Emma Clifton’s ode to the perfect pair of leggings – and at $35 from The Warehouse, we’re bloody RUSHING to stock up! And yes, we’ve reached peak millennial.
Capsule x The Warehouse
Writing an ‘ode to leggings’ is one of the strongest mother-of-an-infant clichés I can think of (be sure to check in on my next killer piece of journalism: ‘Why Am I So Tired All The Time?’).
But like most clichés, it’s there for a reason. Before Child, leggings were a good stop gap between track pants and real pants on the ‘working from home’ spectrum – they were comfortable, but not too relaxed. They are the Goldilocks of pants if you will: just right.
In the Post-Giving-Birth world, leggings are a new level of just right because in the weird, post-partum phase of ‘What IS my body now?’, they offer some literal and figurative flexibility. I can walk in them, work in them, nap in them, lunge after my child as he wedges himself between a wall and a door or rolls under his cot and then gets mad at ME for that. Throw a coat over them, replace walking sneakers with Nice Sneakers – you’ve got the outfit of an Adult Woman Who’s Kind Of Got Her Shit Together. So here’s what I’m looking for when it comes to the dream pair of leggings (and yes, I did find them).
1. High Waisted
I had a baby! Next question!
2. Non-Sheer
If you are blessed with a butt, you’ll know the uncomfortable reality of leggings. The number of times I have seethed – SEETHED, I tell you – in a changing room, trying on some leggings and thinking: who is your fit model, and why don’t they have a butt? Black leggings are all well and good until you put a butt in there and they go sheer, because they rejected you and your butt. The dream pair of leggings can handle your butt AND your thighs without betraying you (by going sheer obvs).
3. Thick But Not Too Thick
A dream pair of leggings holds your legs like a good, firm handshake. Supportive, but not intimidating. The handshake of a competent, friendly new colleague – not a workplace frenemy, that older woman who you know wants to gaslight you into submission because you DARED to be good at your job, or someone trying to crush you in a power deal. But you also don’t want a weak lack of support. You want to know that you’re in good hands.
Emma Clifton with said wonder-leggings!
4. Doesn’t Attract Fluff
One of the most comfortable pairs of leggings I have ever owned might as well have been made of Velcro, because they picked up cat hairs from cats I’d never even met.
5. Doesn’t Cost $100
What are we, millionaires? Not when we have children and lives and have to actually GO to the supermarket. I’m currently writing this ode (again, LOVE the cliché) firmly ensconced in a pair of $35 The Warehouse leggings that we bought in-store as part of our partnership deal, but I wasn’t prepared to fall in love with them. They’re actually a perfect option that absolutely stacks up to three-figure options – right down to the deep pockets at the sides that can handle phones, baby stuff, keys, more baby stuff, and God knows what else we pick up on our daily walks.
6. Holds Their Shape In The Wash
This is where even the good pairs can let you down – you need some elastane in leggings to give you butt-cradling bounce but if they lose their support after a few washes, then what is the point? Not to get lecture-y in a story about leggings, for crying out loud, but if we are all trying to create less waste in the world, then we need to be buying workhorse pieces that you can get, at a minimum, a year or two out of.
If you want to get your hands on a reliable pair of leggings that are real-life approved, here’s the link – they come in both full length and ankle length, in black, mid grey and dark purple.
This story has been produced with the support of our partner The Warehouse – but every opinion is very much our own! Every click, like, share and comment supports Capsule’s work and our commitment to keeping our content free. Thank you for supporting independent, female-owned media! 💛
