Smoothing it all out at the gym
Say bye-bye to muffin tops on running trails and yoga mats. The trendlet At yoga studios, spinning classes, and in sculls on the Schuylkill, the high-waisted athletic tight - with compression in the tummy, hips, and butt - is helping us look good before our New Year's fitness resolutions start paying off. Some pants are floral. Some are color-blocked. Others feature a funky graphic print. All are cute.
Say bye-bye to muffin tops on running trails and yoga mats.
The trendlet
At yoga studios, spinning classes, and in sculls on the Schuylkill, the high-waisted athletic tight - with compression in the tummy, hips, and butt - is helping us look good before our New Year's fitness resolutions start paying off. Some pants are floral. Some are color-blocked. Others feature a funky graphic print. All are cute.
Where does it come from?
Gym rats moved beyond basic black hip-hugging athletic pants after the 2012 Olympics, when the English track team stunned in color-blocked running breeches.
Pants - both athletic and everyday - stayed low-waisted until about 2015, when the fashion world started to embrace the higher waistband: first in skinnies, then in the ubiquitous leggings. By fall 2016, our wide-legged trousers were high-waisted - and pleated! (But that's a different story.)
The athletic (and athleisure world) got the memo quickly. Lululemon and Athleta introduced yoga pants with higher waists and compression elements - as in, holding in the stomach and pumping up the booty - in early fall.
Yoga, Pilates, and SoulCycle studios (read: any studio accessible by ClassPass) often sell brands like Alo Yoga that feature pants with ample tummy coverage. And Philadelphia's Boathouse, a favorite brand of rowers, introduced a high-waisted version of its athletic pant this year.
Who is wearing it?
Runners. Yogis. Rowers. Dog walkers. Happy hour seekers and couch potatoes.
Would Elizabeth wear them?
I already own several pairs.
Should you wear them?
Yes. Especially if you don't want to show us all of your business in downward dog.
215-854-2704@ewellingtonphl
Pants are available at Boathouse, $68, www.boathouse.us/collections/performance-base-layers.