now I ration myself when to wear those as I know I can’t replace them.
OYSHO at the lower price point £35 I’ve tried a couple of pairs I like but again when I go back to replace the ones I really like they have been replaced by something new.
I tried the Varley Freesoft high waisted Leggings at £78. The good thing about these, there are loads of colour choices and no annoying logo patch like Vuori. The fit is good they feel nice when you pull them on but not as good as Vuori though and I did find after 5 or 6 washes they did start to look pretty tired. So not fantastic on holding up in the washing machine.
At the top end of the price point Alo Airlift at £138 remain the luxury choice for yummy yoga mummies who can afford to blow over £100 on a pair of leggings. I’ve got three pairs I love, one a bargain I found in TKMAXX, one pair I treated myself to £128 and one pair a friend donated to me secondhand. I did try and buy a fourth pair on EBay for £65 but when they arrived they were clearly dupes, nothing like the originals so my advice here is to watch the sales and the serial numbers to avoid getting ripped off. This Airlift legging is the most suck you in sculpting of all the leggings here. They do run long in the leg so I opted for 7/8 at 5’ 8” and they still come down to my ankles. A lovely legging if you can afford them.
Lots of people like Lululemon and Sweaty Betty for their leggings. For me Lululemon were way too long and then I was completely put off by all the negative press and accusations of racism from whistleblowers within the organisation so I just don’t want to support that and Sweaty Betty were too publicly associated with sweatshops which became apparent as they grew. For me the quality plummeted and they became more like a Fabletics, more Kate Hudson hype than real fantastic products. A few years back I absolutely loved the matching thermal sets for skiing snowboarding, but for me the price exceeds the quality they offer now.
To sum up, if you haven’t tried Vuori all the feels for lounging and work out and VenusCow for smart work dressed up in leggings, I love both. These are my definite go tos for the best black leggings out there.