Please don't be offended by the title for this blog post. I view it as a public service announcement. Do you know if your yoga pants are sheer enough to see through? Have you ever thought about it? Did you ever think about what happens to the fabric of your yoga pants as it stretches when you bend? If you don't know and you care, you might want to read my article below.
How sheer are your yoga pants?
Can you see through your yoga pants?
A while back there was a bit of a scandal regarding yoga pants made by the company lululemon. The scandal involved yoga pants that you could see through. Apparently women were appalled that you could see through their $80 yoga pants when they bent over. I suppose that you would expect that your expensive, specially made yoga pants would cover you. I get that.
As yogis, we spend a fair amount of time bent forward with our butts up in the air. Usually we are so busy trying to touch our toes or get our heads to our knees that the last thing we are thinking about is whether our butts are covered or not. But, let me ask you this: Can you see through your yoga pants when you bend over in Downward Facing Dog or Standing Forward Bend? Do you know? Have you ever checked? You should. Or, ask a trusted friend to check for you. You might be surprised.
As a yoga teacher, I spend a lot of time walking around yoga studios adjusting and assisting people. I see a lot of people in Down Dog and lying down in Cobbler's Pose. Every week I see people who are wearing sheer yoga pants. Your pants might look opaque when you are standing upright, but as the fabric stretches over your knee or your buttocks, it thins out. It's pretty amazing how sheer some pants can get when they are stretched.
Now, I am a trained professional and ultimately I don't care. It's not anything I haven't seen before. And most of the time I am checking on your alignment and your breath and not looking at your yoga pants one way or another. But, every once in a while I am surprised at how much I can see! I wonder if you care. Some people don't. But if you go to the grocery store after class, or to the hair salon, it might be a different story. It's not like I can say anything right then, and there is nothing you can do about it in the moment, either. I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone. But I do recommend you do a pants check. You can either bend over in front of a mirror, or in front of a trusted friend. Or, before you get dressed, take one of your favorite pair of yoga pants and grab one of your canned goods from your pantry, something with a printed label. Put the can inside your yoga pants and stretch the fabric tight over the can. Can you read the label? If you can, OH MY! That's pretty sheer! If you can't, your butt is covered. Those are good yoga pants!
Two pairs of yoga pants. Are all pants created equal?
You can actually read the label through these yoga pants!
These yoga pants will cover your butt!
Now, as for the guys.... Oh, can I actually go there? I don't know. I'll have to think about it! That may be another blog post!