I don’t do burpees. I don’t do CrossFit. But I do squat down to get cat food out of the bottom cabinet at least six times a day, and I figure if my leggings can’t survive that, they have no business being in my drawer.

In June I wore four pairs of plus-size leggings through one full week of real movement — not just a pretty walk to the coffee shop. Squats, lunges, one 3-mile loop in the park, and a 90-minute hot yoga class at the Y on 14th Street. I’m a 22 in every brand’s plus line. Here’s what passed and what didn’t.

The 4 leggings

I went four prices, four fabrics, four waistbands. The most expensive pair was the one I was most nervous about, because $128 is a lot to spend on something that might go see-through in front of a mirror at the gym.

Woman in orange leggings doing leg stretch
  • Lululemon “Align” — $128, size 22 in the plus line, the buttery-soft one everyone talks about
  • Athleta “Salutation Stash” — $109, black, the high-rise with the side pocket
  • Target “All in Motion” — $25, charcoal heather, the one I bought on a Tuesday and didn’t expect much from
  • Old Navy “High-Waisted PowerSoft” — $40, dark olive, the one with the phone pocket on the thigh

What the squat test actually showed

I did the squat in the Target fitting room before I bought them. I figured if the cheap pair could pass, they’d all pass. The Target pair did. So I bought them.

Then I got home and did the squat again in natural light, by a window. The Target pair passed. The Lululemon Align — the $128 pair — went see-through at the seam. Not subtle see-through. The kind where you can see the outline of your kneecap through the fabric. I almost cried in my living room.

The Athleta pair was opaque in every position I tried. Squat, lunge, downward dog. Held up in a 95-degree room with sweat. The Old Navy pair was fine in the squat but started to go gray at the inner thigh by week two, which is a different problem.

What pill actually means, and when it shows up

Pilling is when the fabric balls up at high-friction zones — inner thigh, seat, where your thighs touch when you walk. It happens to every legging eventually. The question isn’t “if.” It’s “when.”

Woman in sporty attire by the sea

The Target “All in Motion” pair pilled at the inner thigh at 6 weeks. For $25, that’s not nothing. But I also wore them three times a week and washed them every time. That’s a lot of friction for a $25 fabric.

The Athleta pair pilled at 8 months. I wore them twice a week, washed in cold, laid flat to dry. Eight months is a long time for a legging I was not being gentle with.

The Lululemon Align pilled at the inner thigh at 4 months, but I cared less about the pilling than the see-through thing, because the see-through happened on day one.

The Old Navy PowerSoft hasn’t pilled yet, but it’s bagged at the knee in a way that’s worse than pilling, which I’ll get to.

The hot yoga test at the Y on 14th Street

This is the test that broke the Old Navy pair. Hot yoga is 95 degrees with 40% humidity. It’s not a workout where you can fake it. The class is 90 minutes. I wore each pair to one class.

The Athleta Salutation Stash was the winner. It stayed up at the waist through every downward dog. The fabric didn’t get heavy when it was wet. It dried by the time I got to the locker room. The side pocket held my gym key without bouncing.

The Lululemon Align got heavy when sweaty. Not falling-down heavy, but I could feel the fabric weighing on my waistband. And the see-through got worse with sweat, which I didn’t know was possible.

The Target pair got the job done but the waistband started to roll at 60 minutes. It rolled because the elastic is thinner than the Athleta, and in a hot room, thin elastic gives up first.

The Old Navy pair made it through the class but bagged at the knee during the lunges, and once a legging bags at the knee in a hot room, it doesn’t un-bag. It just stays baggy forever.

What I’m keeping and what I’m returning

The Athleta Salutation Stash is the one I bought a second pair of. $109 each, so $218 out the door. I have not bought a third pair yet because I want to see if the second pair pills at 8 months too.

The Target “All in Motion” is the surprise winner. At $25, I can replace them three times before I hit the Athleta price. I bought a second pair already, just to have a backup.

The Lululemon Align went back on day three. See-through at $128 is a dealbreaker. I don’t care how buttery-soft it is. I’m not paying luxury money for something that fails the squat test.

The Old Navy PowerSoft is in my gym bag but I’m not sure it’ll make it to the end of summer. The bag-at-the-knee thing is a slow failure, not a fast one, and slow failures are worse because you keep wearing them hoping they’ll bounce back. They won’t.

If you’re picking one pair to start with and the budget can stretch, get the Athleta. If the budget is under $30, the Target pair is genuinely fine — just know you’ll be replacing them by fall.

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