By ELLISE CHASE
staff writer

Leggings: the modern wonder of the fashion world. Versatile, comfortable and attractive. Finally, leggings have been deemed, “real pants” and the female population is rejoicing.

I am a person who wears leggings every day. To the gym, to class, on dates; I live in leggings.
Over the years, I have learned many hard lessons about leggings, and I am here to make your transition to living in leggings as smooth as possible.
Let’s start with color. Black. That is the only color you need to know. If there is a slight pattern, OK, but the majority of the color should be black.
Leggings are tight ladies, and we sweat. If you are wearing a color other than black, this otherwise unseen sweat is shockingly obvious. Particularly if you are going to the gym; black on black on black on black.
Next, check for transparency. Having see-through leggings is a hard no. Check yourself before you leave the house. The more you wash leggings, the more see-through they become. Before purchasing leggings, I will pull at the fabric to see if there is any give or any transparency. If you tug gently at the fabric and can see through it, skip.
Now on to style. Leggings can be broken down into two prominent categories: fashion and performance.
The fashion legging is by far the most useless. Often made of a cotton and spandex blend, the black color fades quickly to gray and the integrity of the fabric doesn’t hold up.
These leggings are often the least expensive, but due to the transparency rate, they are not worth the investment.
Of course, you will run into leather fashion leggings, bedazzled leggings or patterns, but as stated above: avoid.
(Side note: a leather legging can be cool for the first 10 minutes, but give it time and you will sweat, be miserable and a little sticky.)
The only leggings I will buy are performance leggings.
The performance legging: this is the legging that will make your butt look amazing.
These leggings are designed for compression with high quality fabrics, keeping your lower half looking tight and put together. Generally, these leggings have a higher waist and are just a higher quality.
Performance leggings are designed to be worn to the gym, but they can be worn anywhere. I will wear leggings to lift one week and out with friends the next. The higher waist offers support at the gym, but also holds in the tummy and looks excellent with a crop top.
Fabletics is one of my favorite places to buy leggings. They are almost all high-waisted, and they are excellent quality. Again, I always lean toward performance leggings, because I like them to be dual purpose. The Salar Leggings (both full length and capri) are wonderful quality, the color doesn’t fade and they last.
Also these leggings have pockets. Pockets. Skin tight pants and yet there is room for a pocket. God bless.

ELLISE CHASE
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