What’s the Difference Between $33 and $98 Leggings?
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Back at the start of the athleisure revolution, you could generally assume that expensive leggings were better than cheap ones — fantastically stretchy, made from moisture-wicking synthetic fibers rather than sweaty cotton, in lots of cute colorways. But as dupes have become ubiquitous, both cheap and expensive leggings are now generally made from the same technical materials: polyester, nylon, and elastane. And they look almost as nice, too.
Is there any point, then, to paying more? To find out, I staged a face-off between the Strategist’s best overall women’s leggings,Lululemon’s Wunder Trains, with ourbest less-expensive women’s leggingsfrom Baleaf.
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Lululemon’s fabric looks and feels smoother
Lululemon is known for its smooth compression fabrics, and when I place these two pairs of leggings side by side, I can see why. While both look and feel very sleek, the Lululemon fabric (81 percent nylon, 19 percent elastane) is denser and more matte, whereas Baleaf’s (82 percent nylon, 18 percent elastane) is ever so slightly looser and shinier.
That matte look is what makes a pair of Lululemon leggings feel a tad moreluxuriouswhen you encase yourself in them,but in terms of performance, I didn’t notice a huge difference between the two fabric weaves. They are about the same thickness, and when I stretched each pair of leggings out as far as I could in my hands, they both remained exactly the same level of opaque. In other words, both can be trusted to cover your butt.
And the Lululemon stitching is stronger
The cut of both leggings appears identical, with lines of reinforced stitching in exactly the same places. But the stitches themselves are different — Lululemon’s are neat and tightly overlocked using a thicker thread, whereas Baleaf’s are a little more uneven and use thinner thread. I also noticed that Baleaf’s leggings are hemmed with a single stitch, rather than an overlocked one.
The Baleaf stitching is still solid and can handle lots of stretching and movement in all directions. But in terms of workmanship, it is obvious that there is more quality control going down at Lululemon HQ.
Both brands hold up well in the clothes dryer
Workout leggings should be able to survive near-constant washing and drying cycles over a period of many years. Curious as to whether Lululemon’s much more expensive design was more durable than Baleaf’s, I washed both (brand-new and unworn) pairs, then tumbled them around in my local laundromat’s highly industrial dryer at high heat for three hours. Then another three hours. Then another three hours. I was actively trying to destroy or at least shrink either pair of leggings, but this proved highly difficult. Both pairs emerged virtually unscathed, save for a couple of frayed threads on each that could be easily snipped. Neither pair shrunk or warped in shape.
Lululemon’s fabric snags much more easily
A good pair of leggings should also resist pilling and snagging. To simulate the abrasive seating surfaces that one might encounter over time while wearing them, I rubbed a section of each pair with sandpaper to see how it held up. Shockingly, Lululemon’s fabric developed a small hole after I rubbed it just eight times with 80-grit sandpaper, which isn’t particularly coarse. It also visibly pilled and fluffed, making the brand-new pants look old and worn out.
I then tried to achieve the same results with the Baleaf pants, but they were far more resilient. Although some pilling did develop after I rubbed them around 30 times, I was unable to put a hole in the fabric at all. I even switched to a coarser sandpaper and had no luck.
It appears that the smooth and sleek fabric weave Lululemon uses to make its pants perform well on the mat (and look cute in the studio) is less durable than Baleaf’s coarser one. But this might not actually matter if you’re only using them for yoga and Pilates, then changing into normal clothes afterward.
Baleaf’s leggings might actually be more comfortable
While they don’t look as nice as expensive brands, I will say that Baleaf’s leggings are truly comfortable.As Strategist contributor Maggie Slepian put it ina review she wrotetwo years ago, they’re “right between the compression levels of more supportive tights (which can feel too restrictive for all-day wear) and supersoft leggings (which can sag and lose their shape).” So you can work out in themorwork from home in them. Which is not so much the case with ultracompressive leggings that have a higher elastane percentage. Having said that, having worn Lululemon leggings for yoga and workouts in the past, the compression is a massive plus. You literallyneverhave to pull them up, which is not something I can say for the Baleafs.
The extra money probably isn’t worth it for everyone
I and multiple Strategist staffers have been wearing and loving our Lululemon Wunder Train and Align leggings for years and years — they can even survive pregnancy. They’re highly praised by yoga and Pilates instructors, who praise their smooth feel and tight compression. But as the scratch test showed, they might not look as luxurious after you’ve lived in them for a while.
Nylon is a near-indestructible plastic that will outlive us all, so it’s unlikely that any pair of leggings will ever completely disintegrate, even after years of use. But over extended periods of time, the cheaper Baleafs may slightly lose their sleekness of shape due to looser stitching and a slightly baggier fabric weave. For serious yogis with a daily practice, this may matter. For everyone else, it’s great that affordable yet durable leggings are so easy to come by nowadays. Especially if they can survive getting scratched up by sandpaper.
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